I couldn’t stop crying. A holiday party hosted by a colleague was starting in about an hour. I’d love to say that I hadn’t felt like this before, but I had. But, this time, it wasn’t postpartum depression or difficulty dealing with isolation during COVID. This time, I knew I had careened directly into a wall called burnout.
​
My introvert husband volunteered to go alone in my stead. I was so grateful. He would say I had a headache, which after all the tears was true. I retreated to my bed. I was so embarrassed that I could not pull myself together, especially since my expertise was relationships.  

I had sold a house, bought a house in a new town, began going into an actual office again after being a remote employee for 8 years, hired an entire team, and was juggling what seemed like 18,000 competing demands of fundraising for an institution that needed much more than they had in the donor pipeline. I had no friends outside of work in my new town and I had high blood pressure (literally). Even after many months, my house still looked like a storage unit and we lived in the rabbit trails between stacks of boxes that I had neither the time nor energy to unpack.

At the time, did I think that something needed to change about my new life? No, I blamed myself for not adjusting well, for not keeping up, for what I perceived as the gap between my public performance and my real life.

I’m now back to my previous remote fundraising position, mixing travel with Zoom meetings. And my energy and zeal for work has made a dramatic comeback. I have a broader network locally than I did before, with time to take walks with a friend most mornings, teach poetry and dance, write this blog and make TikTok videos, and go to yoga classes. My house is a comfortable place to be most days. And I’m raising more money than ever!
​
Burnout is more than a buzzword. It is a genuine crisis, not just for the individuals experiencing it, but for the organizations that depend on their energy, creativity, and dedication. And when burnout leads to turnover, it’s more than just a human resource issue; it’s a threat to your nonprofit's ability to build lasting relationships with donors and, ultimately, to its financial sustainability.

Burnout is that creeping exhaustion that makes you dread the next meeting, the next phone call, the next donor visit. According to a report by the Center for Effective Philanthropy, 69% of nonprofit leaders are worried about burnout among their staff. And why wouldn’t they be? Nonprofit work environments are often high-stress, resource-strapped, and emotionally taxing – conditions ripe for burnout.
​
What’s alarming is that this isn’t just a leadership problem. Across the board, from entry-level staff to executive directors, burnout is taking its toll. A survey by Nonprofit Hive found that 77% of respondents reported feeling completely burned out, with 20% admitting they were "crispy" – right on the edge of burnout. This isn’t just a bad day at the office; it’s a systemic issue that’s been brewing for years.

Burnout doesn’t just lead to unhappy employees; it leads to turnover. And in fundraising, turnover is more than just a logistical headache – it’s a financial disaster waiting to happen. When your fundraiser leaves, they don’t just take their expertise with them; their leaving disrupts and derails the relationships they’ve spent months or even years cultivating.

Consider this: A Council for the Advancement and Support of Education study on principal gifts at colleges and universities found that more than half of $1 million+ donors had relationships with the institution lasting between 11 and 40 years. On average, it takes nearly 20 months from the initial conversation to the moment a principal gift is booked. Now, imagine the damage that occurs when a key fundraiser – who’s only been around for 16-18 months – leaves before they can seal the deal. The impact on your bottom line is clear, but the real loss is the relationship that never had the chance to fully develop.
​
A 2022 analysis by Ruffalo Noel Levitz of over 3,000 major givers further underscores this point. Before making their first $25,000 gift, donors typically spent an average of 11.9 years as supporters, made 13.8 gifts, and had been giving for over 7 years. These numbers tell us one thing: major gifts and especially principal gifts don’t happen overnight. They’re the result of long-term relationships built on trust, mutual respect, and consistency.

In far too many organizations, the response to turnover is to double down on goals, increase oversight, lean on metrics, and push employees even harder. In my opinion, this is the death knell of the 20th-century leadership model – a model built on command and control, where employees are expected to follow orders and meet targets, no matter the cost to their well-being.
​
But here’s the thing: That approach doesn’t work anymore. In fact, it’s going to bite these organizations hard. High turnover rates disrupt the donor pipeline, making it nearly impossible to cultivate the kind of long-term relationships necessary for securing major and principal gifts. When fundraisers are constantly churning through roles, your organization is left in a perpetual state of starting over – losing momentum, missing opportunities, and ultimately, falling short of its mission.

It’s time for a change. The 21st-century workplace must be built on a foundation of trust, flexibility, and autonomy. This isn’t just the humane thing to do; it’s the smart thing to do for the health and viability of your fundraising efforts. Treat your fundraisers like the professionals they are. Give them the autonomy to manage their work, the flexibility to find balance, and the trust to build relationships with donors in a way that’s authentic and sustainable.
​
When you create a workplace that supports people as people, you don’t just prevent burnout; you enhance your organization’s ability to thrive. Long-term relationships with donors are the bedrock of sustainable fundraising. By fostering a supportive, empowering work environment, you’re investing in those relationships – and in the future of your nonprofit.

So, how do we move forward? Here are a few strategies to consider:

1. Prioritize Work-Life Balance: Encourage self-care and provide resources to support mental health. Make sure your team feels empowered to take time off when they need it.
2. Set Realistic Goals: Be mindful of the pressure you’re placing on your fundraisers. Set goals that are challenging but achievable, and recognize when they’ve been met.
3. Invest in Professional Development: Support your fundraisers in their career growth. Offer training, mentorship, and opportunities for advancement within your organization.
4. Foster a Culture of Trust: Move away from micromanagement. Trust your team to do their jobs well, and give them the autonomy to make decisions.
5. Build Community: Create opportunities for your team to connect with each other and with leadership. This could be through regular check-ins, team-building activities, or open forums for discussion.

Burnout and high turnover aren’t just HR issues – they’re existential threats to the future of your nonprofit. But you aren’t powerless. By adopting a leadership model that prioritizes trust, flexibility, and autonomy, you can create a work environment where fundraisers thrive, long-term donor relationships are nurtured, and your organization’s financial sustainability is secured.

It’s time to leave behind the outdated command-and-control leadership model and embrace a new approach that recognizes the value of your people and the critical role they play in your mission. Let’s build a future where nonprofits aren’t just surviving but thriving – where fundraisers are supported, donors are engaged, and our communities are better off because of it.

QUESTIONS FOR YOU? Have you experienced burnout? Does your organization have high turnover? If so, why do you think that is? What else do you think can be done to keep good people in the fundraising and nonprofit sector (in a healthy way)? Let me know in the comments! 
​
[Updated for 2025]
 
Cheers!​

P.S. If you’re feeling the weight of constant fundraising pressure and the creeping burnout that comes with it, you’re not alone—and you don’t have to muscle through it alone either. Join me for Building Fundraising Confidence, a free live webinar on 5/28. It's designed to help you rediscover your voice, sharpen your message, and build a plan that actually works. It’s practical, supportive, and CFRE approved. Register now here!

PPS - I hope you’ll continue the conversation by subscribing to Real Deal Fundraising. When you subscribe, you’ll get my monthly newsletter email, which includes the best articles on fundraising, productivity and cool stuff every week. The whole thing is curated awesomeness as well as freebies like webinars, instructional videos, and whatever else I can put together to be helpful to you!

If you liked this post, you may also like these:

• How to Climb Out of Burnout
• Impostor Syndrome
• Building your Self Care Practice
• Do You Work for a 21st Century Institution?
• Why Nonprofits Shouldn't Sleep on IRA Rollovers

You know what kind of person makes a great phonathon caller. It's easy to spot characteristics such as confidence, sincerity, and enthusiasm in any conversation. But the most important variable to the success of a phonathon caller (or any fundraiser) isn't personality or even work ethic, it's RETENTION. Whether or not they stick with job will largely determine their success and yours.

So, in an interview process, the content of your questions should be about the potential longevity of the candidate. You can assess the other qualitative characteristics while you are talking about other things. 

I'm hiring right now to build a phonathon program for the seminary I work for and these are the only interview questions I am using and I know I'm getting the best team players with this method. I've used these three questions for a long time and they help you find awesome callers who will stick with it and learn to be outstanding young fundraisers. In fact, they are actually great questions to ask candidates for any position. None of them are specific to call center or fundraising. They are all about how the candidate views work and keeping their commitments.

• Why do you want to work here? How does this position fit into your long term goals?

This question gets at motivations for working. Is this student working only because their parents told them they had to get a job or just for pocket money? Or will this be just a job that they need to keep, either to build their resume or because they need the funds?

Better yet, do they indicate an interest in the business of philanthropy or an understanding of how the skills gained by working at the call center will help them long term?

• How do you keep yourself organized?

I love this question because the answer gives you a window into how a candidate thinks. Some will be very specific and detailed: “I write everything in my planner and I compose a new to-do list every morning so I know what I need to accomplish each day.”

Other answers will be more vague and abstract. I won’t say that these are not a good match for call center work, but these more abstract students may need more structure and guidance. If, however, you see an over-involved, over-scheduled student who can’t answer this question concretely, that’s a problem.

• Tell me about a time when you displayed a high degree of personal integrity. 

This question strikes at the heart of whether this potential employee is a professional. If they can cite a concrete, specific example of this, you'll know you have someone you can trust. I had a candidate once who told me about busting up a back alley, ticket selling ring at the Chuck E. Cheese she worked for. This is by-far my favorite answer ever to this question. Although at the time she was only a freshman and quite shy, I took a chance on her and made her a call center supervisor. I never regretted that decision. 

Those who have a high degree of personal integrity and can articulate their values in a clear way are loathe to quit when they have committed to something important. They can become the trusted core of your team.

What are your favorite interview questions and why? Try these questions out and see if you don't make your interview process more efficient by both saving time and getting better callers through the hiring process. 

If you liked this post, you will probably love my book How to Staff Your Phonathon Super-Fast, Seven Secrets to Fill the Seats. It's full of information on how to find your staffing targets, generate tons of applications, interview fast, hire for retention and keep great callers! Purchase your copy today.

And subscribe to Real Deal Fundraising so you don't miss a single post!

If you're not familiar with the film, Office Space, get thee to your Netflix list and order it up straightaway.

Anyone who works in an office must see this movie because it not only provides catharsis for the modern worker (there's scene where the characters destroy an evil printer), it gives us perfect metaphors to describe what we don't like about our work. 

You see, I'm a fundraiser. I am focused on all things forward and outward. As a consequence, I am terrible at getting my expense reports done on time. Expense reports are important and I realize this but I cannot seem to get them done on time! This causes some problems for the accounting staff. The photo above is my "punishment" for one of the times that I turned my monthly expense report in 11 days late. I tried to look as remorseful as possible. 

We called the expense reports "TPS reports" because they had to be done in a certain, specific way and the fundraisers always seemed to be getting it wrong. So, even if it was done on time, you usually had to modify somehow to get it right after turning it in the first time. 

So, for your Friday fun and entertainment, I give you the Office Space ​scene RE: TPS Reports. Enjoy!

When I was in high school I went to a leadership conference and the organizers had each attendee take the Myers-Briggs Personality Test. (If you aren't familiar with this personality assessment, check out 16personalities.com. I found their analysis to be spot on and helpful as well.) I’m always the same type: ENTJ, the Field Marshall. It’s a relatively rare type and I had never met anyone else that was also an ENTJ.

On the last day of the conference, the organizers did something fiendish. They split the group of about 200 student leaders up into smaller groups by personality type. We were given a project to accomplish with those who were our same type.

There were only 2 other ENTJs. I immediately loathed both of these people. We all were supremely confident that we had the answers to lead the group to victory and we were all quite vocal about it. I began to wish that I had never met another ENTJ. Was I this terrible to be around? Our group made no progress on the project because we could not stop arguing.

After a certain amount of time, these conference organizers gave us all new groups. We were matched with a diverse group representing many different Myers-Briggs types. What a relief! The other groups had struggled too, in different ways. Certain groups couldn’t finish because they just socialized and never got on task. Still other groups over-deliberated. Some never had a leader step forward at all.

Each person in our new group had a natural role. I assumed the executive role and others helped the group cooperate and still others made sure we took all details into account. Compared to my ENTJ group, this was project bliss.

What I learned from this experience was that there is truly strength in difference. Hiring others who are just like you is not a winning strategy. Also, work is more fun if everyone is a little bit different. Quirks emerge when folks are not all the same. Not to mention that it leads to more productivity when skill sets complement each other rather than clash.

So, next time you take one of those personality quizzes on Facebook, think about the results those around you might get too and how that helps you succeed together. Consider this too in your choice of mentor and in your hiring decisions. If you are a big picture “N” (Intuitive), it might be worthwhile to have a “S” (Sensing) perspective in your office to balance your tendencies. You might be so idea driven, you miss critical details that would affect implementation. As a manager, if you are a “TJ” combination (Thinking-Judging), you’ll tend to make snap decisions based on rationality and you’ll often alienate those who are make slower decisions based on feelings. It’s a good idea to consult someone who approached problems differently, especially if your decision will affect many other people.

Learning more about yourself is fun and, like a horoscope, it’s entertaining to see how your profile "matches" you. But, I would challenge you to use these types to learn more about those around you for better understanding and perspective.