FortyTwoFifty

Financial systems that support the mission

Fractional CFO and financial strategy, with 25 years of judgment and the latest AI

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About FortyTwoFifty

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Mission

I'm Ian Magee. I founded FortyTwoFifty to provide strategic consulting to nonprofit and other organizations. I bring a clear, insightful approach to each client, solving their most pressing financial and operational issues.

I've spent more than 25 years in corporate, nonprofit and philanthropic finance, and I now do this work alongside AI.

Expertise

  • Financial strategy
  • Business model transformation
  • Financial systems architecture
  • Strategic planning
  • Fractional or interim CFO
  • Planning, forecasting and cash flow models
  • Board reporting and financial storytelling
  • Coaching for finance leaders

What changed in 2026?

As Interim CFO of The END Fund in 2026, I set out to build a budgeting, planning and risk management infrastructure like the one we built at New Profit. That kind of system takes months.

Then the AI models changed everything. I built a much more sophisticated planning model in a week than I could have built in months the old way.

All through the year, AI's FP&A capabilities kept improving dramatically. I'm still learning how best to work this way, but it's very different to a year ago.

Light bulb on a lilac background with a brain and an AI chip inside
Wooden hourglass on a soft peach background

Why decades of experience matter more now

AI makes building fast. Someone still has to know what to build, which number looks wrong, and what the board is going to ask next. That judgment comes from decades of doing this work, and it's what I bring.

It also takes judgment to know what shouldn't change. AI belongs in some parts of a finance function and not others, and knowing which is part of the job.

I check every number I hand over, and I answer for it. I'll tell you how AI is being used on your work, and we'll agree up front what data goes into it.

Experience

I studied mechanical engineering and economics at Cambridge University, and I've been designing and building financial models and systems ever since: the first half of my career in for-profit finance, the second half in nonprofits and philanthropy.

The END Fund
Interim Chief Financial Officer
New Profit
Managing Partner and Chief Financial Officer
F.B. Heron Foundation
Vice President, Finance and Operations
University of Chicago
Executive Director of Strategy and Research; earlier Director of Financial Strategy
American Express
Vice President, after roles in finance, strategy and business development
Mitchell Madison Group
Associate, management consulting
Cambridge University
BA and MEng, Mechanical Engineering and Economics
Ian Magee smiling outdoors, with green hills behind him

Contact Ian

Email: ian@fortytwofifty.com

LinkedIn

Insights

What Should Organizations Do With a Large Unsolicited — and Unrestricted — One-Time Gift?

Image from the NonProfit PRO article: a pile of cash Learn More

Why Impact Investing Wins the Prisoner's Dilemma

Image from the Trellis article: birds flying out of an open cage Learn More

Why the name FortyTwoFifty?

Painted chart of a glowing route across a blue ocean, passing icebergs toward a bright star

It’s personal on a few levels. FortyTwoFifty refers to the coordinates where the Titanic went down, 42° North and 50° West. The ship was built in my hometown of Belfast, where my great‑grandfather was a carpenter, and where generations of my family worked in the shipyard. It was a marvel of engineering and ambition, and also a painful lesson in what happens when systems fail.

I work with visionary leaders trying to change the world, and I see myself as the engineer who helps make sure their systems actually support the mission. Not only will they not hit the iceberg, they won’t get close to it. We’ll know where all the icebergs are, and we’ll have great visibility into the path of the ship.

There’s also a nod to The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, which cracked my mind open when I was young. In that story, 42 is the answer to the meaning of life, but no one knows the question. Turning 50 was the moment that pushed me to reflect on what I wanted to build next, and that reflection ultimately led to this work.

So FortyTwoFifty holds all of that: ambition, systems, judgment, and meaning. (And I thought it would be easy to remember, too.)

Get in touch: ian@fortytwofifty.com