Consequences of Burnout in the Non-Profit Sector: Individual, Organisational, and Systemic Impacts
Author: Dr. Anna Neya Kazanskaia
Publisher: NEYA Global Publishing
Article | NEYA Global Journal of Non-Profit Studies
Year: 2025
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0009-5669-1676
DOI: https://doi.org/10.64357/neya-gjnps-prvbrnstrgvlstf-04
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About the Article
Burnout in the non-profit sector generates consequences that reach far beyond individual exhaustion. This article examines the cascading effects of burnout at individual, organisational, community, and systemic levels. At the individual level, burnout undermines health, erodes motivation, and accelerates withdrawal from mission-driven work. At the organisational level, it causes high turnover, weakens decision-making, and damages morale and credibility. Communities experience service disruption and declining trust, particularly where NGOs act as essential service providers. At the systemic level, burnout destabilises donor confidence and partnership reliability, weakening collective impact across the sector. The article positions burnout not merely as a personal health issue but as a governance and sustainability risk, calling for integrated prevention strategies that embed wellbeing into leadership, funding structures, and accountability frameworks.
Key Topics
- Multi-level consequences of burnout
- Organisational instability and turnover
- Community trust and service disruption
- Donor confidence and governance risk
- Emotional wellbeing and professional identity
- Sustainability and civil society resilience
Suggested Citation
Kazanskaia, A. N. (2025). Consequences of Burnout in the Non-Profit Sector: Individual, Organisational, and Systemic Impacts. NEYA Global Journal of Non-Profit Studies. NEYA Global Publishing. https://doi.org/10.64357/neya-gjnps-prvbrnstrgvlstf-04
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