From Competition to Coalition: The Future of Queer Community Work

Dear nonprofit leaders and professionals,

In a time when Queer-led organizations are navigating overlapping crises—political rollbacks, rising violence, and chronic underfunding—collaboration isn’t just helpful, it’s urgent. And yet, scarcity culture often pits LGBTQIA+ nonprofits against one another in the race for attention, dollars, and survival.

In this powerful guest blog, Chloe Cole-Wilson (she/her)—a Black Queer cultural worker, artist, and community advocate—calls us back to our shared purpose. Drawing on her leadership at Silk Lehigh Valley and Basement Poetry, Chloe makes the case for an abundance mindset, community-rooted strategy, and unapologetic Queer joy as tools of both resilience and resistance.

Whether you’re a grassroots collective or an established nonprofit, this conversation is a must-read reminder: liberation isn’t a solo project. It’s a coalition.

Let’s build it together.

In a time when so many LGBTQIA+ organizations are navigating political pressure and funding cuts, what does collaboration between Queer nonprofits really look like, and why is it so essential right now?

Right now, I truly believe that if you have infrastructure, if you own a space or have the capacity to offer funding to smaller organizations doing the work, that’s what real collaboration looks like. It might also mean finding ways to combine services that appear to be duplicated, rather than competing.

Partnerships are essential to the health and well-being of our community and to the survival of LGBTQ nonprofits. When we share resources and work together intentionally, we create a stronger, more sustainable support system for everyone. 

The time is now to start thinking about ways to build healthy and authentic relationships with other organizations. We must find ways to survive in times where funding cuts are becoming a normal part of the work we are engaging in. 

How has adopting an abundance mindset shaped the way you approach partnerships with other Queer leaders or organizations? Can you share a moment when collaboration led to something greater than you could’ve achieved alone?

I believe adopting an abundance mindset has made me more open to partnerships but also more strategic about how and why they happen. For example, I think about our relationship with local health clinics like NOVUS. Not only has NOVUS provided incredible support to Silk Lehigh Valley, but they’ve also made sure our clients can access services we don’t currently offer, like HIV and STI treatment, PrEP and PEP services, and other essential health care needs.

Their partnership has created real opportunities for us to connect our clients to care quickly and efficiently, and that’s what collaboration should look like: filling in the gaps, not duplicating efforts, and always centering the needs of the community.

There’s often an unspoken tension around limited resources (grants, donors, media attention,etc.). How do you personally or professionally push back against the scarcity mindset, especially within the Queer nonprofit sector?

We’re all doing this work together, and our community deserves an abundance of services. It’s so important that we find ways to collaborate, to be mindful of limited resources, and to create resources that actually support one another. And when I say that, I mean applying for grants together instead of competing for them. I mean building programs in partnership instead of duplicating services.

We are better protected—especially when it comes to sustaining our services—when we collaborate and produce programming together. This creates opportunities for organizations to share the load, amplify impact, and support each other in meaningful ways.

We have to remember that having multiple organizations working toward queer liberation is the goal, not the problem. It’s essential to recognize how many people are already deeply committed to this work. It can’t fall on the shoulders of just one organization in the region. It takes all of us to build a vibrant, healthy community that is alive, well, and thriving.

When Queer folks lead together (across race, gender, disability, and region) we’re unstoppable. How do we build trust and bridge differences to make those collaborations authentic and lasting? How has this type of collaboration affected your advocacy?

One of the things I find most important is the need to build capacity outside of crisis. What I mean by that is ensuring we’re working together on activities that aren’t only centered around hardship or urgent challenges. Queer joy is a daily practice, and there are countless ways we can intentionally create and share that joy together. It could be something as simple as a movie night with local LGBTQ+ leaders, connecting over food, or honoring community leaders through award dinners—or even just a thoughtful email.

We often forget how powerful it is to acknowledge each other’s efforts in the fight for liberation. It’s in those quiet, safe-feeling moments that we should be deepening our relationships—especially our professional ones. That’s where trust is built, and that’s the foundation that helps us sustain the work when challenges do arise. 

Also, I believe that we are able to engage in healthy conversations around the tension that exists in the systems we’re working in, we’re able to work together effectively. We must be able to call out mistakes and challenges in order to build real impact. 

In addition to that, we need to accept that not every organization is going to support our community in the same way. Mutual aid is vital to our work and so is volunteering and protesting. It’s all apart of our shared liberation. The LGBTQ community is vast and beautiful and requires us to recognize every system of oppression in order to truly support our community. So it may look like raising money 

What advice would you give to Queer professionals or organizations that want to collaborate more but aren’t sure where to begin or feel hesitant because of past competition or harm?

My advice would be to do a SWOT analysis on your organization before entering into any collaborations. A SWOT analysis is incredibly helpful for understanding your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Once you have clarity on your weak points and areas of growth, you’ll be in a better position to invite in partners or co-collaborators to support the work.

When you know what you need, you’re better able to ask—and less likely to enter into challenging or misaligned business relationships. The analysis can also help you determine what’s a healthy risk and what’s an unhealthy one. For example, if you’re hesitant about entering a partnership, maybe a financial collaboration isn’t the best idea—but hosting a shared event might be. There are always opportunities to grow; the key is to be strategic about how and when you take them.

Sincerely,

Queers

About the Guest Writer

Chloe Cole-Wilson (she/her) is a Black queer creative, cultural worker, and community advocate living in the Lehigh Valley. She currently serves as the Program Supervisor for Silk Lehigh Valley, a youth-led, trauma-informed LGBTQ+ center providing affirming health and social services to queer and trans youth in the Lehigh Valley. 

Chloe is also the Founding Executive Director of Basement Poetry, an arts collective that amplifies BIPOC and LGBTQ+ voices through performance, poetry, and radical storytelling.

For over a decade, Chloe has built programs that live at the intersection of public health, justice, and creative expression. Her leadership centers care, softness, and truth-telling—whether she’s curating community showcases, launching HIV prevention programs, or mentoring young artists.

Chloe believes that art is a form of resistance, that healing is necessary, and that every community deserves space to imagine and create joyfully. Through both Silk Lehigh Valley and Basement Poetry, she continues to build futures where collective liberation is not only possible, but mandatory.

About Queer For Hire

Queer For Hire provides fundraising support to Queer nonprofits, LGBTQIA+ cultural competency to straight-led organizations and corporations, and individual coaching for Queer professionals.

Learn about our Fundraising Services <here> – we’ll lead or support your fundraising efforts, whether you need general support or want to focus on raising money from and for the LGBTQIA+ community.

Learn about our Fundraising Trainings <here> – we can coach your board, staff, and fundraising team on how to fundraise and how to engage LGBTQIA+ donors.

Learn about our other services <here> or our resources <here>.