Taking time to check in with yourself and recharge your batteries can help you stay connected, creative and committed — for the long haul.
Tanya Beauchemin is more than familiar with the idea of volunteer burnout, as the co-founder, foster co-ordinator and a board member of Sit with Me dog rescue.
Beauchemin says in the case of a dog rescue — which exists to keep dogs from being euthanized — “dogs will die” if volunteers can’t fulfil their responsibilities. That’s what keeps her going. Similarly, there are lots of other high-pressure volunteer jobs that involve vulnerable humans that have the same pressures, and with them comes the same potential for burnout.
Leah Jurkovic, who volunteers with Sit with Me dog rescue and Dress for Success and sits on the board of Volunteer Ottawa, agrees volunteering can be emotionally draining.
“There’s a lot of emotional burnout in the rescue group,” Jurkovic says.
VolunteerMatch describes volunteer burnout as “a state of chronic stress that may lead to exhaustion, cynicism and detachment.” This usually results from a shortage of volunteers, meaning that the few there are have to take on more work than they should.
A perfect storm of challenges
And yet, Canadians like to volunteer. In 2018, 24 million Canadians volunteered 2.5 million hours of their time to improve the health, well-being, education and safety of our communities, according to Statistics Canada, which plans to release its 2023 survey numbers in May 2025.
On average, Canadians aged 15 or older gave 206 hours of their time in 2018, usually to hospitals, religious organizations, sports and recreation and arts and culture. Women (44 per cent) were slightly more likely than men (38 per cent) to volunteer, while Gen-Zers (born in 1996 or later) took the prize for largest proportion of volunteers in a generation at 52 per cent. That said, Canada’s oldest citizens (born before 1945) were less likely to volunteer, at 32 per cent, but they logged an average of 222 hours per year, almost three times the average number of hours put in by Gen-Zers.
The 2023 figures will illuminate what happened in the pandemic, but anecdotally, Christine Trauttmansdorff, executive director of Volunteer Ottawa, says the number of volunteers fell off during the pandemic. In lockdown, programs that depended on volunteers were shut down completely. As things opened up, the dedicated volunteers — many of whom are in their 60s and 70s — were a little more cautious about contagions.
“And then there’s the demographics,” Trauttmansdorff says, adding that the baby boomers are aging, and the generation behind them isn't as large. “A lot of people who retired during the pandemic didn't get into volunteering to the same extent people did 10 years ago.”
The opportunities weren’t there in lockdown and many found other things to do with their time. Others hunkered down and still others are preoccupied with responsibilities for grandchildren or aging parents. Still others are taking second jobs in retirement just to make ends meet.
Then there’s the fact that a failing economy and aging population, mean there’s more need for volunteer help.
“These increased pressures can then lead to burnout in the few volunteers that the organizations still have,” Trauttmansdorff says.
“There’s so much need and so little capacity,” adds Jurkovic.
Dave Clements has served on several community boards and says burnout is a possibility there, too.
“Trying to balance professional, personal, volunteer and board responsibilities can be a lot,” Clements says, adding that in an ideal world, people give according to the amount of time and brain capacity they have, and that should be adaptable. “The board is a collective, and sometimes members get enthusiastic, but their ideas don’t just involve them. It’s the responsibility of board chairs to make sure that the organization has the bandwidth to take on something new.”
Gail Curran, who works on volunteer engagement for Federal Retirees, says the association has 900 volunteers across the country, but she still sees volunteer burnout.
“A lot of volunteers are tired, they’re wearing several hats and health and age catch up with them, too,” Curran says. “In 2023, our attrition rate for volunteers was 23 per cent.”
Identifying burnout
Things to watch for if you’re concerned about burning out:
- If you used to talk about how much you loved the work but have stopped.
- If you experience personality changes on the “job.”
- If you admit to being overwhelmed, feeling ineffective or not having enough impact is also one to watch.
- If you were reliable and then suddenly stop showing up or delivering on promises or tasks.
Identifying burnout early is important to prevent volunteers from getting so cynical they no longer see the organization as worthy of their help.
Combatting burnout
Jurkovic says organizations need more volunteers to spread the emotional burden more fairly, and they need sustained funding, something that’s been hard to come by.
“The answer is to recruit more volunteers,” Trauttmansdorff says. “And then once you’ve got them, be really good to them. Having a really good volunteer manager is important. And then training is important and making sure they have all the tools they need. For example, if they’re delivering something, make sure they have the right co-ordinates and everything they need is well organized, so they don’t feel as though they’re wasting their time.”
Volunteer recognition is also important, Trauttmansdorff says. Volunteers aren’t in it for the accolades, but it’s important to thank them and make sure everything is going OK for them. She suggests an event to celebrate them once a year on National Volunteer Week is a good idea.
Another consideration is making sure they’re not out of pocket unless they’re willing to be. So, if it’s delivery work that requires them to pay for parking, make sure any extra expenses are covered.
Ways to protect yourself against volunteer burnout:
- Have open lines of communication with your organization.
- Make sure you understand what the work entails.
- Try out the work before committing to a schedule.
- Make sure you understand the tasks at hand.
- Take holidays from volunteering just as you would from work.