“We are successful, Cynthia,” the CEO said.
“And I’m not going to diminish that,” Cynthia said. “Except, I’m not going to let you guys believe that just because we serve 2,500 people that that makes us perfectly successful. What you don’t see–”
“We provide a bed for people who don’t have a home. We run a place where people can spend the night,” the CEO desperately tried to explain.
Cynthia took a calm approach. “But we don’t run a place where people can feel safe.”
“Every night we have hundreds of homeless people come to our shelter. How is that not safe?”
“Do they take refuge because it’s a welcoming environment or out of necessity?” The CEO almost took offense to her comment but allowed her to continue. “What’s not safe is the amount of staff we’re burning through. The people we serve deserve to have a familiar face to always come to, not someone new every two weeks. We can be successful by making sure the people we serve are feeling welcomed and safe, and by making sure staff feel valued and safe.”
The CEO took a moment to process what his employee was saying. He had never considered that aspect of success before.
For decades, the nonprofit sector has defined success by how much it delivers. Its success is based on how many people served, how many programs were launched and how much funding was raised. But those numbers don’t account for how many people doing the work are exhausted, emotionally drained and leaving in record numbers.
Many nonprofit professionals enter this field because they care deeply. They are driven by purpose, not profit. Yet purpose alone cannot carry people through systems that demand constant emotional labor, long hours and personal sacrifice with little structural support. Over time, dedication turns into depletion.
More is not always better. Carrying an invisible workload of emotional resilience will lead to higher rates of turnover. Organizations that survive and thrive will treat their workforce as a strategic asset rather than a consumable resource. They design roles, policies and cultures that acknowledge emotional labor, protect capacity and make well-being part of how performance is measured.
Impact cannot be measured only by outputs and growth. It must be reflected in retention, trust and psychological safety. When staff are supported, organizations become more resilient, more fundable and more credible to the communities they serve.
Such an outcome can be difficult to measure, especially for organizations just realizing that burnout is a systemic issue and not just a personal issue. Pulse For Good’s services of “We are successful, Cynthia,” the CEO said.
“And I’m not going to diminish that,” Cynthia said. “Except, I’m not going to let you guys believe that just because we serve 2,500 people that that makes us perfectly successful. What you don’t see–”
“We provide a bed for people who don’t have a home. We run a place where people can spend the night,” the CEO desperately tried to explain.
Cynthia took a calm approach. “But we don’t run a place where people can feel safe.”
“Every night we have hundreds of homeless people come to our shelter. How is that not safe?”
“Do they take refuge because it’s a welcoming environment or out of necessity?” The CEO almost took offense to her comment but allowed her to continue. “What’s not safe is the amount of staff we’re burning through. The people we serve deserve to have a familiar face to always come to, not someone new every two weeks. We can be successful by making sure the people we serve are feeling welcomed and safe, and by making sure staff feel valued and safe.”
The CEO took a moment to process what his employee was saying. He had never considered that aspect of success before.
For decades, the nonprofit sector has defined success by how much it delivers. Its success is based on how many people served, how many programs were launched and how much funding was raised. But those numbers don’t account for how many people doing the work are exhausted, emotionally drained and leaving in record numbers.
Many nonprofit professionals enter this field because they care deeply. They are driven by purpose, not profit. Yet purpose alone cannot carry people through systems that demand constant emotional labor, long hours and personal sacrifice with little structural support. Over time, dedication turns into depletion.
More is not always better. Carrying an invisible workload of emotional resilience will lead to higher rates of turnover. Organizations that survive and thrive will treat their workforce as a strategic asset rather than a consumable resource. They design roles, policies and cultures that acknowledge emotional labor, protect capacity and make well-being part of how performance is measured.
Impact cannot be measured only by outputs and growth. It must be reflected in retention, trust and psychological safety. When staff are supported, organizations become more resilient, more fundable and more credible to the communities they serve.
Such an outcome can be difficult to measure, especially for organizations just realizing that burnout is a systemic issue and not just a personal issue. Pulse For Good’s services of