After spending much of the time “saving others,” most people don’t have the strength to take care of themselves. Nonprofits are often guilty of overworking their people, because the needs of others are so great.
Add something like the pandemic, and suddenly there is simply no bandwidth left to ensure those doing the good work of the nonprofit have what they need to stay healthy. Like an empty gas tank, they simply have no gas left to give anyone who needs it.
Given the current environment of workers abandoning the idea of going back to work, often because the pay simply didn’t justify the poor work conditions, nonprofits can’t afford to have poor work environments when every penny is being stretched to its limit. Every business needs to work harder at providing a healthier work environment.
From the Association of Fundraising Professionals Advancing Philanthropy journal (April 2021), here are several things to implement in your nonprofit to encourage a healthy work environment:
Check-in and listen (regularly)
Practice gratitude
Create no-meeting days
Encourage self-care breaks
Celebrate small wins together
Make it OK to talk about feelings and uncertainty
Recognize and reward good work
Prioritize wellness
Investing in the well-being of your staff is wise. These are no-cost and take little time, but they do demand a paradigm shift. Don’t let pride in how hard everyone works fool you into thinking your nonprofit is doing a good job. It’s a house of cards, and it’s starting to fall down.
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