Invisible No More: Acknowledging the Unseen Labour That Keeps Nonprofits Running
- katewebster
- Apr 4
- 4 min read
Updated: Apr 22
Whose job is it to ensure that volunteers show up? Who answers the late-night crisis calls? Who keeps tabs on all the silent auction donations? Who mentors the interns? Who sits in board meetings? Who constantly shares the stories of your work to everyone they meet in hopes of furthering the mission?
Nonprofits rely not just on their frontline workers, but on a vast amount of unseen labour from both employees and volunteers - emotional support, administrative tasks, and behind-the-scenes logistics that keep organizations running. Understanding and recognizing all kinds of invisible labour – and then learning to acknowledge and appreciate them – is critical to a strong and healthy sector.
I’d challenge anyone to find someone working in the nonprofit sector who hasn’t given up their personal time for their organization in some capacity – whether that’s showing up to fundraising events, answering calls from beneficiaries after hours or putting in a bit extra time to: make a thing, meet a deadline, do something! It’s not only common, it is frequently expected of employees in our sector that they go above and beyond. Of course, these kinds of activities are often critical to the functioning of organizations, so one might not expect them to disappear – but they should be given the respect, and appreciation, they deserve.
If you’re not sure what we’re talking about yet, consider whether or not you and your colleagues might be doing some of these often ‘unseen’ and ‘out of your scope’ activities:
Emotional Labour: Staff and volunteers absorb trauma, mediate conflicts, and provide constant support—often without formal training or recognition.
Mental Load: Executing every area of your mission requires a lot of thinking, planning, organizing and scheduling – and often, how to do it all with limited resources. This cognitive work is often behind-the-scenes and after hours, and in many organizations, falls disproportionately on only a few people.
Administrative & Operational Work: When pressures to keep overhead costs low prevail, tasks like managing databases, writing grant reports, answering donor emails, and organizing events often fall on overburdened employees, when combined, these tasks could make up an entire new employee’s role.
Diversity & Inclusion Efforts: Many staff, especially those from marginalized backgrounds, take on the extra, unpaid work of advocating for equity and representation within their organizations.
Volunteer & Relationship Management: Not all organizations have the ability to bring on dedicated people in roles that keep volunteers engaged, mentor new hires, or foster community partnerships, so this work falls on employees whose role might not specifically relate.
The problem is that although this work is critical, it’s often not acknowledged or appreciated, certainly not enough. The impact of that is huge in the nonprofit sector:
Burnout & High Turnover: Employees who take on invisible labour without recognition or support are more likely to burn out and leave.
Inequity & Exploitation: The burden of emotional and diversity-related labour often falls on women, people of colour, and junior staff, reinforcing workplace inequities.
Reduced Impact: When administrative and emotional labour go unacknowledged, organizations lose efficiency, relationships weaken, and momentum stalls.
The first step to addressing any problem – as the saying goes – is to acknowledge that there is a problem. Take a look around your organization and spot the work your employees, their families, your volunteers or others might be doing that goes above and beyond the scope of what they originally agreed to. Really challenge yourself to see the unseen contributions of everyone in your community.
Once you’ve made yourself honestly aware of all the ways your people are going above and beyond, find meaningful opportunities to appreciate all their previously unrecognized efforts:
Acknowledge It: Leaders must name and validate the hidden contributions that their teams – and their families, friends, volunteers, etc. – make towards the organization’s mission. Do this publicly and privately, depending on what’s most appropriate for the situation. Find unique and creative ways to recognize people for the extra time, money and energy they give.
Compensate Fairly: This is the number one solution to acknowledging and recognizing employees in a meaningful way. Adjust your job descriptions, workloads, and salaries to reflect the real scope of work employees are taking on.
Provide Legitimate Perks: Think beyond pizza parties and Tim Horton’s gift cards and ping pong tables. These were once considered perks, but today’s employees value benefits that actually make their lives better. Consider introducing a 4-day work week, access to mental health services, introducing new baby bonuses, ‘paw’-ternity leaves when adopting a new pet, or letting employees choose the gift cards that would be most helpful for them (which might be for gas, groceries or other essentials, rather than ‘treats.’)
Distribute the Burden: Find a way to ensure there is shared responsibility for emotional labour. Whether the support is required by employees, partners or beneficiaries, organizations shouldn’t be relying on a few passionate individuals to manage the emotional needs of everyone else.
Formalize Recognition: Integrate unseen labour activities into performance reviews, team meetings, and professional development plans – so that they are recognized, acknowledged and appreciated formally.
Nonprofit success doesn’t just come from frontline impact - it’s built on the tireless, often invisible contributions behind the scenes. Organizations must make the invisible visible, recognize the effort behind the mission, and ensure all labour is valued. When we acknowledge unseen work, we don’t just strengthen our teams - we build a more just and sustainable nonprofit sector.
