It seemed like only last week you were on fire.
Fifty three new monthly donors from your last campaign. A grant from a foundation that turned you down last year. Board members actually picking up the phone to thank donors (finally!).
And then, almost overnight, it all shifted.
Your best board member is moving out of the country. The donor you’ve been trying to reach keeps going to voicemail. And then the mail arrives — a declination letter from the foundation that’s funded you for three straight years. They’re going in “a new direction.”
Just like that, the momentum is gone. And so is a little piece of your hope.
If you’ve been in fundraising for more than five minutes, you know this feeling. It’s not failure. It’s just the rhythm of the work. But that doesn’t make it easier when you’re in the midst of it.
Burnout doesn’t announce itself. It sneaks up quietly — in the form of a database that won’t cooperate, a grant proposal that took a week to write and went nowhere, a board that still doesn’t quite get it. One day you’re changing the world. The next, you’re wondering why you bother.
Here’s what I know after years in this field: passion is a habit. Not a feeling that shows up when things are going well. A practice. Something you build, day by day, even when the work is hard.
So when you hit one of those days — and you most certainly will — try these five things.
- Start with gratitude. Pick up the phone and call a donor. Not to ask for anything. Just to say thank you. I started doing this back in 2005, and I’m telling you — it changes everything. That one call reminds you why this work matters. It’s hard to feel burned out when a donor tells you what your organization means to their family.
- Go back to your why. Schedule a day in the field, in your calendar, right now. Visit a program your organization runs. Sit with the people you serve. Take pictures. Shoot a short video. When the database is driving you crazy and the grant feels impossible, this is what gets you through. You can’t do this work from behind a desk.
- Connect one-on-one. Take a board member to coffee — not a board meeting, just coffee. When you slow down enough to have a real conversation, you learn things. What made them say yes to your organization in the first place? What does success look like to them? These conversations will surprise you. And they’ll reconnect you to the people who are in this with you.
- Honor your most loyal donors. Pull a report, but not your usual top-donor list. Look for your twenty most loyal givers — the ones who’ve shown up year after year. Put together a simple note of thanks. Follow up with a call. These donors are your foundation. When you treat them that way, you both feel it.
- Step outside the nonprofit bubble. Our nonprofit world can be an insular place. If every book, every course, every conference is laser-focused on fundraising tactics, you’ll run dry. Pick up something unexpected — a book on human connection, a marketing course, a workshop that has nothing to do with development. Fresh thinking from outside our world has a way of making everything click.
Passion doesn’t show up on demand. You cultivate it, the same way you build a donor relationship — with consistency, with care, and with a willingness to keep going even when it’s hard.
And if you’re at the point where you need more than a pep talk — if you’re a small shop and you’re doing the work of ten people, now might be time to get some real support.
That’s exactly what my fractional fundraising program is built for. You get an experienced fundraising partner in your corner, without the cost of a full-time (or even a part-time) hire. If you’re ready to stop running on empty, take a look.
You got into this work because it matters. On the hard days, that’s still true.
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I can’t wait to meet with you personally.
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