How Funders Can Fight Nonprofit Burnout, Not Fuel It — with Elisha Smith Arrillaga , Center for Effective Philanthropy

Fund the People: A Podcast with Rusty Stahl

Nonprofit burnout is real — and rising. In this episode, Rusty Stahl welcomes back Dr. Elisha Smith Arrillaga, Vice President of Research at the Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP). They discuss new data revealing how stress, vacancies, and limited funding flexibility are affecting nonprofit leaders and staff across the country.

They dig into CEP’s State of Nonprofits 2025 and Voices That Matter reports, exploring:

• What’s driving staff burnout and morale loss

• The disconnect between funder intent and nonprofit experience

  How funders can actually help

• Ways to use data to advocate for equity, sustainability, and smarter philanthropy

Elisha also shares a preview of CEP’s upcoming research on how the current administration’s “war on charity” is impacting the sector — and what innovations and risks are emerging in response.

The episode ends with a call for funders and nonprofits alike to use the research data on The State of Nonprofits to advocate for change and collaboration.

Related Episodes:

• Do Funders Understand the Nonprofit Burnout Crisis? (Elisha Smith Arrillaga, Center for Effective Philanthropy, Nov. 2024, S7:E1)
• Funders Listen Up: It's Time to Invest in Nonprofit Workers⁠ (Rusty Stahl, Fund the People, Nov. 2023, S5:E1)
• Understanding Funders’ Blindspots (Phil Buchanan and Grace Nicolette, Center for Effective Philanthropy, Nov. 2020, S1:E7)
• Social Impact Grief: How to Mourn and Organize in 2025 (Meico Marquette Whitlock, Mindful Changemaker, 10/25, S8:E3)

• Nonprofit Staff Resilience and Wellbeing in Turbulent Times (Loretta Turner, Do Good Leadership Collective, April 2025, S7:E18)

Resources & Links Mentioned:

• Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP)

  • State of Nonprofits: What Funders Need to Know (2025)

  • Voices that Matter (2025)

  • How Foundations are Supporting Grantee Wellbeing (2024)

• Fund for Shared Insight

• Candid Nonprofit Tracker

• CEP Conference 2025 — Opening plenary to feature new research on the impact of the “war on charity”

• Fund the People Podcast Homepage