More than half of charity leaders across the UK, the US, France and Germany are warning that their staff “regularly experience burnout”.

In addition, just under a quarter say they are sometimes impacted by burnout as well, according to the survey of more than 1,500 leaders across the four countries.

The survey has been carried out by business support firm Fiverr, which said the findings show that employee health is a “challenge” for charity leaders to meet.

"Nonprofit organisations are navigating increasingly complex challenges, ranging from limited resources, staffing shortages, and employee well-being," said Fiverr chief executive Micha Kaufman.

"As a result, organisations are now struggling to operate and deliver effective impact.”

Four out of five charity leaders say they have been turning to freelance workers to “adapt to new demands and unexpected events”, the survey also found.

Burnout was also highlighted as a problem among UK charities in separate research released in February this year.

This analysis of 3,000 workplaces by human resources form Access People found that charity sector workers are taking less of their annual leave entitlement prompting fears around their emotional wellbeing.

Research by another human resources firm, Personio foundation, found presenteeism, where workers go to work despite feeling unwell, and overworking in general among staff was prevalent in two in five charity workforces.

Almost a quarter of charities say this is leading to high levels of burnout among their workers, found this research that was published in November last year.

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