"So much of my work life was driven by the feeling that my work is who I am, and all I have. Realizing that isn’t actually true was huge for me."

– Sabbatical Grantee

For decades, funders have invested in sabbaticals for nonprofit leaders — one grant, one leader, one organization at a time. Now, as part of The Rest Roundtable’s work, for the first time we can start to see the full national picture.

“Rest on the Rise,” The Rest Roundtable’s new report, aggregates nearly four decades of sabbatical investment data. It’s the first-ever impact report on philanthropic investment in nonprofit sabbaticals1, and the story it tells is powerful: $43 million invested in nonprofit sabbaticals since 1989, $25.4 million granted directly to leaders, $17.6 million in in-kind support, and 1,000+ nonprofit leaders from 1000 organizations supported with a sabbatical grant.

What does this support mean?

  • For the leader: Burnout drops, judgment in decision-making sharpens, and connection with the work renews.
  • For the organization: Authority gets distributed, the board is activated, and infrastructure is strengthened.
  • For the ecosystem: The sector-wide talent pipeline is strengthened, equity and effectiveness advances across the field, and healthy organizational habits become modeled and sustained.

As nonprofit leaders report worsening levels of burnout, intentionally planned and funded sabbaticals are a critical tool for recovery, creative renewal, and building reserves and organizational infrastructure that sustains meaningful work. They’ve been part of philanthropy’s funding approach for decades but, as “Rest on the Rise” shows, with limited access.

While the report reveals much to celebrate, it also shows a noticeable gap that we can’t ignore: rest-based investments are missing in Middle America. Access to sabbatical grant funding often includes eligibility criteria tied to geographic location of the foundation and their catchment area. No grantmaker in the region often means no access to sabbatical funding.

It is our responsibility as philanthropic foundations to hear the needs of the sector and respond. Funding rest is effective and is for all grantmakers. It is essential to sustain the workforce addressing the most pressing issues in our country. A well-timed sabbatical can restore leadership capacity and creative thinking that complex community problems require. Burnout can’t do that.

Read the full article about rest as nonprofit infrastructure by Abby Siegel Hyman, Josh Feldman, and Rachel Zieleniec at The Center for Effective Philanthropy.