🔥 Burning Hot Reading List: All the blog posts on new CEP research about nonprofit burnout and funder understanding, concern, and response (or lack thereof) of this crisis in the nonprofit workforce. Posts are by Center for Effective Philanthropy staff and a variety of guest writers. The first two are research summaries by some of the report authors. These are followed by l reaction pieces from across the field. We appreciate CEP for inviting Fund the People and our CEO Rusty Stahl to be among these guest authors, and that our work is offered as a resource for funders in the report materials. THE BLOG POSTS: 1. This Year’s State of Nonprofits Highlights Mounting Concern About Burnout. By Christina Im Senior Research Analyst, and Seara Grundhoefer, Research Analyst, CEP https://lnkd.in/euGXsbBg 2. Foundations Are Concerned About Nonprofit Staff Burnout, Too. By Seara Grundhoefer, Research Analyst, Center for Effective Philanthropy https://lnkd.in/eDp2P5YZ 3. To Ensure Nonprofit Well-Being, Invest in Wages, Workload, and Working Conditions. By Rusty Stahl, Founder, President & CEO, Fund the People https://lnkd.in/e-wFa79K 4. Enhancing Grantee Well-Being Leads to Long-Term Impact. By Linda Grdina, Research Elder, The Wellbeing Project https://lnkd.in/erFMMEcH 5. Funders: Let’s Stop Making Nonprofits Choose Between Balanced Budgets and Burnout. By Jamie Allison, Executive Director, Walter & Elise Haas Fund https://lnkd.in/eDfGhtmG 6. Adopting a Mental Health Mindset Will Help Both Funders and Nonprofits Thrive. By Elizabeth Brown, Managing Director, Mental Health and Well-Being, Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation https://lnkd.in/efEjg73n 7. Let’s Go Beyond ‘One Foundation’: The Promise of Changing Practices in Philanthropy. By Claire Poelking, Program Officer, MacArthur Foundation You can find all these posts and lots more on them CEP blog: https://cep.org/blog/ THE RESEARCH REPORTS: Here are links to the two studies to which all these blog posts are a response: 1. State of Nonprofits 2024: What Funders Need to Know. By Christina Im, Seara Grundhoefer, and Elisha Smith Arrillaga, Ph.D., Vice President of Research, Center for Effective Philanthropy https://lnkd.in/euVJMFhi 2. How Foundations are Supporting Grantee Staff Well-Being. By the Center for Effective Philanthropy https://lnkd.in/eCZdyB2g
Fund the People’s Post
More Relevant Posts
-
🔥 Burnout is a not-so-quiet crisis in the nonprofit sector. Board members, philanthropists, and nonprofit leaders are encouraged to read some of the articles below on this critical issue facing the sector 👇🏼 #burnout #crises
🔥 Burning Hot Reading List: All the blog posts on new CEP research about nonprofit burnout and funder understanding, concern, and response (or lack thereof) of this crisis in the nonprofit workforce. Posts are by Center for Effective Philanthropy staff and a variety of guest writers. The first two are research summaries by some of the report authors. These are followed by l reaction pieces from across the field. We appreciate CEP for inviting Fund the People and our CEO Rusty Stahl to be among these guest authors, and that our work is offered as a resource for funders in the report materials. THE BLOG POSTS: 1. This Year’s State of Nonprofits Highlights Mounting Concern About Burnout. By Christina Im Senior Research Analyst, and Seara Grundhoefer, Research Analyst, CEP https://lnkd.in/euGXsbBg 2. Foundations Are Concerned About Nonprofit Staff Burnout, Too. By Seara Grundhoefer, Research Analyst, Center for Effective Philanthropy https://lnkd.in/eDp2P5YZ 3. To Ensure Nonprofit Well-Being, Invest in Wages, Workload, and Working Conditions. By Rusty Stahl, Founder, President & CEO, Fund the People https://lnkd.in/e-wFa79K 4. Enhancing Grantee Well-Being Leads to Long-Term Impact. By Linda Grdina, Research Elder, The Wellbeing Project https://lnkd.in/erFMMEcH 5. Funders: Let’s Stop Making Nonprofits Choose Between Balanced Budgets and Burnout. By Jamie Allison, Executive Director, Walter & Elise Haas Fund https://lnkd.in/eDfGhtmG 6. Adopting a Mental Health Mindset Will Help Both Funders and Nonprofits Thrive. By Elizabeth Brown, Managing Director, Mental Health and Well-Being, Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation https://lnkd.in/efEjg73n 7. Let’s Go Beyond ‘One Foundation’: The Promise of Changing Practices in Philanthropy. By Claire Poelking, Program Officer, MacArthur Foundation You can find all these posts and lots more on them CEP blog: https://cep.org/blog/ THE RESEARCH REPORTS: Here are links to the two studies to which all these blog posts are a response: 1. State of Nonprofits 2024: What Funders Need to Know. By Christina Im, Seara Grundhoefer, and Elisha Smith Arrillaga, Ph.D., Vice President of Research, Center for Effective Philanthropy https://lnkd.in/euVJMFhi 2. How Foundations are Supporting Grantee Staff Well-Being. By the Center for Effective Philanthropy https://lnkd.in/eCZdyB2g
This Year’s State of Nonprofits Highlights Mounting Concern About Burnout | The Center for Effective Philanthropy
https://cep.org
To view or add a comment, sign in
-
Thank you Jamie Allison. Yes, yes, yes, and yes! Funders – please take a moment of your time and read her blog post at the Center for Effective Philanthropy. Two things jumped out at me regarding how she described the way the Walter & Elise Haas Fund engages with their grantee partners: 1) They are in constant dialogue with their partners and 2) They foster the kind of relationship with partners in which grantees can share what’s really happening on the ground. These simple approaches are transformative in the funder/grantee relationship. And these approaches can be undertaken by funders of any type, of any size, and in any location. If you are a funder, and you are reading this, give this some thought – What is the quality of your relationships with your grantee partners? Do your grantee partners feel comfortable to be candid with you about what’s going right – and what’s challenging – at their organization? If you asked your partners, would they say that they were in a constant dialogue with you? To be sure, all funders may not have the capacity or infrastructure to implement the type of programs undertaken by the Haas Fund. The trick is for funders to think about what they CAN do with the assets they have at their disposal. What can you do? It might be something as simple as asking about staff well-being in your application. Or getting a few of your grantee partners together over coffee to ask them, “How’s it going out there?” (I’ve had a client do both things.) Or connecting your grantees to capacity building organizations in your community. For example, here in DC, we have a great group – Spur Local – who routinely convenes cohorts for BIPOC leaders to provide training and resources. I’m with Jamie. Nonprofits should not be put in a position where they have to choose balanced budgets over staff well-being. Funders need to understand, and support as much as possible, what it truly costs to successfully manage a sustainable organization. I am happy to work with any funder who wants to explore these and other ways that they can transform the relationships they have with their grantees. (As are my fellow members of the National Network of Consultants to Grantmakers (NNCG).) I’ve been on both sides of this –grantseeking and grantmaking - so I know what nonprofits are going through out there. These organizations are ready to make the best possible impact on their communities and funders have the opportunity to enable them to do just that. Let’s explore what we can achieve together. (I am looking forward to CEP's webinar on Thursday as it discusses the State of Nonprofits report. Should be an interesting presentation!) #funders #grantmaking #grantmakers #philanthropy
Funders: Let’s Stop Making Nonprofits Choose Between Balanced Budgets and Burnout - The Center for Effective Philanthropy
https://cep.org
To view or add a comment, sign in
-
I predict that, by the end of this decade (if not before), it will be crystal clear to funders that the future of effective, equitable grantmaking will center around investing in the workforce of nonprofit grantees. Although nonprofit leaders don’t have the “hard power” (direct decisionmaking authority) to bring about this change, they DO have “soft power” (indirect influence) over how funders perceive this forthcoming reality . But nonprofits only have that soft power if they USE it. Otherwise, that potential power just lies dormant and voiceless. The more often nonprofit executive directors tell their funders why they want and need support to invest in their staff and people-systems, the more power nonprofits have to secure these investments. You can’t get it if you don’t ask for it. Here’s an important side benefit: As more and more of you nonprofit leaders raise these talent justice needs with your funders, it benefits not only your individual org, but ALL nonprofits in that community. Here’s how: As more and more nonprofit leaders talk about investing in staff, it becomes clear to funders that this is an issue across many grantees, across the whole sector. And it becomes clear that the funders need to not just respond to individual asks, but to proactively learn what is needed across the field, and take broader action in a supportive and responsive fashion. Now is the moment for nonprofit leaders to stop being afraid to talk about your staffing needs with funders! Now is the time to be bold and forthright about it. Now is the time to be strategically vulnerable with your partners in philanthropy. Your funders will thank you for it. Your board will thank you for it. Most importantly, your staff will thank you for it. If you want to read more on this, check out my new essay, “To Ensure Nonprofit Well-Being, Invest in Wages, Workload, and Working Conditions”. It’s a guest post for Center for Effective Philanthropy blog. https://lnkd.in/eguhhFhX
To Ensure Nonprofit Well-Being, Invest in Wages, Workload, and Working Conditions - The Center for Effective Philanthropy
https://cep.org
To view or add a comment, sign in
-
Many nonprofits function on a Good Vibes basis: needs of the community seem to be met, current client base seem grateful and say the organization is great, and the budget isn’t consistently going into the red. Meanwhile, other KPIs are not accurately measured or ignored completely, such as turnover in staff, volunteers, and donors. Older programs are getting “dialed in” and/or mismanaged, changes made are not being measured in any significant way to support the need for the change, and overall spending is up. While none of these things are necessarily disasters -some are “growing pains” especially if the org is going through leadership changes or culture shifts- it is vital to the sustainability and health to have a consistent and accurate method of assessment for all the organization’s services. The general Good Vibes only sentiment in nonprofits can carry staff and volunteers for awhile until cracks become noticeable and even pose dangers to the community they serve. Metrics of health of the organization will also be necessary to compete in larger Grants and Funding as we endeavor to make the case for current program successes and sustainability, while improving and expanding our capacity to do more. Grant Funders want to know that we are currently "successful" and have the operational infrastructure to continue to be successful with expansion. It would be like trying to add a second floor to a building that hasn't been assessed for that. But how? Aye. There's the rub! Every nonprofit is different (obvi!) and a careful assessment means specific metrics that are relevant to your org. It also means being willing to get into the weeds and do some pulling. There are metrics not currently being calculated while metrics that are outdated or almost completely useless take up valuable staff time. And as programs and services shift in scope or day-to-day operations change, the old metrics are almost retrofitted to be relevant but are not telling the whole story. Looking carefully at the Key Performance Indicators of every program and service offered is the first step to getting the whole sequence right. What do we measure and why? Who is looking at those metrics frequently enough and are we adjusting according to data or will we ignore caution signs as they come up? It's a constant juggle of data and Good Vibes Only accountability. It's why we're in a nonprofit and not a business. It's why most of us work so hard because we want our programs and services to not get cut from funding. But who can say when something is not working the way it should? If you aren't using data, you might as well just flip a coin. But if your funders find out, they may stop giving you the coins to flip!! #Nonprofits #ArcstoneGraphic
To view or add a comment, sign in
-
Burnout remains a top concern for nonprofit leaders, and there are steps philanthropy can take to ensure the well-being of their grantees. EGA member, Jamie Allison, Executive Director of the Walter & Elise Haas Fund, shares reflections on the Center for Effective Philanthropy’s “State of Nonprofits” burnout report. The report found that Women of Color leaders of mid-sized nonprofits ($2M - $5M) have the most consistent burnout in the sector. Women of Color navigate deep biases and systemic obstacles, and have outsized responsibilities to best meet the needs of their communities, stakeholders, and team. Jamie outlines four steps that philanthropy can take to better support partners and organizations in their well-being. 💡 Invest directly in the well-being of BIPOC leaders. 💡 Create the conditions for better nonprofit job quality for the entire grantee organization 💡 Talk to your grantees about their compensation and benefits philosophy. 💡 When exiting, be transparent — and generous. Read more on how philanthropy can battle burnout with balance here: https://lnkd.in/eDfGhtmG #BIPOCMentalHealthMonth
Funders: Let’s Stop Making Nonprofits Choose Between Balanced Budgets and Burnout | The Center for Effective Philanthropy
https://cep.org
To view or add a comment, sign in
-
I conduct a board conversation on how to have your Muslim institution adopt Islamic values in its Board Governance structure. Founder I Board Committee
What life cycle stage is my nonprofit organisation in? Nonprofits organisation evolve just as the whole nonprofit sector does. In addition to being responsive to the changing external environment, Executive Directors (EDs) must watch for the internal changes that are natural to their nonprofit's lifecycle. One important point to remember about the organisational life cycle, though, is that not all nonprofits move through all the typical stages. Or an organisation may move through several stages and then backtracking into the earlier stages. The process of life cycle development in nonprofits is nonlinear. An organisation in its start-up life cycle phase may enter a period of increased conflict among passionate volunteers about the direction to take the programs. Rather than seeing this conflict as a problem for the nonprofit, the ED should look for at it as a certain phase in the start-up life cycle stage, where more planning is done. Board and staff in an organisation in the mature life cycle may find they have lost their focus on what is important, and programs no longer seem connected to each other. This phase should trigger discussion and reflection on mission, vision and purpose, which may bring a sense of renewal or rebirth to everyone in the nonprofit as they gain a new sense of focus and direction. EDs are wise to assess the stage of the life cycle their nonprofits currently occupy and to determine if areas of the organisation are progressing faster than others. Here is a process you can use to help you determine what stages or transition period your nonprofit is currently in: ✅Have everyone reflect on your organisation's history, and changes that it has seen, and its past accomplishments. List the significant accomplishments and periods of change in your history. ✅Ask people to identify the nonprofit's current strengths and the challenges they think it is facing. List the significant strengths and challenges. ✅Now show everyone the life cycle chart. Ask them to review the list of historical changes and accomplishments and the strengths and challenges. Then have everyone individually choose a stage on the life cycle chart that they think most closely matches the data on the lists. They will probably be a variety of choices. ✅Allow a full discussion to occur with each person's choice of position in the life cycle ✅Narrow the possible stages to the one that is favoured by the majority of the people participating in this exercise. This is most likely where your organisation is in the life cycle. ✅If no clear majority opinion emerges, you may be in more than one stage. If this is the case, discuss which areas of the organisation are in one stage and which are in another. This discussion should help participants understand why your nonprofit is is more than one stage. Does the ED agree, disagree or share a different angle on this? #CNPL #nonprofitboard #executivedirector #singapore
To view or add a comment, sign in
-
Fund the People is excited to announce our California Convenings, in partnership with The James Irvine Foundation, Walter & Elise Haas Fund, San Francisco Foundation’s ReWork the Bay, and many others. For more information, to receive updates on convening dates and locations, or to contact us, please visit https://lnkd.in/eXEGQWn9. This week we are at the Center for Effective Philanthropy #CEP2023 conference in Boston, where our Rusty Stahl will moderate a session on how funders can best support nonprofit workers in the age of burnout. The California Convenings effort will start with three Regional Gatherings, followed by a Statewide Conference, to address job quality and workforce investments in the nonprofit sector. Dates and locations TBA. To get info, updates, and contact us, visit https://lnkd.in/eXEGQWn9 or use the QR code. We’ll bring people together to listen across silos, share strategies and models, and take action. Folks are welcome from across CA and beyond. “No matter your philanthropic strategy, your work depends on the well-being of nonprofit workers.” — Pui Ling Tam, Walter & Elise Haas Fund, Rob Hope, San Francisco Foundation’s ReWork the Bay, & Leslie Payne, The James Irvine Foundation “We Need to Talk about Nonprofit Job Quality More” on the Walter & Elise Haas Fund blog (link to the blog post is available at https://lnkd.in/esZN925a Here’s just 3 of the many reasons this matters, as discussed in the blog post: 1. It’s about racial and gender equity. Under-compensation of nonprofit jobs perpetuates racial and gender inequality. 2. The nonprofit sector needs to support, recruit, and retain talent in order to serve and organize communities with excellence. 3. The nonprofit sector, as a major employer, need to focus on quality jobs. Nonprofit workers are a powerful force for good. But after a century of underinvestment in the nonprofit workforce, and a slew of new challenges in recent years, the nonprofit workforce faces an existential Age of Burnout. Thus, as recent research from Center for Effective Philanthropy and National Council of Nonprofits has shown, funders need to understand and respond to the #1 urgent issue facing nonprofits today: Support Our Staff (SOS)! Your invited to join the conversation and be part of the solution! #FundThePeople #TalentJustice #TalentInvesting #FundingThatWorks #Nonprofits #Funders #Philanthropy #Fundraising #FutureOfWork #JustPay #relief4charities #nonprofitwellbeing #nonprofitjobs #TrustBasedPhilanthropy
To view or add a comment, sign in
-
A new survey of nonprofit leaders finds staff burnout is a major concern. The 2024 "State of Nonprofits" report from the Center for Effective Philanthropy finds 95% of nonprofit leaders say staff burnout over the last year is worrying - and 57% name staff issues as one of their biggest challenges. The Center's Vice President for Research Elisha Smith Arrillaga, Ph.D. said the problem is getting worse. "Burnout remains a top concern for most nonprofit leaders, which was also true last year," said Arrillaga. "But this year, we also find that half of nonprofit leaders are feeling more concerned about their own burnout than this time last year. And so that's really disconcerting to hear." 239 nonprofits took part in the survey. Researchers also found most nonprofits had a balanced budget or a surplus, this fiscal year and last. Rusty Stahl - founder, president and CEO of the nonprofit Fund the People - said many nonprofit leaders hesitate to hire more staff because of unstable funding or restrictions on how money can be used. But, he noted some progress. Recently, some of the country's biggest foundations moved to loosen limits on what can be spent on so-called indirect costs - such as staff and benefits. "Nonprofit staff are not overhead," said Stahl. "They're the bedrock of organizational effectiveness. You would want to invest significantly in making sure that that bedrock is in place because everything else rides on it." Stahl said nonprofit leaders can reduce turnover by focusing on staff wellness and improving organizational culture, employee engagement, pay, benefits, and workflow. #burnout #nonprofitjobs
Report: Burnout a major concern in nonprofit sector
publicnewsservice.org
To view or add a comment, sign in
-
Check out this brief news report from Public News Service about the new Center for Effective Philanthropy research on the burnout crisis facing nonprofit leaders. The study finds that burnout remains a heightened challenge, and may be impacting more chief nonprofit executives, even as nonprofit balance sheets look healthier. Fund the People's Rusty Stahl is quoted on the reason for this seeming paradox, and the fundamental importance of the nonprofit workforce. Read below or click on the link to read or listen to the story!
A new survey of nonprofit leaders finds staff burnout is a major concern. The 2024 "State of Nonprofits" report from the Center for Effective Philanthropy finds 95% of nonprofit leaders say staff burnout over the last year is worrying - and 57% name staff issues as one of their biggest challenges. The Center's Vice President for Research Elisha Smith Arrillaga, Ph.D. said the problem is getting worse. "Burnout remains a top concern for most nonprofit leaders, which was also true last year," said Arrillaga. "But this year, we also find that half of nonprofit leaders are feeling more concerned about their own burnout than this time last year. And so that's really disconcerting to hear." 239 nonprofits took part in the survey. Researchers also found most nonprofits had a balanced budget or a surplus, this fiscal year and last. Rusty Stahl - founder, president and CEO of the nonprofit Fund the People - said many nonprofit leaders hesitate to hire more staff because of unstable funding or restrictions on how money can be used. But, he noted some progress. Recently, some of the country's biggest foundations moved to loosen limits on what can be spent on so-called indirect costs - such as staff and benefits. "Nonprofit staff are not overhead," said Stahl. "They're the bedrock of organizational effectiveness. You would want to invest significantly in making sure that that bedrock is in place because everything else rides on it." Stahl said nonprofit leaders can reduce turnover by focusing on staff wellness and improving organizational culture, employee engagement, pay, benefits, and workflow. #burnout #nonprofitjobs
Report: Burnout a major concern in nonprofit sector
publicnewsservice.org
To view or add a comment, sign in
-
The Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP)'s recent survey reveals that over a third of foundation leaders are concerned about burnout in the organizations they support. This burnout is impacting nonprofits' ability to achieve their missions and, by extension, the goals of their funders. CEP's research underscores the importance of funders understanding and supporting grantee well-being. Prioritizing grantee well-being isn't just compassionate—it's essential for effective philanthropy. That's why to combat this issue, EBCF is funding frontline community organizing and movement-building organizations with multi-year general operating support. We're also investing in movement infrastructure projects like the Bay Area Power Building Funders Table. Read more about how foundations are tackling this issue and other practices that are making a difference. https://lnkd.in/eDp2P5YZ
Foundations Are Concerned About Nonprofit Staff Burnout, Too | The Center for Effective Philanthropy
https://cep.org
To view or add a comment, sign in
2,457 followers