Fundraiser Burnout: Adding to the Research.

Alan Clayton, April 2025

Chair, Revolutionise International

Research & Creative Director, EmPower Mental Fitness

Please allow me to expand on the excellent publication on fundraisers’ mental health published by Rogare and authored by Michelle Reynolds last week.

For almost thirty years all my volunteer research, board memberships and hands-on activities have been in the mental health field.  My inspiration was and is a very close friend of mine who is no longer with us, a tragedy triggered by the pressures, bullying and devastating isolation she experienced working for a brand name national charity in the ‘nineties.  She was 25 and alone when she died.  When I had my two breakdown/burnouts, I was not alone.  I was able to ask for and get help because of what I had learned from her story and my subsequent research and volunteer work.

The pressures identified by Michelle in her report are all precise, but they have to a greater or lesser degree always been there on fundraisers.  I would like to expand on the urgent nature of the problem and answer;

1.  What is getting worse?  Why is fundraisers’ wellbeing seemingly on such a rapid decline just now? 

2. What can we all do about it?  I wish to draw attention to one of the simplest but more powerful of the solutions available.

I have two sources for this article:

1. The excellent academic research referenced throughout by Michelle, correctly, as Sargeant/Edworthy 2022.  This is the report ‘What make fundraisers tick?’ commissioned, funded and published by Revolutionise International.  We have been actively developing solutions with clients for the almost three years since we received the report.

2. Data and case studies from around 100 graduates of our EmPower Mental Fitness programme (our other business) of whom about half are fundraisers.  We have anonymised data on the progress of all these participants which allows us to analyse effects particular to fundraisers.  The programme has been developed by those with lived experience, clinical psychologists and masters-level therapists.

What is getting worse?

Increased financial pressure.  There is undoubtedly increased financial pressure on fundraisers – ‘across the board’.  Despite the PR efforts of some charities, it is crystal clear this is driven more by government cuts and policies than by the behaviour of donors.  In order to protect services and care, more money is needed and this pressure is passed to the fundraisers.  This is well documented and Michelle identifies the action required in this area clearly, so I will expand no further.

The falling tide of wellbeing.  The statistics are clear – the wellbeing of the population is in rapid decline and this is particularly dramatic amongst younger people.  Fundraisers skew demographically to younger people, so they are statistically even more like to be caught in the falling tide than us crusties.

The good news (I got to it eventually) is there is much that a fundraiser, their friends, families and colleagues and indeed their employers can do to firstly swim against the falling tide and, en masse, get it rising again.  This area was not the aim or objective of Michelle’s report, so I am pleased to be able to assist with this follow up.

There are many factors in the falling tide, but one stands out as paramount; isolation.

There are a multitude of things we and those around or who employ us can do, but one solution stands out as supreme; connection - with the right people.

Isolation as a concept takes some understanding.  Physical separation from others is part of it.  The emotional component of isolation is more difficult to comprehend and, mostly, even more difficult to admit.  It is a feeling of being alone, even if we are in regular contact with other people - not feeling connected, not feeling supported, not feeling the love.  Not feeling safe.

As a participant at one of our resilience seminars commented;

‘Admitting I felt lonely is the hardest thing I have ever done.  It felt shameful.  But since I identified that, I have been on a one-way journey upwards.’  Her success data is inspiring.

Colin Skehan is the exemplar story in Michelle’s report. I know him well, having worked with him for over a year (he is now CEO of Revolutionise International, and was in previous years a great client).  When I read the story, my heart soared when Colin identified his attendance and acceptance at a fundraising conference as his breakthrough moment in his recovery.  He rediscovered connection, deep connection with like-minded people and has been on the up since.

And here is the rub; deep connection with like-minded people only happens properly in real life.

Screens, virtual meetings, ‘phones and remote working make us all extremely efficient and give the illusion of connection.  But it is not real connection and it does not make us feel safe.  Feeling safe requires the faces of, conversations with and the emotional bonding we experience when spending time with like-minded people, one to one or in groups.  It is the most powerful remedy we have.

I am no advocate of the agricultural solution put forward by some – the enforced return to office hours full time every time.  I always found my long commutes to be very lonely.  This solution is effective for some, but for others not so.  All our teams at Revolutionise and EmPower are remote workers because it is the best for all of us, if we are also proactive in managing our wellbeing.

What is important is getting together with colleagues in real life – not just when needed for effectiveness at work, but for general wellbeing, which is certainly even more valuable.  This can be for one-to-ones with management, with groups of colleagues and team-mates and, importantly, sometimes across departments within your non-profit.  At our businesses we make significant budget available for get togethers.

Such gatherings are often seen as nothing but a cost.  They are in fact an essential investment.  I have a client, a great client, one of the highest performing fundraising teams I have ever seen.  Their director was on to me just yesterday bemoaning their decision to forego a residential seminar out of the office for a hybrid of online teaching and one day in-office discussions.  This was done to save a little money and time, which seemed a sensible solution at the time.   We did all the work, sure enough, but there was no opportunity for teams, leaders (and indeed consultant) to connect.  His words, not mine …

So, what has changed?  We fundraisers used to have a powerful source of support - our colleagues within fundraising and across the organisation.  Real-life interactions throughout the working day connected us and we de-compressed sometimes with a pub visit after work or another social occasion.  We were connected, bonded and it released pressure and we felt safe.  These opportunities are on the decline and we all need to find a way to replace them.  It can be done.  I gave up alcohol, and therefore the bonding of the pub visits, over a decade ago.  I replaced them with other ways to socialise.  That was somewhat difficult, but I got there.

What can we do?  Sickness has isolated me for a while recently.  I am going to remedy this by attending in real-life the Institute of Fundraising National Convention in London on the 9 & 10th of June.  If you are not already booked, perhaps you could show this article to the powers that be, and ask that they send you?  I would recommend it and hope to see you there.  There will be plenty of other opportunities, too.

Summary

Michelle’s report via Rogare, as was her brief, focusses on ‘What can the employer do?’.  It needs to be acted upon.

Colin’s story, and all our data, shows that there are more factors at play than the singular relationship between the employer and the individual fundraiser – adding up to the falling tide.

Many of these factors can be addressed.  The most powerful of them is the feeling of isolation, which is desperately hard to identify or admit.

Genuine, deep connection with like-minded people is one powerful solution, and this is most effective when meeting individuals or groups in real life.

Pressure + complexity + isolation = spiralling emotional discomfort.

Connection + action = relief from pressure = increasing resilience.

Connection is not the only solution, but nine times out of ten, it is the best place to start.

Alan Clayton serves as Research & Creative Director at EmPower Mental Fitness. and Chair of Revolutionise International. With decades of experience in behaviour change, fundraising, and emotional storytelling, Alan now focuses on helping individuals and organisations build resilience and mental fitness to thrive in high-pressure environments.

Want to learn more about EmPower Mental Fitness and how we can support your fundraising team?
Join our free webinar on 30th April by visiting www.em-po.com/events, or reach out directly to Duncan Batty at connection@em-po.com — we’d love to chat.