Charles MacKenzie
Founder and Principal Consultant
Company House Consulting
AFP member since 2017
How did you start your career in philanthropy?
Well, I actually wanted to get into this field for quite a while before I finally got the chance. I grew up in Cape Breton, and I had a friend whose aunt had been a fundraiser for various hospitals before she retired. I never had the heart or the stomach to work in a hospital, but I had the thought that I might be able to help people by raising money for important causes.
I actually got my start here in Halifax. I moved to the city the first time in 2013, and I don’t mind saying I applied for every job I was even remotely qualified for. I got an interview with an amazing company called RBR Development, which was one of the first fundraising consulting firms in the Atlantic provinces and really the frontrunner for many years. I got the job and had the good fortune to work with some of the best experts on philanthropy I’ve ever met, like the late, great Rosalie Courage.
You couldn’t pay for that sort of an education in philanthropy. It’s why I usually describe myself as a generalist, I got to do a little bit of everything with the firm. The first big project I worked on was the campaign for the new Halifax library on Spring Garden Road. Before that, I really only had a tangential idea of what it was like working on such an expansive campaign.
I was with RBR in one capacity or another for over eight years, and got to do everything from capital campaigns to strategic planning to operational reviews. I’m a former academic in terms of my educational background, and the more strategic aspects of philanthropy, like capital campaigns, major gifts, and strategic planning have always really appealed to me. It’s a great blend of what I studied in school and what I am lucky to do now as an independent consultant in the nonprofit sector.
Why did you join AFP Nova Scotia? What has your experience been like so far?
Because I was told to! I first joined the organization around the time I started at RBR Development. My boss travelled so much, I got to represent the team at some great events and meet all kinds of amazing professionals. There’s no formal training or degree program to work in philanthropy, so I think joining AFP is a must for anybody who wants to make this their career.
I’ve always thought of it as a sort of informal apprenticeship. There are as many different ways to approach the work we do as there are people doing it, and I think networking with your peers will help you develop your own philosophy and approach. It also lets you learn about different kinds of fundraising, like annual giving, special events, etc. Being a member of AFP (and I’ve been in, I think, four or five chapters to date) can only help you be a better, more well-rounded fundraiser.
What would you share with someone who is unsure about joining AFP?
Do it! It’ll be a huge boost to helping you figure out a career path that is both rewarding and in line with your own unique skillset. Go to as many networking and professional development events as you can. It will help you figure out not only what kind of philanthropy you want to be engaged in, but the kind of organizations you want to work with. There is a huge different between working for a big national organization and working for local organizations at the grassroots levels. Everything from the decision-making process to management style can be vastly different at different nonprofits. Being a member of AFP will help you figure out what you want to do and where you’ll be the happiest and most fulfilled doing it.
What would you tell fundraisers who are just getting started or looking to grow?
Give yourself permission to make mistakes. Honestly, I think that’s the most powerful thing you can do. You’re still learning and growing and you’ll make a mistake somewhere along the line. The issue there is that because all of the causes out there are amazing, you can tend to catastrophize when things go wrong. Just own your mistakes, and if you come to the table with a problem, try to come to the table with a solution as well. Someone once said we learn more from our mistakes than our successes, and I really do believe that’s true.
How did you get involved with your current work?
I’ve really been blessed throughout my whole career. Getting started as a consultant gave me great perspective on our sector, and I’ve had the great good fortune to work with different types of organizations over the course of my working life. I’ve been on a regional team at a national organization, the head office team at a national organization, and all sorts of roles from entry level to leadership team at local and regional organizations. After my last contract ended, I took the time to really look at when I’d been the happiest and most fulfilled in my work. I realised it was when I was a consultant. I don’t like being pigeonholed into one very specific type of fundraising, I want to do the things I feel I’m good at.
When I decided to hang out my own shingle, I picked the three things that I felt I was best at. For me, that was major gifts, capital campaigns, and strategic planning. Aside from my academic background, I was also a tour guide and a telemarketer for years, so I love talking to new people and learning about why they support the causes they do. In terms of my work leading strategic plans, I have always thought this was an area where a lot of grassroots organizations need the help. Having a good strategic plan can help an organization go from surviving to thriving, and it provides a blueprint for the future that helps you use your often limited time and resources most effectively. But it’s outside the realm of possibility for many community organizations because of things like cost. So I have refined the process to help put strategic planning within reach of the types of organizations I enjoy supporting as a consultant.
What is something you have recently contributed to that you are proud of?
This isn’t too recent now, but it would be my work in the food security sector during the height of the pandemic. The number of Canadians living with some level of food insecurity skyrocketed, and it’s something that disproportionately impacts equity deserving communities. And I really got to see it first hand, as I was living in a low-income area in Toronto and got to see first-hand what happened when people started to lose their jobs, had to shelter in place due to health conditions, and coped with the rising cost of living. The organization I worked at was neck deep in a capital campaign to establish a new national food rescue hub at the time, and I got to take a lead role in helping stick handle that through the pandemic. As a part of my work, I got to go out annually on food deliveries with my programming team, which is still one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever done. I also got to work closely with the provincial government in Ontario, who made a significant capital investment in the project. Not only was the work important, but the circumstances we were all dealing with at the time made it feel even more impactful.
What are you most proud of in your career so far?
It’s hard for me to pick out any one thing. I think the only way I could answer this question is to say that I’m proud of all the work I’ve done over the years. A friend once asked me why I don’t get into sales or something where I would make more money. But how boring would that be? We all have days where we don’t want to go to work, but I’ve never hated what I chose to do for a living. That, to me, is worth an awful lot. And it’s something I’m quite proud of.
What do you think is the biggest challenge facing fundraising today?
Without a doubt, the leadership gap. As experienced executives retire or burn out, too few emerging leaders are being prepared or supported to take their place. Many organizations struggle to offer competitive pay, manageable workloads, or professional development, leaving leadership pipelines thin and succession plans weak. I also think at a lot of larger organizations, we’re seeing people getting promoted simply because of seniority. And as the old saying goes, the fish rots from the head. With negative leadership at the executive level, it sets a bad tone and the rest of the organization suffers as a result.
Without intentional investment in cultivating the next generation of nonprofit leaders, the sector risks losing its capacity to innovate, advocate, and deliver vital community services. And that process doesn’t stop once someone achieves an executive leadership role. There are precious few resources to help train and onboard new leadership, especially for people who have never worked at that level before.