The Neurodiverse Fundraiser: The Hidden Cost of a Fundraising Sector Not Built for Every Brain[DPP Lunch Analysis]

​Burnout in fundraising is often discussed, but not all burnout looks the same. For many neurodiverse fundraisers, the sector itself can unintentionally amplify stress, exhaustion, and disengagement.

​Join Nicole Bela for a candid, interactive session that explores neurodiversity as a missing piece of the fundraising burnout conversation. This session creates space to better understand the unique challenges neurodiverse professionals face, while also taking a strengths-based look at the value they bring to fundraising teams and organizations.

​This session will explore:

​• Neurodiversity & Fundraising Burnout:
Examine how common fundraising practices can unintentionally create barriers and contribute to burnout for neurodiverse professionals.

​• A Strengths-Based Perspective:
Highlight the creativity, problem-solving, focus, empathy, and innovation neurodiverse fundraisers bring — and why the sector benefits when these strengths are supported.

​• Toward a Neuro-Inclusive Fundraising Culture:
Begin imagining practical, human-centered shifts that make fundraising teams more sustainable, inclusive, and effective for every brain.

​Participants are invited to listen, share insights from their own experience or expertise. Whether you identify as neurodiverse, think you might be, work alongside or manage someone who is, or feel that the sector’s approach to burnout is still missing something, this conversation is for you.

​About: The Donor Participation Project (DPP) is a community of fundraisers who co-create solutions to reverse the nationwide decline in donor participation (20 million US households lost between 2000-2016).

​This event will take place over Zoom.

​The session will be recorded and accessible post-event for DPP members only.