Preventing Burnout: Mindfulness Strategies for Nonprofit Professionals

While mindfulness is becoming more mainstream, it’s not often that it is emphasized or even considered in our busy work lives.

“Mindfulness means being aware or paying attention. Paying attention allows you to wake up and to notice these unconscious ways of reacting to the world that can get in our own way and cause ourselves and each other harm.” - Megan Whitney

Megan Whitney shared that definition of mindfulness on Episode 58 of Lead with Heart.?

Megan is a seasoned fundraising consultant and mindfulness coach with 17 years of experience in the nonprofit sector. She understands the unique pressures of nonprofit work firsthand, having burned out a decade ago. Since then, she's dedicated her career to helping change makers navigate the stress and exhaustion that can come with this work.?

If you want to check that out, I’ll add the episode player below so you can tune into the full episode where we discuss burnout and how to develop mindful micro-moments.

During our conversation, Megan pointed out that burnout affects at least 50% of nonprofit professionals at some point. Now more than ever, we, as nonprofit professionals, need to take the time to create habits that will help prevent burnout.

1. The Difference Between Stress and Burnout?
2. The Early Warning Signs of Burnout
3. Strategies for Building a Supportive Nonprofit Environment

1. The Difference Between Stress and Burnout

Megan explains that burnout is a misunderstood term and people often use it interchangeably with the word stress.

She shares that stress is a natural daily occurrence while burnout is a medical condition.

“Stress is a response to threat, and that could be real or imagined. And it is not necessarily a bad thing, because if we didn't have stress, then we wouldn't be able to see that car and jump out of the way, for example.” - Megan Whitney

While our brains and bodies have evolved to constantly be searching for threats, Megan explains that you can actually observe your thoughts and decide for yourself if these threats are real or imagined.

So how can you identify some of the early warning signs of burnout? We’re looking at that next.

2. The Early Warning Signs of Burnout

It’s so common to create meaning and stories about a situation and try to figure it out in our heads. Megan explains that we have so many different channels of awareness that we can practice in addition to thought.?

Awareness is key.

Megan shared this great metaphor with us from her friend, Katherine Lacefield.

If you want to prevent burnout, it’s the same principle as checking on a stew. If you are constantly checking on the stew and stirring the pot, you won’t burn the stew because you are aware of what’s happening and take action when needed.

-1. Body Sensations

Megan explains that stress manifests as physical sensations in the body.

“Sensing into the body is key.” - Megan Whitney

This could be a tightness in your chest or physical tension in your jaws or shoulders.

“When we are able to notice that we have these sensations in our body, we can choose to pause and breathe and turn toward them, and that can allow them to soften and release.” - Megan Whitney

-2. Emotional Awareness

Emotions are another channel of awareness that you can utilize.

Megan explains that emotions like cynicism, apathy, and irritability are all signs that you may be experiencing high amounts of stress. You may notice that you’re snapping at your family or coworkers and don't have access to your usual compassionate and patient self.

“There's a lot of ways to see burnout and emotional exhaustion is the key one.” - Megan Whitney

Emotional exhaustion means you may feel completely drained, you might be sleeping terribly, or you may be sleeping okay but you still feel exhausted when you wake up.?

“Our physical energy, our emotional energy, really gets burned up by our thought patterns and the way that we are relating to ourselves in a negative way.” - Megan Whitney

3. Strategies for Building a Supportive Nonprofit Environment

Burnout is such a common problem in the nonprofit world and incorporating mindfulness into your culture is a great way to create a more supportive environment.

Megan shared a great micro-practice that she reaches for regularly.

A Minute to Arrive

This practice is taking a minute to breathe at the beginning of a meeting. It can be in person or virtual and you first get agreement from everyone present. You can switch your camera off to be a little more comfortable.?

“We're not robots. We are jumping from task to task without allowing a pause, and that is detrimental to the whole purpose of gathering - to be able to create something together or solve a problem.” - Megan Whitney?

Megan recommends offering this as an optional invitation because it may seem very unusual to some people.

“Ideally, I would love for everyone to take a moment to really breathe and look away from the camera and regulate their emotions and nervous system. And I also recognize neurodiversity in the workplace, and the fact that some folks may not feel comfortable with silence or closing their eyes.” - Megan Whitney

Megan explains that this practice can also be done in the middle of a meeting if you notice some tension or that people are feeling stuck.

“It provides this sense to move from reacting to responding and really, one conscious breath is all it can take to wake up and realize I'm in fear right now and then choose to shift into love.” - Megan Whitney

In conclusion, mindfulness can help us break the cycle of stress and burnout. By building small mindful moments into our lives and work, we can better navigate the pressures of nonprofit work and create more compassionate work environments.

Nonprofit teams often work in silos, which can lead to staff burnout and donor attrition, ultimately, hurts the people we serve. I help nonprofits raise more money through fundraising training, “done for you” fund development strategy, and campaign implementation.?

?? If you want to learn more about ways we can collaborate and work together, please visit my website, https://thesavvyfundraiser.com/ .

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