About Us
Every nonprofit has genius potential. That’s where The Cagney Company comes in—helping to
reveal the hidden Einstein in your organization—the creative energy and purpose needed to overcome
obstacles and make quantum leaps.
We maintain the highest ethical standards and operate in best practices and proven principles.
But we are not just about tried and true formulas. Unique clients and circumstances demand creativity. Like our clients we are committed to bright futures for those we serve and are sensitive to the newest developments and latest thinking in nonprofit management.
Last, but certainly not least, we know we really need to listen in order to be of use.
Who We Are
Penelope Cagney, CFRE, has 25 years of experience in planning, development and communications working on a wide range of projects and with a wide variety of nonprofits (arts and culture, education, healthcare, environment, social welfare) across the country and abroad. Penelope has a BFA, magna cum laude, from Loyola University and an MA in arts, entertainment and media management from Columbia College, Chicago.
She began her management career in philanthropy and communications at one of the largest healthcare institutions in Chicago but she has dedicated her self to the profession of a consulting. She spent seven years with the largest fund raising consulting company in the world, where she was also a member of the in-house long-distance learning faculty. She has helped organizations secure transformative gifts and achieve significant financial objectives. In Chicago, Penelope formed a consulting consortium of the heads of three arts management education programs and the Executive Director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
Penelope is a skilled communicator and teacher, having taught graduate nonprofit management at the School of the Art Institute and Columbia College, Chicago, and was a distinguished visiting professor at American University in Cairo, Egypt.
She edited a book on nonprofit management, “Beyond Profit: the Complete Guide to Managing the Nonprofit Organization,” (Lutterworth Press, Cambridge, England, 1991) and was a contributor to “A Dictionary for Artists, Performers, Managers and Entrepreneurs,” (Simon & Schuster, 1998). She has published extensively in such publications as Fund Raising Management, The Nonprofit Times, Foundation News and Chicago Philanthropy and was a regular columnist for Charity (UK).
She presents at many national and international conferences, including the AFP International Conference and the World Congress on Philanthropy.
Her expert associates come from all areas of nonprofit management. She collaborates on projects to ensure breadth as well as depth of counsel and the best possible service to her clients.
Penelope Cagney is a truly exemplary consultant; never doing for us what we could and should do for ourselves; she enabled us to present our case in the best possible light and to be most effective as we made our way out in to the community.
David G. Davies
Campaign Co-Chair
Beatitudes Campus
Phoenix, Arizona