Changemaker Wellbeing Index: Understanding the pressures on nonprofit workers
Future of Good · 2025
The first Changemaker Wellbeing Index documented a difficult tension: nonprofit workers care deeply about their communities, while many struggle to sustain their own wellbeing.
Common Good Strategies led research design, analysis and report writing for the national initiative, overseen by Future of Good, with data collection by Environics Research.
About one-third of community nonprofit workers reported food insecurity, and one in five said they were likely to leave their job within six months. Yet 93% of survey respondents across the nonprofit sector believed their work made a meaningful difference in their communities at least sometimes.
The study examined eight dimensions of wellbeing, including burnout, job satisfaction, loneliness and financial security. It gave leaders a broader view of the pressures affecting their teams and a national reference point for understanding their own workplace findings.
For boards, managers and funders, the results raise concrete questions about compensation, workload and retention—and whether organizational plans and funding arrangements adequately support the people expected to deliver them.