Topic 6 of 15 · Wellbeing and resilience
Nonprofit burnout and staff wellbeing
Free tools to tackle nonprofit burnout and look after staff wellbeing, from wellbeing surveys to sabbatical policies.
- 9 resources
- 9 free
- 4 tools and templates
- 4 sub-topics
Burnout is a management problem, and it's one of the biggest risks to your work. When good people leave exhausted, they take relationships and know-how with them.
This shelf starts with measuring how your team is doing, then covers rest (including sabbaticals you can run on a small budget), staff care for people working in tough settings, and keeping the whole organisation steady when shocks hit.
You need this shelf if
- Sick leave and turnover are creeping up
- Your team works in conflict zones or with trauma
- Leaders haven't had a real break in years
- You want to support wellbeing but don't know where to start
Key questions for leaders
- How is your team really doing, and when did you last ask them anonymously? Employee Wellbeing Survey for Nonprofit Organizations →
- Are workloads realistic, or is your model built on overtime?
- When did your leaders last take a real break? Do-It-Yourself Sabbatical Guide for Nonprofits, with Sample Policies →
- What support do staff working in hard settings or with trauma get? Managing Stress in Humanitarian Workers →
- If a crisis hit next month, what would keep the work going? Toolkit for Building Organizational Resilience →
What's on the shelf
6.1 Staff wellbeing and burnout
- 6.1C075
Employee Wellbeing Survey for Nonprofit Organizations
A 12-question staff survey template for nonprofit teams that takes about 5 minutes to complete. It covers retention, workload and boundaries, burnout risk, purpose, psychological safety, manager and team support, pay fairness and organisational care, plus 1 open question. Responses are anonymous. Leaders run it twice a year, or quarterly in periods of change, then pick 1 or 2 actions and report back to staff within 2 weeks.
Start hereEmergingTool or templateFree with sign-upNonprofit Builder tool
6.2 Rest, sabbaticals and workload
- 6.2C076
Do-It-Yourself Sabbatical Guide for Nonprofits, with Sample Policies
A practical guide for nonprofit executive directors who want to plan a sabbatical without a funded programme. It sets out a timeline from 6 to 12 months before departure through the time away, the return to work and life after sabbatical. It also reproduces staff sabbatical policies from 6 organisations, including Peace Over Violence, CPAF, SAJE and GEO, which boards and HR leads can adapt.
Start hereClassicTool or templateFree - 6.2C077
Sabbatical Programs for Nonprofit Leaders
A how-to guide for foundations that want to fund sabbaticals for nonprofit leaders, written from the Durfee Foundation's own programme. It explains why funders should sponsor rest, then covers legal points, eligibility, applications, selection, cover for the leader's job, orientation, awards, reporting, evaluation, peer support, retreats and budget. It ends with a list of 9 other funder sabbatical programmes. Funders use it to design and run a programme.
ClassicKey manual or guideFree - 6.2C078
Trust, Rest, and Joy
A short article from the Spring 2024 issue of SSIR, in a supplement sponsored by the Trust-Based Philanthropy Project. Leaders from the Durfee and Satterberg foundations describe how they fund rest: Durfee's sabbaticals since 1997 and its Lark Awards for staff wellbeing, and Satterberg's support for a BIPOC executive director sabbatical and retreat programme. It discusses who gets to rest and why funders need to trust grantees on what restores them.
CurrentShort readFree with sign-up
6.3 Duty of care and psychosocial support
- 6.3C079
Managing Stress in Humanitarian Workers
Guidelines that help humanitarian organisations build policies and systems for staff care. They set out key principles and standards for staff psychosocial wellbeing across the deployment cycle, and apply to both national and international staff. HR teams and managers use them to review their staff care system and plan improvements. Available in 5 languages.
Start hereClassicKey manual or guideFree - 6.3C080
What's the Point of the Revolution if We Can't Dance?
A book based on the experiences of more than 100 women human rights activists around the world. It looks at how activists keep going over time, covering fear, hope, exhaustion, grief, pleasure, humour and spirituality, and practical problems such as lack of funding, conflict inside movements and burnout. Activists, movement groups and funders use it to talk about collective care. Free PDFs are available in 6 languages.
ClassicKey manual or guideFree - 6.3C081
Mental Health & Wellbeing
A themed resource page from GISF that treats staff wellbeing as part of an organisation's duty of care. It collects guides, toolkits, papers, articles and tip sheets on stress, burnout, resilience, traumatic stress, mindfulness, psychological first aid and mental health and psychosocial support for aid workers. Security and HR staff in humanitarian and development NGOs use it to find guidance and tools.
CurrentKey online resourceFree
6.4 Organisational resilience
- 6.4C082
Resiliency Guide
A discussion and self-assessment guide that helps funders and nonprofits talk openly about the pressures nonprofits face and reflect on organisational strengths and weak spots. First developed in 2014, it has gone through several versions and draws on the 2020 study Resilience at Work. Grantmakers use it to decide where, when and how to invest in capacity building, and grantees use it with their funders.
Start hereCurrentTool or templateFree - 6.4C203
Toolkit for Building Organizational Resilience
A free toolkit from the North Carolina Center for Nonprofits, designed with the Nonprofit Risk Management Center. It helps a nonprofit team develop or update a crisis management plan, sharpen crisis communications, write a business continuity plan that keeps essential work running during disruption, and review disaster recovery plans. You request a copy with your name, email and organisation.
CurrentTool or templateFree with sign-up
Related project ideas
Get expert help with wellbeing and resilience
Consulting and coaching projects built from 600+ real projects. Pick one, add your needs and hear from vetted consultants.
Staff wellbeing programme design
“People are burning out, turnover is creeping up, and wellbeing feels like a word on a slide rather than something the organisation actually supports.”See project
Resilience & wellbeing coaching for leaders
“You are carrying too much — the pressure is unsustainable, your work/life balance has collapsed, and you can feel it affecting your leadership.”See project
All 11 HR, people & culture project ideas All 18 Leadership & coaching project ideas
Work with a consultant or coach
Nonprofit Builder members can browse vetted consultants and coaches who work on wellbeing and resilience, and invite them to a project.
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