Help Your Family Business by Helping Others

When Katie Rucker was asked to lead a $15 million fundraiser for a local Ronald McDonald House, her twin sister Jenny Dinnen at first worried about running the family business without her co-leader.  The twins are co-owners of MacKenzie Corp., a California-based technology and marketing firm founded by their father. 

However, as Katie dove into her fundraising effort, Jenny saw that it improved her twin's leadership skills, raised the company's profile, and generated much good will in the community. "I was always the sales and marketing person, and Katie operated behind the scenes in operations," Jenny said. "Now she's a person who says 'yes' and she's inspiring all of us. It has changed how we feel about philanthropy as a family and a business."

Both twins also saw that they needed to depart from their parents' approach to philanthropy, which was to give quietly and anonymously. They've learned that being able to amplify a message and get others to give was ultimately more important than writing a big check. Today MacKenzie's employees are following Katie's lead and volunteering more themselves.

In this interview with FamilyBusiness.org's Kimberly Eddleston, the twins share their insights about how visible philanthropy roles help develop stronger family business leaders.