Supporting the People Behind the Programs

Dear Friend,

Fairfield County is home to an incredible array of nonprofit organizations creating change and progress through visionary leaders and their committed teams.

Yet as the challenges facing our community mount, the people who lead these important organizations are facing extraordinary stress.

It’s easy to understand why. During the past five years, nonprofits have been forced to navigate the disruptions of a pandemic, nationwide decline in donations, staffing shortages, unprecedented inflation, and increased community demand for services and support.

It should come as little surprise, then, that when The Chronicle of Philanthropy surveyed nonprofit leaders earlier this year, more than half said they struggle to maintain work-life balance, and 88 percent agreed with the statement that “the demands made on nonprofit CEOs, executive directors, and presidents are never-ending.”

As a community foundation leader, I can relate. Given the magnitude of the challenges we’re working to address in Fairfield County, there’s an ever-present demand to keep doing more and working harder — even when one has reached the point of exhaustion.

For many of my peers in Fairfield County’s nonprofit community, who directly serve individuals and come face-to-face each day with the human and urgent needs in our region, the pressure can be even greater.

Burnout is real.  As a result, we’re seeing too many of the most talented and passionate nonprofit professionals leaving the field for roles that promise a more balanced and healthier lifestyle.

This is a loss not only for our field, but for our community.

Our Center for Nonprofit Excellence is working to combat this trend by providing an ever-expanding menu of programs that help nonprofit leaders navigate the immense challenges of their roles; support leaders of color who face unique additional burdens; and offer venues for peer learning and self-care.

If, like me, you value the health and wellbeing of our community’s nonprofit professionals, I invite you to support the work of the Center for Nonprofit Excellence so we can deliver more programs that reach more of these exceptional leaders.

I also encourage you to think about how your philanthropy can help care for the people who staff your favorite community organizations. It’s important to support programs — but supporting the staff who bring those programs to life can create an equally important, and sometimes greater, impact.

As we move into the heart of summer, I hope you will also be taking time to find rest and renewal in your life, perhaps through physical activity, spending quality time with friends and family, or tapping into creative self-expression.

When you take good care of yourself, it puts you in the best position to care for others.

In Community,

Mendi Blue Paca
PRESIDENT & CEO
FAIRFIELD COUNTY’S COMMUNITY FOUNDATION