The Big Burnout
I created this report, yes I did use AI to help, in reaction to the colleagues I speak to in the sector. I had a burnout in 2017, so I know what that feels like. I just hit a brick wall and was struggling to function. The world seems a little worse now than it did back then. In 2017, I was just struggling with my own internal thoughts and barriers. Now we are all in a world that has gone nuts and AI is just going to make things far far worse. I still dream of those simple days at the beginning of my career, business development from a phone book, sending CV’s by fax machine and inputting data into my green screen AS-400 database. Ah…happy days!
The IBM AS-400 - Manpower 1996 - my candidate CRM
Yellow Pages - Manpower 1996 - my client CRM
The burnout crisis in UK charity fundraising
A sector facing falling funding, rising demand and real-terms pay cuts is now confronting an uncomfortable truth: it is burning through the people who keep it running.
The UK context has specific pressures that are accelerating burnout across the sector right now.
Pay going backwards
The average pay award in the voluntary sector was 3% in the year to November 2025, while RPI inflation ran at 4.5%, eroding real incomes for a third year running.
Demand surging
Nearly half of charity leaders say demand for their services has significantly increased over the past year, with further growth expected through 2026.
Jobs disappearing
The National Trust cut 500 roles, the NSPCC 235, SENSE 50. Remaining staff absorb the workload, with no corresponding drop in fundraising targets.
Plugging state gaps
Charities are increasingly subsidising public sector delivery as government funding shrinks, with some foundations reporting up to 400% more grant applications than before.
Millennials are hardest hit, but the problem runs across all age groups. Source: CharityJob survey, 2,850 respondents.
"Burnout is endemic in fundraising and not an anomaly, it is a silent and devastating crisis in the fundraising profession. Fundraisers are not an infinite resource."
Damian Chapman, Director of Income Generation, Money Advice Trust & Trustee, Chartered Institute of FundraisingThe sector's greatest asset, people who genuinely care, is also its greatest vulnerability. The more committed someone is to the mission, the harder it is for them to say no.
Gen Z workers, despite caring most about mission, are also most likely to consider roles that run counter to their values in search of better pay, a sign of a generation being pushed past its limits by cost-of-living pressures while receiving the least institutional support.
Burnout is no longer just a frontline issue. Leadership burnout in the UK charity sector is now being described as "finally surfacing", with increasing numbers of charity CEOs stepping back from their roles.
"HR data across the sector shows burnout and mental health strain are now some of the most significant risks charity staff face. CEOs often carry it quietly and alone."
Charity People, March 2026Burnout is not just a wellbeing issue, it has direct financial and operational consequences for charities.
Knowledge walks out
When experienced fundraisers leave, they take donor relationships, institutional knowledge and hard-won expertise. Replacing them is costly and slow.
Productivity falls
Burnt-out staff show reduced efficiency, higher absenteeism, and lower quality of work, a cycle that further strains colleagues who remain.
Recruitment costs rise
High turnover drives up recruitment and training costs, diverting money from mission delivery at exactly the moment budgets are tightest.
Culture fractures
Only 19% of charity workers feel comfortable talking about mental health with senior leaders, meaning problems stay hidden until they become crises.
The UK charity sector has absorbed shock after shock, financial crash, austerity, Covid, cost-of-living, each time asking its fundraising teams to do more with less. Each time the sector has recovered a little less fully. The fundraising workforce is carrying that accumulated weight, and in 2026, it is starting to show.