The Nonprofit Podcast
The Nonprofit Podcast is your weekly dose of real-talk fundraising, designed for the doers, dreamers, and difference-makers powering today’s nonprofit world.
Hosted by Jena Lynch, Donorbox’s Education & Community Engagement Manager, and fundraising strategist Britt Stockert, CFRE, each episode delivers clear, practical insights you can act on right away, no fluff, no filler.
You’ll also hear from Cara Augspurger, Ed.M., CFRE, ED of Grace Care Center Foundation, sharing field updates and frontline perspectives.
Whether you’re building something new or leveling up your impact, we bring you bold ideas, honest conversations, and tools to help you fundraise smarter and lead with confidence.
Information. Inspiration. Implementation. Impact.
That’s the energy we bring…every week.
Let’s get to work.
The Nonprofit Podcast
Ep 212| The Nonprofit Starvation Cycle: Why Good Fundraisers Burn Out
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The fundraising capacity gap is the distance between what a nonprofit needs to raise money sustainably and what it's actually resourced to do.
And, right now?... That gap is widening.
In this episode, Britt Stockert, Fundraiser Coach at Donorbox, unpacks what it is, where it shows up in daily development work, and why it keeps getting misdiagnosed as a performance problem when it's actually a structural one.
The numbers are stark. The Nonprofit Finance Fund found that 85% of nonprofits expect service demand to keep rising, while 36% ended last year at a deficit, the highest in a decade. First-year donor retention sits around 20%. Sector technology budgets allocate 54% to hardware and 1% to training. And nearly a quarter of nonprofit workers can't afford basic living expenses.
Britt makes the case that donor attrition, burnout, and fundraiser turnover are not separate problems. They share the same root cause, and it belongs in the budget conversation, not the performance review.
What You'll Learn
- What the nonprofit fundraising capacity gap actually is
- Where it shows up in real development work, and what it costs
- Why burnout and donor loss are structural problems, not individual ones
- What the nonprofit starvation cycle is and why it matters
- What fundraisers, EDs, and board members can each do differently to break the cycle
The Core Insight
The gap is almost always invisible, which is exactly what makes it so hard to fix. When a major gifts portfolio goes cold, it gets labeled a performance issue. When a fundraiser burns out and leaves, leadership calls it a pipeline problem. The structural cause stays hidden, and hidden problems don't get fixed.
The first move is naming it honestly, in budget conversations, in board meetings, before you pick up a new framework or invest in a new tool. What is it actually costing you to leave it the way it is?
Chapters
00:00 The Fundraising Capacity Gap
01:34 Why Retention Is Slipping
03:06 Capacity Problems Disguised as Performance Problems
06:03 The Nonprofit Starvation Cycle
09:34 How to Break the Cycle
Resources and Links
Book a free one-hour strategy session with Britt here
- Nonprofit Finance Fund Survey Data
- Fundraising Effectiveness Project
- Bridgespan Group Research
- Urban Institute Nonprofit Research
- Stanford Social Innovation Review: The Nonprofit Starvation Cycle
About the Host
Britt Stockert is a Fundraiser Coach at Donorbox with more than 20 years in the public sector. She helps nonprofits build fundraising strategies that match real capacity, working with teams to strengthen donor relationships, refine systems, and simplify operations. Britt also serves on the board of an immigrant- and refugee-led nonprofit and stays closely connected to on-the-ground realities.
About Donorbox
Donorbox is a globally trusted online and on-location fundraising platform that helps nonprofits raise more. With easy-to-use donation forms, powerful donor management tools, and features designed to grow recurring giving, we have helped 100,000-plus organizations process over 3 billion dollars in donations worldwide.
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The information provided in this series is for educational purposes only and does not constitute legal or financial advice. Please consult with a professional advisor for specific guidance.