The “Nonprofit Death Spiral”: Why Fundraiser Burnout Isn’t a Personal Failing (and What to Do Instead)
We all want more operating dollars. But planning an all-out year when you aren’t sure of your resources isn’t going to end well.
Burnout in nonprofits (and well, everywhere) gets framed like an individual failing: it’s on you to have better time management, self-care, better boundaries, not on the system to stop being what’s burning you out.
But in my latest Hard at Work episode, nonprofit consultant and systems thinker Ariel Glassman Barwick (Founder & CEO of Common Great) names what many nonprofit professionals already know:
When the system is built with a growth-only mindset, the people inside it will eventually burn out.
And when people burn out, the whole organization gets harder to work for.
What is the “nonprofit death spiral”?
Ariel coined a phrase that I’m now obsessed with: the nonprofit death spiral—a cycle many organizations repeat without realizing the long-term cost.
It looks like this:
Unrealistic growth goals → chronic underfunding → staff burnout → turnover → declining impact → reduced community support → even more pressure to perform
The spiral often starts with what Ariel describes as an “original sin”: setting revenue targets and growth plans that aren’t grounded in reality—because leaders feel pressure to prove worthiness, urgency, and scale at all costs.
Here’s the key point: this isn’t just a fundraising problem. It’s a leadership and strategy problem. (Ariel’s framing—and I agree.)
Why fundraiser burnout includes moral injury
One of the most important parts of our conversation was moral injury—because burnout can come from lots of places. And fundraisers or advancement folks in general are extra susceptible to experiencing moral injury at work.
Ariel describes moral injury as being pressured to tolerate dynamics that violate your values or ethics. In fundraising, that can look like:
being expected to “manage” or even just put up with inappropriate donor behavior because the gift is big
navigating power dynamics that feel dehumanizing
staying silent about compromises you don’t agree with
That’s not everyday stress. That’s deeper harm—and it helps explain why so many talented fundraisers are leaving staff roles altogether (the average tenure of fundraisers at an organization right now is 15 months).
Fundraising is misunderstood (and fundraisers pay the price)
Ariel also names a truth that makes many development folks want to scream into a pillow: everyone thinks they understand fundraising.
Most people don’t.
Fundraising is multiple disciplines—major gifts, grants, events, comms, data, stewardship, planned giving—and in small shops, one person is often expected to do all of it. Ariel calls the constant context-switching “whiplash.” It drains energy fast.
She also makes a spicy governance point that I agree with: development committees often create more friction than results, especially when non-experts are steering fundraising strategy.
What leaders can do this quarter (practical “to-dos”)
If you’re an ED, board member, or senior leader and you want to interrupt the spiral, start here:
Reality-check your goals (no wishful budgeting)
What targets are “hope-as-strategy”? If you miss by 20%, what breaks—and who absorbs it?Build margin on purpose
Plan to operate below 100%. Resilience requires wiggle room.Stop making fundraising a group project for non-experts
Clarify board roles: stewardship + relationship-building + resourcing, not micromanaging tactics.Name moral injury out loud—and protect people
Ask fundraisers where values are being compromised. Then back them up with clear standards and boundaries.Train managers for the job they actually have
Stop promoting people into leadership without support—especially across fundraising disciplines.Use consultants strategically (not as a bandaid)
Ariel suggests contracting out highly delegatable specialties (like grants or event contracting) while keeping relationship-heavy work resourced internally.
Listen to the full episode
This blog post is the summary. The episode has the nuance, examples, and Ariel’s full framework.
🎧 Search Hard at Work on your podcast platform of choice and find the episode with Ariel Glassman Barwick.
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