Biographical Background

Alexander Sandy Macnab, FAHP, CFRE, began the consulting company bearing his name in 1994 after serving as a development professional. An experienced radio and newspaper reporter, he is a skilled interviewer and interpreter committed to helping others build their dreams.

Public speaking and teaching are among his most sought-after skills. Mr. Macnab is frequently invited to present seminars and conduct workshops that have helped professional fundraisers and charity board members increase financial and volunteer support for their organizations.

Before starting his firm, Mr. Macnab served St. Francis Hospital in Evanston, IL, for 12 years as Director of Development and Assistant Vice President. A Certified Fundraising Executive and also a Fellow of the Association for Healthcare Philanthropy, he is a long-time member of the Chicago Council on Planned Giving who helped lead the organization as part of its steering committee. Mr. Macnab also led Evanston United Way as its president after serving as campaign chair and chair of the Review and Allocations Committee.

He was a member of the International Association of Fundraising Professionals Curriculum Development Committee. He is one of 22 Master Teachers selected from highly-rated instructors throughout North America to inaugurate the AFP International Faculty Academy. He is the former ethics committee chair of the AFP Chicago Chapter. He is an adjunct faculty member at the School of Business and Nonprofit Management at North Park University in Chicago. He teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in Planned Giving for Nonprofit Organizations and Nonprofit Marketing and Fundraising.

His first professional fundraising experience was while teaching in the Evanston public school system. With a vision of keeping at-risk students in school and a plan to make it happen, he raised enough money to support an exceptional and distinctive program of his design for teenagers with school adjustment problems.

Active in civic affairs, he headed the Planned Gifts and Legacies Committee of the American Cancer Society’s North Shore unit and is a former board member of Chicago’s House of the Good Shepherd. He is a current volunteer member of the Advisory Board of the Take Heart Association Project, a program raising funds to provide heart surgeries for poor children in Kenya, and of the Board of Directors of the World Craniofacial Foundation, providing complex surgeries to children with disfiguring challenges. He is also a former member of the Alumni Board of his alma mater, Antioch College.

Mr. Macnab, a former member of the American Newspaper Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, holds a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in educational administration from Antioch College in Ohio. He has also done postgraduate work in psychology and education at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, where he lives with his wife.

Statement of Qualifications

With years of direct fundraising experience, Mr. Macnab is the developer of nationally recognized major gift, annual giving, direct mail, and planned giving programs. He has presented fundraising training seminars and provided general fundraising counsel, capital campaign, and planned and major gift support to clients throughout the nation.

Past relationships include: retained counsel for the BURGER KING McLAMORE FOUNDATION to develop a planned giving program beginning with a capacity audit; retained counsel for the CHICAGO THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY to help build a comprehensive planned giving program; retained counsel for THE ZONTA INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION, Oak Park, IL, conducting a feasibility study and counseling a multi-year $10 million international endowment campaign; retained planned and major gifts counsel for the MEALS ON WHEELS FOUNDATION OF NORTHERN ILLINOIS beginning with a major gifts capacity audit; retained planned gift counsel for the ORTHOPAEDIC RESEARCH AND EDUCATION FOUNDATION, and retained counsel for SILK ROAD RISING to coach staff and board members, conducting prospect rating sessions, and training to make major gift solicitations.

Clients in 2019 include:

• Retained planned and major gifts counsel and campaign counsel for the AMERICAN ORTHOPAEDIC FOOT & ANKLE SOCIETY/ORTHOPAEDIC FOOT & ANKLE FOUNDATION;
• Retained co-counsel for the AMERICAN COLLEGE OF OSTEOPATHIC INTERNISTS to conduct a feasibility study, co-counsel a campaign, and help develop a planned giving program, including presenting seminars for members and writing monthly newsletter articles.

Mr. Macnab has provided ongoing project and capital/endowment/major gift campaign counsel to associations, schools, hospitals, and social services agencies. He has worked successfully with scores of volunteers, executive leaders, administrators, development professionals, and philanthropists, building a solid record of verifiable achievement.

Mr. Macnab is comfortable in a variety of roles, including teacher, student, coach, mentor, colleague, and friend. He takes great personal satisfaction from helping others find ways to build their dreams.

To do so, he has had to learn (and is skilled and experienced at helping others learn) the difference between fundraising and philanthropy.