Guest article by Adam Revay of ASR Consulting
An epidemic is gripping the nonprofit sector, and no one is safe. Not executives, not fundraisers, not frontline staff. This isn’t a new virus. It’s burnout, and it could become one of the defining leadership crises of our time.
Burnout is endemic. According to YMCA WorkWell and Charity Insights Canada, 58% of nonprofit staff and a staggering 71% of leaders report feeling burned out. Carleton University found that 41% of staff considering leaving cite burnout as the primary reason.
The risk is even higher for nonprofits where demand regularly exceeds capacity. For struggling nonprofits, losing your best people to burnout, on top of everything else, can push your organization past the breaking point..
Nonprofit leaders and their team members are miracle workers. Every day, they improve the lives of countless people, and they do it on a shoestring budget while shouldering an immense emotional burden. Just because we can do it doesn’t mean we should. And it certainly doesn’t make it sustainable. Yet, when this burden finally catches up to us, we write it off as a personal issue, or worse, a performance problem.
That tells us we have a lot to learn about burnout and its causes. Burnout is the natural consequence of chronic stress. As the body becomes increasingly flooded with stress, it becomes harder to function. Burnout makes people less productive, less present, and more isolated. All too often, we mistake that for laziness or disengagement. If we’re ever going to deal with burnout as effectively as we pursue our missions, we need to reframe our understanding of burnout.
Task overload can cause burnout, but it’s rarely the only factor. People with high-demand jobs who also have a lot of autonomy and agency rarely burn out. Workload matters, but it’s seldom the root cause.
A lack of direction or clarity can lead to cognitive overload and burnout. Having a clear understanding of our place in the bigger picture, and knowing how each task we accomplish drives the organization forward, is extremely important for mitigating burnout. Never assume employees will figure this out on their own. Like organizational culture, leaders need to model connection to the mission.
If people in high-demand, high autonomy jobs rarely burn out, it’s because they have the resources and support they need to succeed. Expecting our employees to work the miracles we demand of them, without the right tools for the job, is a recipe for burnout. Employees should be given every opportunity to succeed, and that includes giving them the resources they need to do their jobs effectively. And, understand that “resources” go well beyond funding. Do they have the right systems in place? For example, does your fundraising team have a way to search for and identify funding opportunities effectively? Does the team have the authority to make decisions and respond to issues as they arise, or are they locked behind bottlenecks waiting for somebody to approve every move they make? Removing roadblocks and providing real support is what separates thriving teams from burned-out ones.
If your people don’t feel like their work is being recognized and valued, they’re at risk for burnout, too. If they only feel seen when something goes off the rails, they’ll be in an even worse position. Regularly acknowledging and appreciating your team’s efforts can significantly reduce the risk of burnout. It costs almost nothing to keep tabs on our people and occasionally pull them aside, or call them out in a meeting, to thank them for their contributions to the team and the organization. And the sense of belonging and positivity that comes with recognition builds a strong bulwark against burnout.
It’s essential to understand that burnout is not just an individual problem, but a cultural issue. A burned-out team member can negatively impact their colleagues, but changes to our organizational cultures are another way to mitigate burnout.
Many nonprofit leaders are proud of what their organizations can accomplish with limited resources, but this can lead us to praising overwork, even unintentionally. A burnout-aware culture normalizes boundaries around workload, stress, and time management.
And, while being proud of our ingenuity and resourcefulness should never be lost, that doesn’t give us license to constantly ask our people to ‘do more with less.’ In the long term, that attitude is unsustainable. That’s why it’s essential to invest in tools that help our employees stay organized, reduce the grunt work and give space to focus on strategy and relationships.
Last, but not least, we must listen to our people. Regular check-ins are valuable tools, and when used correctly, they also provide a barometer for how our employees are managing stress and avoiding burnout.
Burnout’s prevalence in our sector means you’re at risk of losing some of your best people. And you probably don’t see it. You might even be among them. But if you act early—if you listen, adjust, and lead—you can build a burnout-resistant culture. Not by demanding less from your team, but by leading them better.
If the thought of making changes to your team or organization’s culture feels daunting, it doesn’t have to be. You can take the first step towards a burnout-resistant culture by booking a free introductory call with Adam Revay at ASR Consulting and getting the clarity you need to work through team or culture issues.