We're not fine - and we need to focus more on mental health in fundraising

This is a guest blog by the brilliant Cassie Edmiston, who is both Head of Fundraising and External Affairs and Wellbeing Lead at Prisoners' Education Trust, and a Mental Health First Aider.

In late 2024, Cassie asked us if we knew of any good mental health resources available specifically for fundraisers, based on a hunch that this might be a gap for the sector. We agreed - and Cassie very kindly offered to write this blog as a way of starting a conversation about the topic. Over to Cassie...

I’ve never been one for New Year’s resolutions.

I know they work for some people, but for me January is not a month to reinvent myself. It’s a month to watch The Traitors and eat slightly stale Christmas cake. It’s a month to be kind to myself about what’s possible with so few hours of natural light.

Of course the reality is often a bit different despite my best intentions. The funding application and reporting deadlines are stacking up. There are donors to thank. Events to organise. Teams to support. Board papers to draft.

​Depending on where you are in your financial year, you’re either at the bottom of Fundraising Target Mountain looking up with dismay, or part way up and wondering how on earth you’re going to reach the summit. It can feel like a lot. 

And that’s the thing, “how it feels”. At this time of year it’s easy to deflect and talk about the woes of January. It’s cold, wet and dark. But it’s much harder when it comes to talking about how we actually are and how we feel. It’s hard to know who to talk to and how to talk about it. We don’t want to seem silly or unprofessional, or worse, unable to do our jobs. People are counting on us. We’re fine. It’s fine. I’m fine. 

What the numbers say

But we’re not fine.

​1 in 4 people will experience a mental health issue of some kind each year in England, and the overall number of people reporting mental health problems has been going up in recent years. 

In early 2024, Mental Health UK published the first annual Burnout Report. It found that 9 in 10 adults in the UK had experienced high to extreme levels of stress. Almost a quarter (24%) of UK adults felt unable to manage their daily stress levels, and 1 in 5 workers (20%) had taken mental health leave from work.

In our sector, I don’t think we really know the true scale of the issue. Ecclesiastical’s 2023 Charity Risk Barometer showed that 70% of charity leaders they interviewed were more concerned about employee burnout than they had been 12 months previously. A survey by Unite showed that concern is justified, with 69% of not-for-profit and charity workers suffering from anxiety as a result of working excessive hours.

Just this month, Fair Collective shared some of their findings from research looking at the mental health of small charity leaders. Over 85% said their role had negatively affected their mental health. 

The Burnout Report, by Mental Health UK, found that 9 in 10 adults had experienced high to extreme levels of stress

The particular challenges of fundraising

Everyone in the sector faces challenges particular to their role.

​For fundraisers, the weight of responsibility for securing funding for services and colleagues is a heavy one. We live in challenging times for all strands of fundraising (The List, created and maintained by Jo Jeffery, demonstrates this most effectively for trust fundraising) and fundraisers are often being asked to raise more with fewer resources, as organisations strive to cut costs. 

Fundraisers are endlessly second guessing themselves, questioning whether they should have made a different approach or framed the ask another way. Did they do enough?

For those where fundraising is just part of their role, there are additional pressures, particularly for small charity leaders who have to fundraise alongside everything else. And of course the challenges are even greater for fundraisers from groups more likely to experience mental health issues, for example Black people or people who are LGBTQIA+.

I’ve struggled to find statistics about the mental health of fundraisers specifically, though research by Claire Warner in 2019 showed that only 30% of fundraisers agreed that “my organisation has a great health and wellbeing culture”. A quick look at LinkedIn or fundraising groups on social media reveals the pressure fundraisers feel, and in some cases the very real distress and fear they experience if they can’t find the funds needed. 

What can you do at your organisation?

​It’s important to remember that people find it difficult to open up, so the more opportunities there are for having these conversations across your organisation, the better. 

At Prisoners’ Education Trust (PET), we encourage people to speak to their peers in and outside the organisation and in some instances have set up more structured buddying systems. We are fortunate to have a number of people trained as Mental Health First Aiders and have an Employee Assistance Programme (EAP), which provides access to services such as counselling. Both of these require investment, but for organisations who can find it in their budget, I can say that we have found them really worthwhile. 

We make sure wellbeing is on our monthly staff meeting agenda too, even if sometimes it’s just one of our Mental Health First Aiders reminding people to take a break and have some lunch. Our supervisions start with “how are you?”, not “what have you done since we last met?”. 

We have flexible working and home working so people can manage caring responsibilities or personal appointments without feeling pressured. Equally we are conscious that working from home can be isolating for some, so we have a range of online and face to face check-ins in place. We have also collated various resources - including podcasts, book recommendations and articles - in our shared space. 

Creating an environment where people feel able to talk takes time, so don’t expect immediate results. People need to trust the approach and the culture, so whatever you put in place, stick with it and show commitment. 

If you have people on the team willing to share their experiences, that can be helpful. It’s particularly powerful if senior people feel willing to do this as it can really change the culture.

At PET I’ve been open about accessing counselling via EAP and shared my experience of when I first called the service. I know taking that first step added to my anxiety (who will I speak to? what will they ask?) so demystifying it for others can be hugely helpful.

Encouraging people to speak openly about their mental health - and support each other - is an important first step to building a more positive culture

Some mental health resources that might be helpful for fundraisers

There are relatively few resources aimed at fundraisers specifically, though the following could be helpful:

• The Chartered Institute of Fundraising published a range of resources in response to the pandemic
• The Hub of Hope is a good generalist source of support - put in your postcode and it will find services near you
• Mind has a lot of handy resources - this guide is particularly helpful if you’re managing someone with a mental health issue
• This is a useful guide from CharityComms for anyone whose remit also includes communications
• For more day-to-day advice, the Mental Health Foundation has gathered their top tips
• I also quite like some of the daily prompts from Action for Happiness

What are we missing for fundraisers?

These are all pretty broad and I'm certain fundraisers could benefit from some more targeted support, particularly in the current uncertain climate. 

Have you seen anything out there that you’ve found helpful? Are you working on something at the moment? I’m keen to know and even keener to share.

Please share a comment on the blog - we’ll collate any responses that people share and add them here, so others can benefit too. 

Just before this blog was published, we heard that Claire Warner (mentioned earlier) has launched Charity Well 2025 - a new research project that aims to look at the wellbeing of people working in charities and to help organisations better support their teams. We'd encourage you to share your experiences via this project.

Even for those of us who try to seek out the positives, 2025 is likely to be a challenging year. If you're struggling, please do talk to someone - it's hard but it will help. If you’d prefer to put your thoughts on paper, Samaritans have a freepost address or an email you can use. Please do reach out.

And whatever you’re going through, even if things are feeling really tough, you’re here and you’re doing a brilliant job.