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Thursday August 6- Compassion fatigue

Thursday August 6- Compassion fatigue

Ephraim Gopin
August 06, 2026

Hi !

Milo: What’s cookin this week

In this week’s enews…

Are you suffering from compassion fatigue?
How to offer tribute gifts
MUST READ: Can your site pass the Grandma Test?
Who the hell approved this?!
P.S. Never drunk email or text people

Donor fatigue. I don’t believe in it. Or at least not as it’s defined by many in our sector.

I DO believe donors are fatigued about how we communicate with them. I’ve written about it in the enews. We’re not providing them with the good vibes.

But in today’s enews I want to look at a very important part of our sector, one that at times it seems is neglected and left to fend for themselves (with a crappy salary to boot).

You.

Lemme introduce you to compassion fatigue and how it can affect your organization.

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1) Plan: I’ll manage your entire year-end campaign from beginning to end (from creating a plan to “here comes a donation and another and another and…”)

2) Audit: I review your year-end plan, copy, channels you’ll be using, donor segmentation etc. and offer expert tips and advice to improve what you have before it goes out.

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Reply to this email and let’s work together to make sure your year-end campaign is a runaway success!

Tock: What is compassion fatigue?

I recently read a post which defined compassion fatigue as “the emotional and physical exhaustion that comes for caring for others who are experiencing trauma or hardship.” It’s about YOU, not the people you’re helping.

In this enews I generally write about fundraising, marketing, management, email etc. But today I wanna look at YOU, the reader. And while it’s easy for me to put on my Gen X hat and say “just put your head down and get shit done” as we Xers normally do, I know better.

Nonprofits aren’t just suffering from a shortage of funds and increased requests for help. The turnover in our sector is a major pain point and one that threatens our ability to make positive lasting change in our communities.

The work you do 365/24/7 isn’t just hard. It’s also the actual mission and issue you’re trying to solve. Childhood sickness, poverty, hunger, sex trafficking, homelessness, people with disabilities not being fully included in society and a wide range of societal issues that are all tough to deal with.

You’re seeing some of the hardest things known to us. You’re hearing stories that are frightening, sickening or downright disheartening. You’re trying to get people- including elected officials- to care as much as you do.

Add that in growing nonprofits you’re wearing eleven different hats… but getting paid less than the salary of one full time worker. And yet you show up every day and give it all ya got!

But at some point that can catch up with you.

Think about what’s coming up over the next 147 days:

Many of you have a fall gala event
Gratitude Tuesday (if you’ve been here long enough you know my feelings about Giving Tuesday)
Local giving days (e.g. Give Miami Day- Nov. 19; Minnesota’s Give to the Max Day- Nov. 19; Colorado Gives Day- Dec. 8)
The all-important year-end campaign

It’s a LOT. All staff members are expected to put in all kinds of overtime while still providing the same level of expert programs and services.

At some point, compassion fatigue can set in. That hurts your organization’s ability to provide for beneficiaries while also raising much needed funds.

The article I quoted above has some solutions for this burnout and how to combat compassion fatigue. It’s worth a read, especially if you’re a leader.

So lemme ask you: How would YOU fight compassion fatigue? Please reply to this email with your insights, thoughts and solutions. I want to put together a list of ideas that I can share in an upcoming edition of the enews. Thanks in advance!

The Mathemagician: The right way to do in memory gifts

I want to share the good being done out there and maybe give you some ideas to run with.

Only offering a tribute field on your online donation form isn’t enough. You have to provide the full experience.

Your online donation form should offer givers the opportunity to make their gift in memory or in honor of someone. You should provide the following fields:

radio button to choose in memory or in honor
personal details: name of person being recognized
email/mailing address of person who should be notified of tribute gift
box for person to write a message that will be forwarded

This allows the giver to leave a personal message of their choosing. It also means that you, the organization, will make sure to forward that note, along with letting the recipient know that a tribute gift has been given in their honor/in memory of someone dear to them.

I mention this because with my father’s passing, people have asked where they can donate in his memory. Our of the charity’s our family chose was ROFEH International, which provides support and services for patients and families during a patient’s medical stay in Boston. (My dad grew up in Boston and knew well the founder of the organization and the amazing work they do.)

A good friend made a donation to ROFEH in my father’s memory and here’s the email ROFEH sent me:

“Dear Mr. Ephraim Gopin,

I wanted to let you know that ROFEH International recently received a contribution from X, in memory of your father Rabbi Menachem (Mendi) Gopin.

We are grateful for this show of support, which will further our work of providing care and comfort to others.

May your father’s memory continue to be a source of blessing and inspiration.

With sympathy,

X”

Simple. To the point. Compassionate.

If you offer tribute gifts on your online donation form (and I sincerely hope you do!), make sure the system is set up so that people receive emails like the above and are notified of these gifts.

📌 Further reading: Retaining donors who give in memory

The Soundkeeper: A little of this and that

In this section I’m going to share with you great content I’ve picked out that you can learn from.

The Grandma Test. MUST READ!!! (Voice For Good)
9 guidelines for the ask amount on your donation form (Virtuous)
Where to find volunteers for your organization (re:Charity)
How to build trust with first-time donors (Achieve)
Donation modals- get them working for you! (Soapbox Engage)

King Azaz: Le sigh

Sometimes I see marketing campaigns and I wish I had been a fly on the wall during the approval meeting. I’d love to know what process took a roomful of people to approve something which, when people look at it, is just soooooooooo wrong.

Take for instance this brand launch. What the hell were they thinking?! Did no one at the approval meeting stand up and say, “Um, there might be a small issue with the font type. Just sayin.”

All the eyerolls. This is why outside eyes should always be consulted BEFORE you launch a new fundraising or marketing campaign. It could save you a lot of time and money.

Have a great weekend!

P.S. Calling all nonprofit consultants!

Wanna grow your business? Wanna learn from other consultants and make valuable connections? Wanna get your hands on the content and resources needed to be successful? Then I highly suggest you consider attending the Nonprofit Consulting Conference next month!