“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.
It’s not just about strategy, though. It is deeply compassionate and lives fully into many of the values foundations uphold about community well-being. It is a tangible act of care for a sector that has faced increased and unfair demands. It says to our nonprofit partners, “I see your hard work” and “I believe you are worthy of the same care you give to others.”
However you frame it — as an investment in leadership capacity, organizational health, or as a celebration of the people doing caring work in our communities — there is a place for your foundation in rest-based grant making. The field needs more funders investing in rest, more funders backing the models already proven to work, and more funders widening eligibility so sabbatical isn’t reserved for the lucky few on the right place of the map or in the highest paid roles.
Rest-Based Investment Models
There are a variety of models for investing in rest-based programming spanning different levels of financial investment, programmatic support, and eligibility criteria. There isn’t one right way to support sabbatical experiences for your grant partners.
The following examples showcase funding models of some members of the Rest Roundtable.
Traditional Grant Programs
Most commonly, foundations will operate a grant program that awards funding to support interim staff and activities of the sabbatical participant. Some offer one cycle a year, others multiple. More comprehensive programs include funds for salaries, extended coaching engagements, peer support and learning, and more.
Ile Kimoyo offers different sabbatical options for nonprofit leaders in Washington state. One-month sabbaticals include grant dollars of up to $15,000 while three-month sabbaticals include $60,000 to cover time away. As another example, Allegany Franciscan Ministries recently launched a sabbatical program in response to the needs of their partners, awarding five grants in their first year to executive leaders in Florida. Both organizations keep equity at the forefront, prioritizing people from traditionally marginalized backgrounds in their grant decisions.
Pooled Fund Model
A pooled fund model allows multiple philanthropic partners to expand access to sabbatical by increasing the dollars available and showcasing community support for being well in the work. The Sabbatical Fund housed at the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee is a fund established by eight grantmakers in the Nashville area and supports three-month sabbaticals to the executive directors of their partner organizations. Grants are typically $20,000, and investors make contributions of $25,000 to cover additional expenses to run the program. A pipeline of applicants is built to best meet the demand in the area. A director oversees the program and grantmaking processes, and representatives from each funding organization convene to make approvals twice a year.
Other Rest-Based Investments
While sabbatical is a great investment, it is not the only way to rest. If you can’t allocate larger investments or stand up a comprehensive program, there are smaller, meaningful ways to support and affirm rest as essential to community work. On the grant front, R&R: The Rest of Our Lives provides a small grant of $3,000 to fund “breakweeks” which support a one-week organizational wide break with grant funding and other planning and reflection tools.
Retreats are another rest-based support with great benefit. Windcall Institute offers a program that includes a residential retreat of up to three weeks as part of the nine-month residency. Additionally, The Healing Trust offers about 20 free Healing for the Healer day retreats each year to nonprofit staff focused on rest and renewal.
The Bottom Line: Rest is Infrastructure
Middle America’s nonprofit leaders are carrying the same weight as their coastal counterparts. Closing that gap doesn’t require every foundation to build the same program, but it does require more foundations to invest something.
Bottom line: Rest is not a perk. It’s not fuel to burn through faster. It’s infrastructure — and healthier, more effective nonprofits should depend on it as an operational strategy, not just as a benefit for a lucky few.
Abby Siegel Hyman is program partner for External Partnerships at The Healing Trust, a member of Rest Roundtable, and program manager of the Sabbatical Fund at the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee. Josh Feldman is the CEO and founder of R&R: The Rest of our Lives. Rachel Zieleniec is the chief program officer of R&R: The Rest of our Lives.
- A sabbatical, per Roundtable’s definition, is a structured, intentional period of paid or supported leave — from a few weeks to six months – granted to a nonprofit leader for rest, reflection, learning, travel or creative renewal. ↩︎
