It is not easy working in the nonprofit ecosystem. We are understaffed, under resourced with shoestring budgets, underpaid, and underdeveloped.
It is Sunday. And I’m working. Cat stories are playing on YouTube for my daughter. My son is in his room being 8 years old. Hopefully, he is becoming the young man I’m trying to raise him to be … notwithstanding the contrary evidence of being kicked out of camp one day last week - due to an accidental counselor collision with a water bottle projectile (I speak legalese. I digress …)
I support the sector and I work hard. And I raise 2 kids. And I manage an entire household. By. My. Self. The lawn gets mowed, the groceries arrive, the car has gas, the children sleep. I feed and sustain a household with the work I do supporting community. Every employee of the nonprofit sector is doing the same. We care a lot. We care so much, that we prefer to drive a kinda shitty car, and live in a kinda shitty house, and eat good wholesome meals, make local bean coffee, and spend hours in community: at the public pool, attending NAACP meetings, in the air conditioned library (see above, old shitty -no-central-air house). While we might appreciate and daydream about the finer things, our satisfaction is built by living our values, so we choose a different life. Built on relationship and care. Creature comforts matter, but a little differently. Our calculation includes the planet, our neighbors, our mammal family.
Yanique Redwood, author of White Women Cry and Call Me Angry: A Black Woman’s Memoir on Racism in Philanthropy shares, "I knew, but I did not know, that there was so much pain happening as people are trying to do their work and…for many of them, trying to do work on behalf of our people, on behalf of Black people."
Further Research released by Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP) exploring the topic of nonprofit burnout found that three quarters of surveyed leaders indicate that burnout among their staff is impacting their organization’s ability to achieve its mission. One respondent said, “We are in what feels like daily crisis mode. Our staff is small and overtaxed. Without them, we wouldn’t be able to run the organization, and we haven’t had the luxury of much down time.” We cannot continue to ignore burnout culture.
The luxury of downtime
Perhaps TMI, but I’ve been dating. Recently, I’ve introduced a wonderful man to our household. It has been an incredible learning opportunity - as many relationships can be :) The acknowledged lack of my “downtime” has been difficult. I work or care for children. The 15 minutes a day I carve out to develop the relationship is inadequate. I literally can’t GROW anymore. My soil is depleted. I need a week of water - at a steady drip. I want to grow. I aspire to grow. I can’t.
My mom reminds me to stop saying, “I can’t.” And in some ways she is right, because I am capable of myriads. But I’m tired. A week in Hawaii last April was not nearly enough (my kids traveled with me. I was a caregiver on an exotic island - exactly what it sounds like: Not bad. NOT vacation.).
Just like me, every single person I’ve met in the nonprofit ecosystem cares a lot. They may have even “bled for the cause” by giving more than what was healthy and reasonable. It has led to horrible outcomes, including in one case, a black leader dying at her desk. There is no space for restoration, sustainability, thriving. Every efficiency is essential. In the garden of the nonprofit ecosystem we are overpowered by the poison of inequity and our soil turns toxic and our relationships, our ability to care weathers.
You have seen tired folks. It may have been in college when you joined a protest march. It may have been while you traveled with your partner. It may have been an encounter at the post office. Across the globe, our amygdalas are being highjacked and causing us to fight or freeze in response. Neither of which is supporting the very human fabric of this world. Philanthropy can support better. And yet we don’t.
There are tools that can help mitigate some of this burnout and support equity if we deploy them for social good. For example, designing technology with nonprofit ecosystems and end users in mind. If we invested in social impact work as corporations invest in ROIs or KPIs we might expect to see a positive linear graph. Philanthropy can help create a space for ethical, responsible, human-centered use of technical tools. For mission impact. To mitigate burnout. For Good.
Why don’t we?
Bob Hughes explains the relationship between technological progress and inequality, in his book "The Bleeding Edge: Why Technology Turns Toxic in an Unequal World." Hughes argues that technology has the potential to reduce the costs and fuel impact-generating efficiency. However, it fails to do so because elites control new technologies to maintain their status rather than to benefit the broader population. Hughes traces the ecological crisis to the emergence of the first elites 5,000 years ago and contends that true technological innovation comes from egalitarian collaboration, not elite competition.
He explains, "Wherever elites exist, self-preservation decrees that they must take control of new technologies to protect and entrench their status, rather than satisfy people’s needs."
This quote highlights the fundamental issue of inequity that the nonprofit community often faces: resources and innovations that could alleviate social problems are frequently monopolized by elites, preventing their benefits from reaching those in need.
According to the Bled Manifest 2017 (developed by eCenter & Center for Education and Consulting, Faculty of Organizational Sciences, University of Maribor),
“In an increasingly digitalized life, people without basic technology skills will not be able to participate in society, which will cause a digital divide. Citizens should be educated (and educate themselves) in areas such as the use of (government, educational, healthcare etc.) services via the Internet and Apps, data and information quality, security and privacy.”
The Bled Manifesto 2017 outlines strategies to harness digital technologies for economic and social growth while addressing the challenges and opportunities of the Digital Economy. The annual Bled eConference, held in the Alpine village of Bled, brings together researchers, business and government leaders, and technology providers to discuss and advance digital transformation while promoting sustainable practices.
Is there a technology advancement that could increase nonprofit staff efficiency, generate insight, and fuel impact generation? It sounds like this kind of solution could mitigate burnout … If we can wrest the tools from elite clutches (from inaction or policy development).
I’ve been able to access these tools and experience their promise but I can’t do this alone (see aforementioned harried single-mom life).
Navigating the Future
AI has the potential to change the world. And social sector culture. Should nonprofits embrace AI? And what does using AI mean for fundraising? Through iteration, optimization, and prompt training, AI may hold great promise to change the way work is conducted for nonprofits. Nonprofit staff can mitigate burnout culture by adopting AI culture, if the social sector can agree on how this tool should be used … and to whose benefit. According to research MIT Sloan associate professor Danielle Li,
“Generative AI seems to be able to decrease inequality in productivity … Without access to an AI tool, less-experienced workers would slowly get better at their jobs. Now they can get better faster.”
A primary tool for engagement across the social sector is a Grant Application which is the formal correspondence between direct service organizations, traditionally called nonprofits, and donors, often making appearances as institutional philanthropy. The current grantseeking and grantmaking approach is steeped in power and privilege.
I’ve been invited to teach a course on Grantwriting in the age of AI. Will I be able to find methods to mitigate burnout for nonprofits by finding efficiencies with this AI functionality? Or will Equity obstacles - inherent in the tool AND in the policies governing the tool - defeat progress.
How do we do grantwriting in the age nonprofit burnout and within an emergent global AI culture? How do we deploy AI for good? How do we streamline applications? Which metrics do we need to collect as a community to assess progress and extract insight? How do we make payment processing less burdensome for our all-star finance teams? Which approaches and innovations are welcome by donors, grantmakers, Philanthropy? Which AI policies harm our communities or increase inequity? How do we upskill and retrain? How do we bring everyone along?
I aspire to organize our social sector community around responsible, ethical and equitable AI policies and practices. Grantwriting is the first “sticky wicket.” Every efficiency is essential. Our soil is greatly depleted. Nonprofit workers care a lot and our ability to care weathers. We came to the sector to nurture communities, build relationship, and show care.
The discussion about AI application and approaches will be iterative. Our AI-use calculation includes the planet, our neighbors, our mammal family. I believe we can technology tools to support restoration, sustainability, and thriving of the nonprofit ecosystem.
Let us try to save the world. And use technology tools do it.