Nonprofit Executive of the Year – Winner
John Cary
Executive director, MACC Fund
This year, the MACC Fund will celebrate 40 years as an organization. John Cary, executive director, has led the organization for all but six of those years.
The MACC Fund, Midwest Athletes Against Childhood Cancer, raises funds to support research on pediatric cancer and blood disorders.
By the end of 2016, the organization will have contributed $59 million to childhood cancer research since its inception.
Under Cary’s leadership, the organization has grown from $250,000 in annual revenue to nearly $5 million.
“When you have a chance to save a child’s life, it’s the greatest job,” Cary said. “I have a lot of respect for the cause, a lot of respect for Jon McGlocklin and I’m grateful every day for the work being done in this field.”
The MACC Fund provides hope through research, Cary said.
McGlocklin, a Milwaukee Bucks television analyst and a former player for the Bucks who was a member of the Bucks’ 1971 NBA Championship team, co-founded the MACC Fund with his friend and colleague Eddie Doucette, a former Bucks radio announcer, in 1976. Doucette’s son Brett, then 2, was diagnosed with cancer.
Brett serves as the organization’s first success story.
During Cary’s tenure with the organization, the overall cure rate has risen from 30 percent to nearly 80 percent, thanks largely to the work the MACC Fund has done to raise money.
The MACC Fund supports research at the Medical College of Wisconsin, Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin and the University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center.
Each year, Cary and the MACC Fund are visible in the community through events like golf outings, Trek 100, the MACC Fund Bucks Game, Aaron Rodgers’ 12 Days of Christmas benefitting the MACC Fund, Candy Cane Lane and other fundraisers.
“Our team makes it an easy decision for people to get involved,” Cary said. “We’re taking things they enjoy being a part of anyway and offering them the opportunity to help potentially save a child’s life. It’s a really easy decision for people.”
The MACC Fund recently received a 4-star rating for sound fiscal management and commitment to accountability and transparency from Charity Navigator, the largest independent charity evaluator in the U.S. Only 25 percent of charities it reviews receive the 4-star rating.
