June 17, 2025

Nonprofit Leadership: Practical Tools to Reduce Burnout

23 minutes

Running a small nonprofit often means juggling strategy, people, programs, and inbox chaos, all while making what feels like a million decisions a day. If you’ve ever felt stuck between leading and just trying to keep up, this episode is for you.

In this candid and insightful conversation, Maria chats with returning guest Veronica LaFemina about one of the most overlooked pain points in nonprofit life: how decisions are made, delegated, and communicated. From messy inboxes to that nagging feeling of "did I already assign this?"- Veronica offers both clarity and real tools to help leaders make better decisions, faster.

🎯 Nonprofit Leadership - 5 Key Takeaways:

1. Decision-Making is an Invisible Problem Until It’s Not
Unlike line items like fundraising or program delivery, decision-making doesn’t get its own budget category. But when it’s broken, it shows up everywhere: delays, confusion, and burnout.

2. Know Your Decision-Making Style
Veronica explains that leaders need to be able to articulate how they make decisions: do you need data or gut instinct? Do you want solutions or options? Being clear on this helps your team help you.

3. Repeatable Decisions Need Repeatable Systems
Create simple processes for recurring decisions; who owns them, what criteria they use, and how often they happen. This takes unnecessary urgency off the table and empowers your staff.

4. Delegation Requires Letting Go (and Being Okay with Imperfection)
One of Veronica’s biggest shifts came when she stopped reviewing every piece of content and let her directors support each other. Things moved faster, and the team grew stronger.

5. Change Starts with You, Not Your Team
If you want your organization to shift how it works, you have to model it. From mindset to systems to communication, effective change management begins at the top.

🎧 Listen to more episodes for actionable fundraising tips and insights on nonprofit leadership, nonprofit governance, productivity & tools, and donor engagement strategies that work. We're here to eliminate nonprofit burnout and boost your donations!

✅ 3 Actionable Tips for Small Nonprofit Leaders:

1. Map Out Recurring Decisions
Spend 30 minutes listing common decisions you make weekly or monthly. Identify who should own each one and draft a quick process for how those decisions get made and communicated.

2. Pick One Project Management System and Stick to It
Whether it’s Asana, Trello, or a shared Google Sheet, choose a system to track delegated tasks. This reduces “Did I send this?” stress and makes work more transparent across your team.

3. Practice the “Three-Month Test” for New Systems
When rolling out a new decision-making or delegation process, give it 3 months before judging. Let your team practice. Check in. Adjust. Real change takes space to land.

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