5 Ways Funders Can Address Nonprofit Burnout

Nonprofits play a critical role in addressing our most pressing issues and addressing gaps for the most vulnerable among us. However, the people who do the day-to-day work of keeping the sector moving often do so against the backdrop of chronic stress and burnout, primary and secondary trauma, and insufficient staffing and resources to meet the overwhelming demand for their services.

These challenges present an opportunity for grantees and funders to partner in addressing the essential role of organizational and individual well-being in creating durable social impact. As funders rely on nonprofits to advance their philanthropic priorities, centering the well-being of the people doing the work is foundational for moving these priorities forward sustainably over the long term.

Here are a few ways funders can help address nonprofit burnout and well-being.

1. Be Easy to Work With

Many traditional approaches to philanthropy can be unnecessarily time-consuming, burdensome, inflexible, and perpetuate the same type of inequity many funding priorities are trying to address. The cumulative impact of these practices can do more harm than good when cultivating a healthy relationship between funders and grantees, enhancing grantee well-being, and creating sustainable social impact.

Below are a few ways your organization can lower the barriers to working with you so your grantees can focus on driving more impact.

Simplify the Application Process

If you haven’t reviewed your application within the last year, this is an easy first step.

• Aim for an application completion time of no more than 10-12 hours. Not sure how long your application takes? Consider polling your grantees.
• Keep requirements for Letters of Intent (LOIs) to one to two pages max.
• Make the application process proportional to the amount of funding. For example, a $10K mini-grant shouldn’t require the equivalent of a doctoral dissertation to apply.
• Reconsider whether existing grantees must go through your full application process again for new or additional funding.
• Reconsider your invitation-only model—you may be perpetuating (unintentionally) the type of inequity you’re working to eliminate. Provide ways for new organizations to introduce themselves, even if you don’t have an open application.
• Do your homework. Get to know prospective grantees proactively to simplify the pre-application process.

Streamline the Application-to-Payout Process and Timeline

Evaluate your review and distribution process to see how you can get funds to your grantees faster without compromising your due diligence.

• Consider ways to streamline your review process if it takes more than 4–6 months.
• Proactively communicate with grant applicants about the status of their applications throughout the process.
• Once a decision is made, promptly disburse payment.
• Consider that smaller organizations are more likely to be impacted adversely by a lengthy review and award process.

Reduce Reporting Burden

Look for ways to get the information you need to understand impact without creating an unnecessary burden on your grantees.

• Conduct an audit of existing reporting requirements and verify the data you’re requesting from grantees is necessary and relevant. For example, consider:
  • How are we using the information we collect?
  • How much time are we spending reviewing this information?
  • Is the information we’re requesting useful?
  • How much time are grantees spending on reporting vs. doing impactful work?
• Create and use standardized templates for capturing data or allow grantees to submit reports they put together for other funders with similar requirements.
• Leverage digital technology to replace or streamline traditional report formats (email, PDFs, etc.).
• Consider alternatives to traditional reports, such as short-form videos from grantees or oral reports during check-ins with project officers.

Streamlining your application and reporting requirements gives your grantees more time to focus on the work they do and provide more impact for their constituents, while reducing stress.

2. Cultivate Trust

More funders are recognizing the value of human-centered approaches to the funder-grantee relationship. Models such as trust-based philanthropy focus on building trusting relationships where grantees are viewed as equal partners and feel safe sharing their challenges. In addition, funders use grantee feedback to inform funding strategies and practices that better align with grantee and community needs.

Here are a few ways to put this approach into action.

Ask and Listen

The best way to build relationships and get honest feedback is to start the conversation.

• Ask for and act on feedback. You know that you don’t have all the answers. Grantees and the communities they serve provide valuable perspectives on their most pressing challenges and how to address them—trust them to define their own needs.
• Be open, honest, and transparent about challenges and opportunities.
• Proactively check on grantees and keep the pulse on their evolving needs.

Trust Grantees to Advance Shared Priorities

Shape your grant programs to encourage innovation around your shared goals.

• Give multi-year, unrestricted funding.
• Consider un-restricting previously restricted funding.
• Be available and approachable for ongoing technical assistance.

3. Focus on Your Sphere of Influence

Every funder is different. You may not have the resources or infrastructure to respond to every need that comes your way. However, you can assess your current available resources and capacity to answer this question: what can we do right now with the resources and influence we do have and build from there?

Identify Low-Resource High-Impact Initiatives

By learning from your peers and understanding the sector changes, you may find there are small changes you can make that have an outsized impact.

• Join or establish communities of practice with others to exchange support, resources, and ideas for sustaining well-being within your team, peers, and grant partners. Examples include The McGregor Fund’s Eugene A. Miller Fellowship program, ABFE (A Philanthropic Partnership for Black Communities), and The Funders & Wellbeing Group.
• Consider stipends or mini-grants in cases where funding may be limited. Sometimes a small amount of funding can be what’s needed to get started, provide a demonstration of what’s possible, and attract additional funding to support long-term sustainability.
• Use your influence and reach to advocate for your grantees and amplify their impact.

4. Be Proactive

Funders have an opportunity to respond quickly to the challenges of the current moment. Funders don’t have to wait for conditions to be perfect or roll out an extensive application process to help current grantees who they know are struggling now.

Be Responsive to Current Needs

By building strong relationships with your grantees and your community, you can be flexible as their needs change.

• Increase your baseline payout percentages to get more funding flowing to where it’s needed right now.
• Be flexible with deadlines and other requirements as grantees respond to current events, such as climate events or the federal pause in nonprofit funding.
• Proactively provide additional funding as grantees’ needs evolve in real-time, such as emergency grants during natural disasters.
• Invest for the long-term in bold change vs. incremental change.

5. Directly Fund Grantee Well-Being

Funders can support the well-being of grantees by directly funding initiatives that address this challenge head-on. Beyond program-specific or general operating support, grantees note the benefit of directly funding well-being. Here are a few ways funders take meaningful action.

• Provide mini-grants and stipends that allow organizations to have the flexibility to define their own needs and use the funds to address them. Though the funding amount may be relatively small, it can initiate broader conversations inside organizations at the leadership and board level about how to create more intentional approaches to staff well-being beyond a one-time initiative, including changing culture through internal policies and practices.
• Fund sabbaticals for experienced leaders to take time away from their day-to-day responsibilities and undertake a self-designed set of activities to rejuvenate themselves and do something of benefit for their work. Research shows sabbaticals can have positive and lasting personal, professional, and organizational impacts on leaders who participate as well as their teams.
• Increase core funding to support competitive compensation and retention of talented staff.

Support a Comprehensive Approach Grantee Well-Being

The people who keep the sector moving often do so against the backdrop of immense challenges and insufficient staffing and resources. So, how do we shift from a nonprofit culture obsessed with outcomes, growth, and scale at the expense of the people doing the work to one that fosters well-being as a prerequisite for sustainable social change?

It starts with understanding that nonprofit leaders are the infrastructure driving social impact. Making this shift provides a unique opportunity for funders to support a comprehensive approach to well-being in the sector, including research, demonstration projects, and long-term sustainability.

When funders no longer see grantee well-being as a nice-to-have, but essential for advancing their mission, it gives permission for leaders across the sector to do the same.

Want to learn more about how funders are supporting grantee well-being? Check out the blog post, Thriving Together: How Funders Can Drive Sustainable Impact Through Grantee Well-Being.