AFP Member Spotlight: H. Aldervan Daly, CFRE

AFP Member Spotlights are a recurring series of interviews with AFP members, highlighting the unique individuals and career paths that exist within the fundraising profession. If you know an inspiring fundraising professional who deserves to be featured, please email afpmarcom@afpglobal.org.

In this member spotlight we interviewed H. Aldervan Daly, CFRE, chief development and communications officer at HousingPlus, Inc. He shared with us why he is serving as a mentor in this year’s AFP/Blackbaud Emerging Leaders Mentor Program and how his lived experience has improved his ability to talk about the mission of social service organizations.

Q: How did you start your career in the fundraising profession and what led you there?

A: Some of it was that I went to a small liberal arts college in Memphis, Tennessee called Rhodes College, and of the 120 people in my class, 6 of us became fundraisers. I got interested in the profession because I was intrigued by the idea of transferring wealth from one place to another — from someone who had the largess to be able to do something for an organization, community, or country — taking that and making a difference someplace else. I also found that I didn’t mind asking people for money, and I enjoyed the process, so it seemed like a logical thing to do.  

I have an MFA in arts administration specializing in fundraising and development from Virginia Tech. I thought I would spend my career working for theatres, and I worked for a number of theatres and arts organizations early in my career, but when I got to New York, I discovered that my heart was really in social services, so the majority of the work that I’ve done for the last 30 years has been for social services, child welfare, and youth development organizations. I’ve found this is where I can have the greatest impact (though I still love the arts and do a cabaret act here in New York!)

Q: When and why did you decide to become an AFP member?

A: I became a member of AFP when it was still NSFRE (National Society of Fundraising Executives) in 1992 when I was doing a fellowship at Arena Stage in Washington, D.C. My boss referred me—you couldn’t just join at that time—you had to have someone refer you, so I was involved then for a while but fell away.

When I came to New York, it was clear that AFP would be an organization I needed to get involved with here in the City if I was going to grow my professional network and connect with other people who do what I do. Because the NYC chapter is so robust, I didn’t immediately do as much with AFP Global, but once I joined the NYC board, I started to become more involved at the national level as well.

What really changed everything for me was attending AFP ICON. I understood better what AFP was about. I was enthralled seeing all these people from around the world, from different organizations and backgrounds. All of whom I had something in common with.

Q: How has being an AFP member and participating in the AFP affinity groups benefited you in your career?

A: I went to a couple of in-person affinity group meetings at AFP ICON, and I thought this was a fantastic way for me to meet people that I have something in common with, whether that is a common type of organization that we work for, or something personal that we have in common. Now, I sign up for the virtual affinity group meetings whenever I can. I’m a part of the LGBTQ and African American groups, and this year I am the second moderator for the arts and culture and health groups.

Q: You’re going to be participating in the 2024 AFP/Blackbaud Emerging Leaders Mentor Program as a mentor. Why was this something that you were interested in getting involved in? 

A: My mentor, the development director at Arena Stage who encouraged me to first join AFP, was a man of color. I picked that fellowship because I would be working for an African American man and I felt that that was important for me to have as a person of color doing this work, especially then. Now I’m in a position where I can give back and so I wanted to provide my mentee with some of the things that I’ve learned and clarify experiences. Sometimes people will have an experience and they think they’re the only one that this has happened to, so to have someone that you can turn to, who will say, no that happens, these things will happen, and you need to pursue past them and move forward, I thought was very important; I wanted to give that back to the profession to give back to the people in the profession.

Q: What is your favorite word? (only one word) How has this word influenced or inspired your career?

A: Thoughtful. The reason is, if we are conscientious in our work, and thoughtful about how we raise the money, approach our donors, and situate ourselves in this transactional world that we work in, we can find a middle ground that sets healthy boundaries. It also has the connotation of intent. What you do is purposeful and has meaning behind it.

Q: What professional accomplishment are you most proud of?

A: I have worked for several organizations that had small, non-professionalized, fundraising departments and I’ve been able to grow those departments and get them to a place where they are raising large sums of money for their causes, which I consider a great achievement.

My other greatest accomplishment is more personal than professional, though it has helped me professionally as well. My husband and I decided to go through the foster care system to adopt our son and this has helped me tremendously in the work that I’ve done for organizations that do foster care because I have first-hand experience that I can share. It has opened me up to a whole new world of talking about foster care, because it is no longer me listening to someone talk about their experience and trying to translate that into my work. I have the lived experience of knowing what the classes are like, knowing what the process is like, going to court, all of these things, that make me more thoughtful in my approach to my work. 
      
Q: In your opinion, what is the biggest challenge facing the nonprofit fundraising profession today?

A: Two challenges come to mind. I think one is adjusting ourselves to all the changes that have come about during the pandemic, particularly when it comes to DEI and belonging. Organizations have to see the world differently and figure out how to adapt to these changes, and fundraisers, especially fundraisers of color  — we’re figuring out who we are in this new world.

The other challenge is not jumping on the next bandwagon. I see this happening all the time at conferences and on message boards. Suddenly there is a word or a phrase that everyone thinks they should be using, and they don’t stop to think about what works best for their organization. Again a thoughtful approach to the work would keepus from jumping on the next band wagon.

Q: What advice do you have for other fundraising professionals, or people interested in getting into the field?

A: I think the field is professionalized to the level now where you need to get some education, take some classes that teach you the basics of not just the art of fundraising, but what the work entails. Everyone should also make sure that they understand how to use data. You don’t need to be an expert, but you need to understand how the data goes in and how the data comes out because without that you can’t do your job thoughtfully.