Myth #2: Philanthropy Is Boundless

Part of

Myths of Philanthropy

a blog series

Earlier this year, I was invited by LinkedIn to share my thoughts on myths in our industry. You can read Myth #1: Philanthropy is only for the rich here.

Many of you know I enjoy writing (read Thank you Mrs. Walker here), but I took a pause from writing over the summer to recharge. After 4 years of leading my organization out of a crisis and settling SCF into a new mission I was tired. I didn’t take the summer off, but I did slow down, take time to breathe, and recharge. What a novel concept for a chief executive of a nonprofit?!

This leads me to my next discussion.

Myth #2: Philanthropy Is Boundless

A lot has been written on the incredible generosity of donors, Boards, and volunteers. Conversely, terms like donor fatigue, Board disengagement, or campaign fatigue litter the nonprofit literature world when an organization’s efforts draw too deeply from the philanthropy well. We are reminded that philanthropy is not boundless. (Bear with me, I promise this blog post will end on a positive note.)

Curiously, little is written about the nonprofit staff person or employee. The passion and energy required daily to not only carry out the mission of an organization, but also motivate those around them like donors, volunteers, and Board members is often overlooked or taken for granted.

I know this for two reasons: 1) I am a longtime nonprofit employee having worked at small to large-scale organizations most of my career; and 2) I focused/focus my undergraduate and graduate studies on organizational behavior and human capital systems in the nonprofit sector. That’s a fancy way of saying ‘I’m deeply interested in how employees make or break an organization.’

They are the ones who gave up lucrative jobs in the for-profit sector to give back. They wear multiple hats. They do more with less. They run towards a crisis instead of away. They give their own time and money to the causes they care about.

Re-read that last sentence. That means not only do nonprofit employees do their job every day, but they often allow their passion for the mission they care about to spill over into their personal lives.

That is Philanthropy with a capital P! Give me a for-profit employer any day who wouldn’t love to have an employee do more work on their own time and at their own expense.

Unfortunately, many of these 12.8 million people (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2022) are burned out or nearing burnout, an estimated 69% of the overall nonprofit workforce (Chronical of Philanthropy, 2024) https://www.philanthropy.com/article/burnout-still-plagues-nonprofits-new-study-finds.

So, here is where this blog post becomes positive. Just like with donor fatigue, Board disengagement, and campaign fatigue, philanthropy burnout for employees can be cured and the cures are similar.

Here are a few ideas:

• Say thank you to a nonprofit employee. Bonus points: say thank you to a fundraiser. Do you know how hard it is to have people continually treat fundraisers like they’re a plague for helping to raise money that helps a cause?!
• Share a story of how their work made an impact and why it touched you.
• Remind them why they make the choices and sacrifices that they do.
• Let them know they are valued.
• Or, my favorite, send them a photo of their work in action. 

I received a wonderful photo from an Emeriti Board member, Katherine Willis, the other day! This photo was of bags she had purchased for all the children in our Leveling the Performing Field program. A simple message appeared alongside it: “They’re here!!”

I can’t begin to quantify how much my philanthropy well was filled seeing that message. I now know over 100 children who couldn’t afford dance lessons will have a bag to carry their dance attire in as they head to after-school ballet practice.

Thank you, Katherine – you made a difference in my day.

I’d love to hear any of your “great moments of philanthropy!” We will share these posts on our own social media pages and would love for you to join in. Not on social media? Email me at lbaehre@sandlercenterfoundation.org. 

Lisa Baehre

Executive Director

Sandler Center Foundation