While more and more people are getting vaccinated in North America and we’re feeling less fearful of getting the virus and more hope as we’re opening up more, this is also leading to a different kind of stress.

Post-Pandemic Stress.

It looks and feels like this: People are struggling to figure out how to “get back into” society again, and they aren’t sure how to interact in groups. Some families are hurting because some members refuse to get a vaccine, and other family members don’t know if it’s safe to interact with them. Workers are leery about going back to offices, especially if they have small children who aren’t vaccinated yet.

Supply chains are broken, and people can’t get the goods they want to order, and no one knows when they’ll be up and running. Employers can’t find enough workers to fill slots for many reasons. Over the weekend, a cyber-attack hit the country’s largest gasoline pipeline, and it’s threatening to cause sky-rocketing gas prices across the entire east coast of the United States.

It’s a lot. And this probably doesn’t even scratch the surface of what you’re experiencing each and every day.

I’d bet that you’re feeling some level of post-pandemic stress. I am… and so are your donors.

As front-line fundraisers, you’ve learned, more than anything, that your donors want to be cared for just like you. When you reached out in March 2020 to see how your donors were doing, the response was extraordinary. The fundraisers we were working with relayed story after story about the way donors were opening up to them like never before, and how they appreciated talking to them.

I know you’re tired. But our work requires us to continue to show empathy, care, and compassion for our donors as we move into a different kind of stress over the next year. I just want to encourage you to continue to do the good work you’ve been doing, and to continue to love and care for these good people you’ve been given.

In order for you to do that well, you also need to take care of yourself. We fundraisers aren’t always good at that. There’s always more to be done, right? I urge you to step back and examine where you are with your mental and physical health. How are you really doing? What do you need so that you can actually have that empathy and compassion for your donors?

I took a few days off a couple of weeks ago and it made a huge difference for me. It gave me some renewed hope. You might need that or something different. But whatever it is, I hope you find it – because as someone in the relationship business, your care and compassion for your donors will always be needed.

Jeff

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