Technology can automate processes. Only people can build relationships.
In the world of nonprofit giving, we often celebrate outcomes: meals served, students tutored, families housed. We measure impact in numbers—lives touched, dollars distributed, programs launched. But behind every success story, every pivotal moment of change, there are people: the staff members who show up day after day, carrying institutional knowledge in their hearts and building trust in their communities.
Yet when it comes to funding, staffing remains one of the hardest investments to secure. Donors want to fund programs, not payroll. They want to see their dollars “go directly” to beneficiaries, as if the people coordinating, strategizing, and nurturing those programs are somehow separate from the impact itself.
This thinking isn’t just flawed—it’s unsustainable. And it’s time we recognize staffing for what it truly is: sacred work.
The Invisible Infrastructure
When we think of infrastructure, we often imagine buildings, technology systems, or databases. But the most critical infrastructure in any organization isn’t physical—it’s human.
Consider the program director who remembers that a client’s daughter just started college, or the grants manager who knows exactly which funder to approach for an emerging need. Think about the executive director who has spent years building relationships with community leaders, or the operations coordinator who keeps everything running smoothly behind the scenes.
This is institutional knowledge. It doesn’t live in a manual or a cloud server. It lives in people.
When organizations can’t afford to hire adequate staff—or worse, when they lose experienced team members to burnout or better-paying opportunities—they don’t just lose employees. They lose relationships, credibility, momentum, and the very capacity to deliver on their mission.
The Real Cost of Understaffing
Every nonprofit leader knows this reality intimately. They’ve lived it.
They’ve watched talented staff members leave for jobs that pay a living wage. They’ve shouldered impossible workloads because there’s no budget to hire help. They’ve apologized to donors for delayed reports because their one staff member is drowning. They’ve turned down program opportunities because they don’t have the people power to execute well.
Understaffing doesn’t just strain organizations—it undermines their effectiveness. A brilliant program design means nothing if there’s no one to implement it with care. A generous grant goes underutilized if there’s no capacity to manage it. Community trust erodes when overworked staff can’t return calls or follow through on commitments.
And here’s what often goes unsaid: the emotional and spiritual toll of working in an understaffed nonprofit is immense. Staff members in these environments aren’t just doing a job—they’re carrying the weight of community needs on their shoulders, often without adequate support, compensation, or recognition.
This isn’t sustainable. And it isn’t just.
Ready to change this narrative? Learn how your giving can invest in the people behind the programs.
Why Relationships Can’t Be Automated
There’s a reason the most effective nonprofits prioritize relationship-building. In communities—especially those that have been historically marginalized or underserved—trust isn’t transactional. It’s earned through presence, consistency, and genuine care.
Technology can send appointment reminders. It can process donations. It can track data and generate reports.
But technology cannot sit with a grieving family. It cannot notice when a teenager’s demeanor changes and intervene before crisis hits. It cannot remember that a community elder prefers to communicate in Arabic, or that a client is allergic to certain foods, or that a volunteer’s mother just passed away.
Only people can do that.
The staff members who show up faithfully—who learn names, honor stories, and build authentic relationships—are the lifeblood of mission-driven work. They are the ones who transform services into solidarity, programs into belonging, and charity into dignity.
When we invest in staffing, we’re not just paying salaries. We’re investing in the connective tissue that holds communities together.
What Sacred Staffing Looks Like
So what does it mean to treat staffing as sacred work?
It means paying living wages. Not “competitive for the nonprofit sector” wages—living wages that allow staff to support their families, save for the future, and show up to work without financial anxiety.
It means investing in professional development. Staff members who feel valued and supported grow in their roles. They bring fresh ideas, sharper skills, and deeper commitment to the mission.
It means building healthy organizational cultures. This includes reasonable workloads, clear boundaries, mental health support, and leadership that models work-life balance.
It means honoring rest. Burnout isn’t a badge of honor—it’s a sign of unsustainable systems. Organizations that prioritize staff wellbeing create conditions for long-term impact.
It means recognizing that operational support is mission work. The finance manager ensuring payroll goes out on time? That’s mission work. The communications coordinator crafting the newsletter? Mission work. The office coordinator ordering supplies? Mission work. Every role that enables the organization to function effectively is part of the impact.
A Call to Funders
For those of us with the privilege to direct philanthropic dollars, the question becomes: How do we fund the people behind the programs?
The answer is both simple and challenging: unrestricted funding and operational support.
Unrestricted funding gives organizations the flexibility to invest in what they know they need most—and often, that’s staff capacity. It signals trust in leadership and recognition that they understand their communities better than any external funder ever could.
Operational support—funding for salaries, benefits, technology, and infrastructure—is equally critical. These aren’t “overhead” costs to be minimized. They’re investments in sustainability, effectiveness, and dignity.
When we as funders prioritize staffing, we send a powerful message: We see you. We value you. We recognize that you are not just a means to an end—you are essential to the mission itself.
The Sacred Trust
At its heart, staffing is about trust.
It’s the trust that nonprofit leaders place in their team members to carry out the mission with integrity and care. It’s the trust that staff members place in their organizations to support and sustain them. It’s the trust that communities place in the people who show up, listen, and walk alongside them.
And it’s the trust that funders must place in organizations—not just to execute programs, but to build the human infrastructure that makes lasting change possible.
Technology will continue to evolve. Systems will improve. Processes will become more efficient.
But the heart of mission-driven work will always be people.
Because technology can automate processes. Only people can build relationships.
And in the end, it’s those relationships—nurtured over time with care, consistency, and commitment—that create the conditions for transformation.
When we invest in staffing, we’re investing in sacred work. We’re investing in the people who hold communities together, who show up when it’s hard, who remember what matters, and who build the trust that turns hope into reality.
That’s not overhead. That’s the foundation.
Ready to invest in impact that lasts? At the American Muslim Community Foundation, we believe in supporting the full capacity of the organizations we partner with—including the people who make their work possible.