From Burnout To Belief: Reclaiming Purpose In The Nonprofit World
A few months ago, I woke up and couldn't get out of bed. Not just for a few extra minutes. For days.
As the founder of a global water nonprofit, I've spent years moving at full speed: building infrastructure, navigating policy, rallying donors, managing teams, telling stories that connect hearts and dollars. I'm used to carrying a lot.
But something had shifted. I felt hollow. Tapped out. The hope that had fueled my work, the clarity of purpose that used to get me up in the morning, had gone quiet. It wasn't that I no longer believed in the mission. I just couldn't feel it anymore.
And I know I'm not the only one.
Across the social sector, burnout is a quiet epidemic. Leaders are exhausted. Donors are stretched thin. Colleagues are navigating trauma while trying to hold onto optimism. We're moving through a time marked by relentless crises—economic, political, environmental—and in many corners of the nonprofit world, belief is wearing thin.
For those of us working in international development, the pressure is especially acute. We're being asked to do more with less while facing increasing skepticism about our relevance or effectiveness. The urgent global needs haven't changed. But the energy around solving them often has.
Something surprising happened in the stillness of my own burnout. I didn't bounce back. I listened. Not to strategy decks or sector reports, but to the people at the center of our work.
I thought about the young girl who no longer walks six miles every day for water. The mother who told our team, 'You didn't just bring water. You brought peace to my home.' The local engineer in Kenya who said, 'I used to feel forgotten. Now I feel responsible.'
That's when I realized my burnout didn't mean I was finished. It meant I needed to reconnect—not just to the work, but to the why.
Here's what I learned:
1. Purpose doesn't always feel good, but it does hold steady.
There will be seasons where passion dims and where gratitude feels hard to access. But purpose, real grounded purpose, isn't emotional. It's directional. It gives shape to our days even when we're tired and even when the world feels heavy.
2. You can't lead from exhaustion.
I had to let go of the idea that burnout was a badge of honor. It's not. It's a warning. And in mission-driven work, rest is not a reward. It's a responsibility. No one benefits when we pour from empty cups, least of all the communities we serve.
3. People restore people.
The thing that brought me back wasn't a breakthrough idea or a new productivity tool. It was the quiet presence of my team. The trust of our field partners. The generosity of donors who kept showing up, even when headlines told them to give up. Their belief helped rebuild mine.
If you're someone who supports this work, or any work trying to make the world a little more just, I want you to know: Your belief matters. Especially now.
There is so much pain in the world right now, and it's tempting to disengage. But change doesn't begin with action. It begins with belief. In people. In possibility. In the slow, brave process of doing good work well.
Forbes Nonprofit Council is an invitation-only organization for chief executives in successful nonprofit organizations. Do I qualify?
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'When empty nesters talk about the teenagers,' the comedian Jim Gaffigan quipped, 'they always sound like they're describing a hurricane: 'My wife and I thought we were prepared; we lost everything!'' Madonna wasn't quite so dramatic when she talked about her daughter Lourdes leaving, but she still compared it to losing an arm. Once you've come to terms with that, there is often an identity crisis to navigate. As Dodd wrote in 'The Empty Nest,' 'To me, it was glaringly obvious that parting from a child who has been the centre of your life for twenty-odd years is a really big deal. Yet while new parents are bombarded with advice, empty nest parents are left to muddle through what is arguably the most challenging phase of parenting.' She added, 'It is the flipside of the seismic emotional adjustment that new parents go through with the birth of their first baby. 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