Why Nonprofit Leaders Should Prioritize Self-Care

Forbes

5 hours ago

Turcois Ominek is the chief operations officer of FreedomOrg.
At many nonprofits, leaders have to guide their teams as they do their part to address social issues—many of which are complex and emotionally challenging. Simultaneously, nonprofit leaders have to juggle various priorities, such as fundraising, building grassroots campaigns and working on effective storytelling.
I don't find it surprising that burnout is common in the nonprofit world. Consider this finding from a 2024 study by the Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP): 'Burnout—for both nonprofit staff and leadership—remains a top concern for most nonprofit leaders, with half of nonprofit leaders feeling more concerned about their own burnout than this time last year.'
I believe nonprofit leaders should prioritize self-care, and by doing so, they can help ward off burnout, maintain focus and clarity and model healthy behaviors for their teams.
The Importance Of Self-Care
Unfortunately, from my observations, some nonprofit leaders don't prioritize self-care due to various reasons, such as feeling guilty for taking time for themselves, not wanting to step away in light of resource constraints at their organizations and struggling to disconnect.
But self-care, which the World Health Organization (WHO) defines as 'the ability of individuals, families and communities to promote and maintain their own health, prevent disease, and to cope with illness—with or without the support of a health or care worker,' is vital. It's not selfish. According to one study that focused on caregivers, 'self-care decreases stress, promotes coping, and improves mental health.' In my view, self-care should be a leadership imperative. If nonprofit leaders neglect themselves, they can become burned out and unable to properly support their teams and work toward advancing their organizations' missions.
I learned the importance of self-care the hard way. I used to not prioritize self-care as a nonprofit leader because I thought there were others who were doing worse. I didn't feel comfortable practicing self-care when not everyone was able to. But the turning point for me was when I got sick with a Covid-like illness. It was one of those cases where I was sleep-deprived, my immune system was down and I fell ill. I had a conversation with my doctor, and she told me that getting enough sleep, eating healthily and managing my stress would help me. She also told me that if I wanted longevity, I had to reconsider some things. So, I started prioritizing my sleep, and my self-care journey started expanding from there.
Key Ways Nonprofit Leaders Can Prioritize Practicing Self-Care
Practicing self-care can take many forms, such as exercising, tapping into a creative outlet and meditating. Regardless of how nonprofit leaders choose to practice self-care, based on my experience, there are several ways they can prioritize doing so.
First, I recommend setting boundaries. Nonprofit leaders should define their work hours and say 'no' when necessary. That way, they can carve out time for themselves to practice self-care.
Additionally, nonprofit leaders should delegate tasks and empower their team members to handle them. In my view, if you can't trust the team you're working with, they're less likely to be able to trust themselves, meaning you'll have to work extra time to tackle their tasks on top of your own.
It's also important to schedule regular breaks, be it setting aside 20 minutes each day for a walk, taking a few days off each quarter, etc. Scheduling regular breaks, I've found, helps you stick to a self-care routine.
How Nonprofit Leaders Can Encourage Practicing Self-Care On Their Teams
In addition to practicing self-care themselves, I believe nonprofit leaders should create organizational cultures where self-care is championed. Teams are integral to leaders' success. Practicing self-care will only get nonprofit leaders so far if their teams are burned out and stressed.
There are different ways nonprofit leaders can encourage practicing self-care on their teams. For instance, they can make it easy for staff to access mental health resources, have open conversations about recognizing and managing burnout and make it easy for everyone to step away when they need to. An approach that's worked at my organization is that, outside of being off for the holidays, we also have a big shutdown for three or four weeks every year. This enables me, the rest of the leadership team and every team member to focus on non-work things and decompress.
Why Nonprofit Leaders Should Talk About Self-Care With Their Peers
Beyond building cultures where self-care is celebrated at their organizations, I also encourage nonprofit leaders to talk about self-care with their peers, fellow nonprofit leaders.
Exchanging information can help nonprofit leaders discover new ways to help themselves and their teams navigate self-care. For instance, through a conversation, one nonprofit leader might learn that another has given their team members the option to sign up for art classes or a discounted gym membership. That information could inspire the leader to do the same.
Additionally, by talking about self-care with their peers, nonprofit leaders can make it more widespread in the nonprofit world. When more nonprofit leaders and their teams recognize the value of self-care and practice it, I believe they can more effectively advance the causes they're working toward.
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