Charities risk a “campaign drain” because three-quarters of campaigners are unsure whether they have the energy to continue in the face of rising pressure from government, the media and even their own organisations, new research finds.
In the annual campaigner survey, conducted by the Sheila McKechnie Foundation and published today, 75 per cent of those polled said they had questioned whether they had the energy levels to keep campaigning over the previous 12 months.
This was despite 78 per cent of respondents saying they had achieved a campaign win or hit a milestone during the same period.
More than four in five respondents said pressure on them had grown over the past year, from sources including the government and politicians, the media, donors and their own organisations, the report says.
Almost two-thirds of those polled said they had directly received backlash about their campaigning activities from politicians, with 45 per cent saying the same about the media.
“Some MPs state that we shouldn’t be engaged in activity that challenges the government’s welfare and cost-of-living policy, even though it’s a clear area of need for our community,” one respondent said.
The report says that in too many cases, organisations and donors are adding to rather than relieving pressure on campaigners.
Almost one-third of respondents said they have faced resistance or backlash from their own organisation, while 19 per cent said they had experienced the same from donors.
Although 29 per cent of respondents think their boards are too risk-averse on campaigning, 57 per cent said they thought their board had the right balance between risk and reward.
The survey showed that while almost two-thirds of campaigners said they felt supported by their organisations, 19 per cent said they felt unsupported.
“I feel like I have the training, but don’t have the time or pastoral support,” one survey respondent said. “I recently did some work with Google and was shocked at how much wellbeing support they have.”
Campaigners polled said they wanted chances to meet other campaigners to share experiences and ideas, and asked for help to cope with pressure and burnout.
The survey also found that although there was some optimism that a new government would lead to better relationships between decision-makers and civil society, there was “little belief it would result in the more punitive measures that affect campaigning being repealed”.
Sue Tibballs, chief executive of the Sheila McKechnie Foundation, said the results of the survey were a “stark warning to organisations and donors”.
She said: “They need to pay attention to how they support campaigners or risk losing them through burnout or career change.
“We can see that campaigners are dedicated, and in many cases deeply connected, to their work.
“Yet, with pressure coming from so many sides, they are juggling an extraordinarily diverse set of competing stakeholder interests.
“While training continues to be desirable, campaigners are also asking for more help connecting with their peers to create communities of support and practice.”
The survey was completed by 145 campaigners and activists between 1 February and 7 March.