Wellbeing: What Can Fundraisers Do?

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Alan Clayton, Chair of Revolutionise International and Research & Creative Director of EmPower Mental Fitness shares his thoughts on fundraising wellbeing.

Fundraisers Raise More When They Feel Better

Fundraisers with strong mental health don’t just feel better—they perform better. That’s not just our opinion; it’s backed by data.

But here’s the problem: the wellbeing of career fundraisers is on a downward trend as a cohort – not everyone, but the averaged trend is at best disturbing and at worst a crisis.

It’s also just the right thing to have good mental health – people should not experience worse lives through trying to make other people’s lives better.

So, what’s happening? This article tries to turn complex problems into simple, actionable solutions. I will try and answer just two questions:

Spoiler:  Amongst other solutions, fundraising conventions and conferences are not luxuries – they are essential opportunities to improve the wellbeing, and therefore performance, of career fundraisers.

  1. What is getting worse? Why is fundraisers’ wellbeing seemingly on such a rapid decline just now? 
  2. What can we all do about it? I wish to draw attention to one of the simplest but more powerful of the solutions available.

I have two sources for this article:

  1. The report ‘What make fundraisers tick?’ (Sargeant/Edworthy 2022), commissioned, funded and published by Revolutionise International. We have been actively developing solutions with clients for the almost three years since we received the report.
  2. Data and case studies from around 100 graduates of our EmPower Mental Fitness programme (our other business) of whom about half are fundraisers. We have anonymised data on the progress of all these participants which allows us to analyse effects particular to fundraisers. The programme has been developed by those with lived experience, clinical psychologists and masters-level therapists.

What is getting worse?

Increased financial pressure. There is undoubtedly increased financial pressure on fundraisers – ‘across the board’. Despite the PR efforts of some charities, it is crystal clear this is driven more by government cuts and policies than by the behaviour of donors. In order to protect services and care, more money is needed and this pressure is passed to the fundraisers. 

The falling tide of wellbeing. The statistics are clear – the wellbeing of the population is in rapid decline, and this is particularly dramatic amongst younger people. Fundraisers skew demographically to younger people, so they are statistically even more like to be caught in the falling tide than us crusties.

The good news (I got to it eventually) is there is much that a fundraiser, their friends, families and colleagues and indeed their employers can do to firstly swim against the falling tide and, en-masse, get it rising again. 

There are many factors in the falling tide, but one stands out as paramount, isolation.

There are a multitude of things we and those around or who employ us can do, but one solution stands out as supreme: connection - with the right people.

Isolation as a concept takes some understanding. Physical separation from others is part of it. The emotional component of isolation is more difficult to comprehend and, mostly, even more difficult to admit. It is a feeling of being alone, even if we are in regular contact with other people - not feeling connected, not feeling supported, not feeling the love. Not feeling safe.

As a participant at one of our EmPower Mental Fitness seminars commented:

‘Admitting I felt lonely is the hardest thing I have ever done. It felt shameful. But since I identified that, I have been on a one-way journey upwards.’  Her success since is inspiring.

Colin Skehan is the exemplar story in a recent report on burnout from Rogare. I know him well, having worked with him for over a year (he is now CEO of Revolutionise International, and was in previous years a great client).  When I read the story, my heart soared when Colin identified his attendance and acceptance at a fundraising conference as his breakthrough moment in his recovery. He rediscovered connection, deep connection with like-minded people and has been on the up since.

And here is the rub; deep connection with like-minded people only happens properly in real life.

Screens, virtual meetings, phones and remote working make us all extremely efficient and give the illusion of connection.  But it is not real connection, and it does not make us feel safe. Feeling safe requires the faces of conversations with and the emotional bonding we experience when spending time with like-minded people, one to one or in groups. It is the most powerful remedy we have.

I am no advocate of the agricultural solution put forward by some – the enforced return to office hours full time every time. I always found my long commutes to be very lonely. This solution is effective for some, but for others not so. All our teams at Revolutionise and EmPower are remote workers because it is the best for all of us, if we are also proactive in managing our wellbeing.

What is important is getting together with colleagues in real life – not just when needed for effectiveness at work, but for general wellbeing, which is certainly even more valuable. This can be for one-to-ones with management, with groups of colleagues and team-mates and, importantly, sometimes across departments within your non-profit. At our businesses we make significant budget available for get togethers.

Such gatherings are often seen as nothing but a cost. They are in fact an essential investment. I have a client, a great client, one of the highest performing fundraising teams I have ever seen. Their director was on to me just yesterday bemoaning their decision to forego a residential seminar out of the office for a hybrid of online teaching and one day in-office discussions. This was done to save a little money and time, which seemed sensible at the time.  We did all the work, sure enough, but there was no opportunity for teams, leaders (and indeed consultant) to connect. His words, not mine…

So, what has changed? We fundraisers used to have a powerful source of support - our colleagues within fundraising and across the organisation. Real-life interactions throughout the working day connected us and we de-compressed sometimes with a pub visit after work or another social occasion. We were connected, bonded and it released pressure, and we felt safe. These opportunities are on the decline, and we all need to find a way to replace them.  It can be done. I gave up alcohol, and therefore the bonding of the pub visits, over a decade ago.  I replaced them with other ways to socialise. That was somewhat difficult, but I got there.

What can we do? Sickness has isolated me for a while recently. That’s why I made attending the Chartered Institute of Fundraising National Convention in London on the 9 & 10th of June a priority. If you saw me there, I hope you took the opportunity to say hello!

It’s also why I created EmPower Mental Fitness. You can see more about our programme below.

Summary

Genuine, deep connection with like-minded people is the most powerful solution to the falling tide of wellbeing and mental health.  It is most effective when meeting individuals or groups in real life.

We need to socialise with our ‘safe people’ – it is a human’s (and indeed all mammals’) first defence against a feeling of danger.

Pressure + complexity + isolation = spiralling emotional discomfort.

Connection + action = increasing resilience.

Connection is not the only solution, but nine times out of ten, it is the best place to start.

Join EmPower Mental Fitness In London – July 21–22

EmPower Mental Fitness Seminar: 2 Days In-Person + 12 Weeks Guided Support

At Canopi, London SE1 3GN, join Alan Clayton and Duncan Batty for a powerful in-person seminar that tackles the real reasons behind burnout, disconnection, and stress—and gives you practical tools to build your mental fitness for the long haul.

💡 What You’ll Learn:

🎯 Your Programme Includes:

📣 Price: £499 incl. VAT
(Easy instalment plans available)

🎟️ Only 15 Places Available

Ready to feel stronger, clearer, and more connected to yourself and your purpose?

👉 Book Your Space Now
Or email connection@em-po.com to ask us anything.

EmPower Isn’t Just a Programme. It’s a Movement.

Backed by science. Built from lived experience. Designed for fundraisers, by fundraisers.

Let’s change the conversation around mental health in our sector—together.

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