Delphine Haslé holds the title of professional fundraiser, but when she describes the works she does, she thinks of herself more as a matchmaker.
“As a fundraiser, you have to be a great listener,” she told OBJ. “You have to be curious. But it’s not about me. I’m just a conduit between the donor and the causes that matter to them. To be a good fundraiser, you have to be okay with just being a conduit.”
On Wednesday, the Ottawa chapter of AFP (Association of Fundraising Professionals) celebrated the 31st annual Philanthropy Awards at the National Arts Centre. The event is generally known as Ottawa’s biggest night for philanthropy, where new and emerging fundraisers and donors are recognized for their contributions.
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This year, Haslé received the outstanding fundraising professional award, which recognizes an individual within the non-profit sector with more than 15 years of experience serving charitable institutions and advancing philanthropic efforts.
“It’s humbling and I’m so grateful,” said Haslé, who is executive director and chief development officer of Perley Health Foundation. “It’s all these emotions. There were about 30 people with me, from my team, my board, some of our major donors. Because really, it’s not just about me. Fundraising is really a team sport.”
Though she has spent the past 25 years in the non-profit sector, Haslé did not begin her career in fundraising. In fact, when she was in university, she said fundraising was not promoted as a potential career path for students.
“I actually have a master’s in oceanography and I worked at first as an oceanographer,” she said. “There was no program for fundraising or philanthropy. I don’t even think I knew exactly what it meant back then. That’s something that has changed.”
Haslé moved to Ottawa in 2000 and, a few years later, took a job at Ottawa Riverkeeper. Though she started out running the water quality program, Haslé said it wasn’t long before her interest in fundraising was piqued.
“When you work in NGOs, you have to raise money to sustain your program,” she said. “One of the board members at the time, he was the first one to look at me and say, ‘She has more fundraising in her than she knows.’ He really pushed me and gave me access to training. Together, we started their membership program there. For me, it was an a-ha moment.”
After four years at Riverkeeper, she went on to a fundraising role with Carefor Health and Community Services and earned her certified fundraising executive designation in 2015. She later joined the Perley and Rideau Veterans’ Health Centre. In 2019, she became the executive director of Perley Health Foundation and last year took on the role of chief development officer.
While donors are still driven by the same motives, Haslé said some things have changed since she started, especially in her sector.
“There was nothing digital when I started way back then, so those tools are different,” she said. “People did not want to talk about aging as much, and aging with dignity and joy. That has changed over the years. I think the pandemic made a big difference. We saw that we were not doing our best and we all had a senior that was isolated during that time. That opened our eyes.”
Though Ottawa is what she calls a “small city market,” Haslé said the professional fundraisers and the philanthropic community are punching above their weight.
“We all work together and celebrate our wins,” she said. “And our donors … we have amazing people who want to give back. Ottawa is so lucky to have this culture of giving back and a lot of very generous people.”
As a leader within the local fundraising community, Haslé said the future of the sector is bright with so much young talent.
“We have these really smart young people who are really committed,” she said. “They are driven, but they want to be part of the community and they always think in different ways. It all comes from the heart. Ottawa is going to be a better city in many years to come because they are coming in. They are so excited about it and it’s really nice to see.”
AFP Philanthropy Awards recipients for 2025:
- The Griffin Bell Family – Outstanding Individual Philanthropist
- Ashbury Parents’ Guild – Outstanding Philanthropic Group
- TAAG Corp. – Outstanding Small Business Philanthropist
- Oliver Saner – AFP Ottawa Rising Star
- Jim Kyte – Outstanding Leadership and Focus on IDEA (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Access)
- Delphine Haslé – Outstanding Fundraising Professional
- Delaila Salem – Outstanding Individual Youth Philanthropist
- Altis Recruitment and Technology – Outstanding Corporate Philanthropist
- Adrian Burns and Greg Kane – Outstanding Volunteer Fundraiser
