We’ve refreshed our award categories to better reflect generosity and leadership in our community for 2026.
Please read below for the proposed 2026 award categories and complete the following short survey which should take less than 5 minutes. Results and feedback are anonymous.
Your feedback matters and is greatly appreciated in helping us shape this year's event. Thank you!
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The Community Heart Award (Amended for 2026)
This award honours an individual or group (family, or friends) who has demonstrated meaningful and impactful generosity within the community. Their support—financial, volunteer, or through community leadership—has strengthened charitable work and inspired others to give. Nominations will be assessed based on the impact on the organization or community, NOT the size of the gift.
Outstanding Volunteer Fundraiser
This award recognizes a volunteer who has shown exceptional leadership in mobilizing others, coordinating fundraising efforts, or championing a cause. Nominees should demonstrate commitment across one or more organizations, motivation of others, and meaningful community impact.
Community Impact Through Business Award (New to 2026)
This award honours a locally rooted business whose commitment to community is woven into how it operates and leads. Through charitable giving, employee engagement, creative initiatives, or sustained community partnerships, the business demonstrates that success and generosity can grow together. Open to local businesses of any size, this award celebrates authentic leadership, encouraging others to participate in philanthropy, and meaningful impact in the Ottawa and Area community.
Outstanding Philanthropic Group or Collective (Amended for 2026)
This award recognizes a group—such as a service club, neighbourhood group, school club, employee team, micro-granting circle, or informal collective—that has come together to create meaningful community impact through giving, fundraising, advocacy, or volunteerism.
Outstanding Youth Philanthropist (Amended for 2026)
This award celebrates an individual or group of young people (up to age 24) who have shown exceptional commitment to their community through fundraising, volunteering, advocacy, or leadership. The award recognizes initiative, creativity, and the positive impact of their contributions.
The IDEA Inspiration Award (Amended for 2026)
This award recognizes an organization or individual who demonstrates a strong commitment to advancing Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access (IDEA) in philanthropy and fundraising. It celebrates those who champion community-led solutions, promote equity, and foster inclusive environments within the fundraising profession and beyond.
The Generation Forward Award (New to 2026)
This award honours an individual or estate whose charitable gift—planned or realized—reflects a deep commitment to lasting community impact. Recipients share a belief that caring for others extends beyond a lifetime, and that thoughtful planning today can create opportunity, dignity, and support for generations to come. This recognition celebrates foresight, values, and quiet leadership rooted in compassion and local impact.
Outstanding Fundraising Professional
The Award for Outstanding Fundraising Professional honours an outstanding individual fundraising professional who works for a nonprofit, charitable organization. Nominees must have a minimum of 15 years of experience as a professional fundraiser. This person is dedicated to serving charitable institutions and is committed to the advancement of philanthropy and the fundraising sector. They must also be a current AFP member.
Outstanding AFP Rising Star
This award recognizes an individual who has at least 3 years of experience as a professional fundraiser working directly for a non-profit, charitable organization, and who is a rising star in the field of philanthropy. It aims to recognize the leadership of an individual who brings a breath of fresh air to the community while promoting the values of AFP and who represents the best of the next generation in the profession. Preference is given to current AFP members.
Power Behind the Purpose Award (New to 2026)
This award honours a fundraising professional or team whose leadership strengthens the infrastructure that makes philanthropy possible. Through operational insight, systems thinking, and a commitment to excellence, they power fundraising success. Whether through data integrity, financial stewardship, donor experience, logistics, technology, or administrative leadership, they transform complexity into clarity and strategy into sustainable impact. This award celebrates practitioners whose work is foundational, strategic, and indispensable — creating the conditions for mission-driven fundraising to thrive.
Outstanding Innovation in Fundraising (New to 2026)
This award recognizes a fundraising campaign that pushes boundaries and redefines what’s possible. It celebrates bold, creative thinking across one or more fundraising channels—such as direct mail, events, digital, peer-to-peer, or integrated approaches—to deliver standout results. These campaigns demonstrate “outside-the-box” ideas, thoughtful risk-taking, and a fresh approach that challenges traditional approaches. Above all, it showcases what can be achieved when great minds, creativity, and strategy come together to inspire donors and drive meaningful impact.
