Reclaiming the Resolution: Queer Ways to Envision Success
Every January, nonprofits and fundraising professionals are flooded with the same familiar language: goals, growth, stretch targets, hustle, scale. New Year’s resolutions in our sector often mirror corporate self-help culture – do more, raise more, be more efficient, hit bigger numbers.
But Queer communities have always known something different.
We know that success is not linear.
We know that survival is an achievement.
And we know that care, sustainability, and joy are not indulgences – they’re strategies.
As we enter a new year, it’s time to reclaim the idea of a resolution and reimagine what success looks like through Queer values, especially for nonprofits and fundraising professionals navigating burnout, political hostility, and chronic underfunding.
This isn’t about abandoning ambition. It’s about redefining it.
Why Traditional Resolutions Don’t Serve Us
In philanthropy, resolutions often show up as:
Aggressive revenue targets without staffing increases
More campaigns layered onto already full calendars
“Innovation” without resources
Growth without rest
For Queer nonprofits and professionals, especially those serving marginalized communities, this approach quietly reinforces harm. It rewards overextension, treats exhaustion as commitment, and ignores the realities of trauma, inequity, and political pressure that shape our work.
A Queer approach to success asks a different question: What would it look like to build a year that actually sustains us?
Queer Resolution #1: Redefine Success Beyond the Numbers
Yes, money matters. Cash flow matters. Sustainability matters. (“Mo’ Money, Mo’ Mission!”)
But Queer success also includes:
Donor relationships that feel mutual and human
Teams that stay, not just survive
Boards that show up, not just approve budgets
Communities that feel seen, not mined
This year, consider resolutions like:
We will prioritize donor trust over donor volume.
We will invest in stewardship as much as acquisition.
We will measure retention, not just growth.
Fundraising isn’t just about what you raise, it’s about what you build.
Queer Resolution #2: Choose Depth Over Perfection
Perfectionism shows up everywhere in our sector:
Perfect grant narratives
Perfect campaigns
Perfect messaging
Perfect optics
Queer communities know that perfection is often a performance designed to keep systems comfortable.
What if this year, your resolution was:
To show up honestly instead of flawlessly
To invite donors into process, not just polish
To tell stories that include complexity, not just success
Depth builds trust. Trust builds sustainability.
Queer Resolution #3: Make Rest a Strategic Decision
Rest is often framed as a reward for success, after the campaign, after the deadline, after the goal.
Queer wisdom flips that: Rest is how we get there.
For nonprofits and fundraising professionals, this might look like:
Building campaigns that don’t rely on constant urgency
Saying no to misaligned funding, even when money is tight
Creating realistic development calendars
Naming capacity limits honestly with funders and boards
Rest isn’t a pause in the work. It’s how the work remains possible.
Queer Resolution #4: Fundraise With, Not For
Too many fundraising strategies still treat communities as beneficiaries rather than partners.
A Queer vision of success centers:
Community voice in storytelling
Shared power in fundraising decisions
Transparency about how money is raised and used
This year, consider resolutions like:
We will invite community members into donor engagement, not just impact reporting.
We will fundraise in ways that align with our values, even when it’s slower.
We will build pipelines, not pressure.
Queer fundraising is relational, not extractive.
Queer Resolution #5: Plan for Sustainability, Not Survival
Survival mode has been necessary. It’s also exhausting.
A Queer reimagining of success asks:
What systems need to change so this work isn’t always crisis-driven?
What funding mix actually supports our mission long-term?
What would it look like to plan beyond the next emergency?
Resolutions rooted in sustainability might include:
Diversifying funding streams intentionally
Investing in systems, not just programs
Supporting staff and board members in stepping fully into fundraising roles
The goal isn’t just to make it through another year. It’s to build something that lasts.
A Different Kind of Resolution
Queer communities have always envisioned futures that didn’t yet exist. We’ve built chosen families, parallel systems of care, and models of resilience in the absence of support.
So this year, let’s reclaim the resolution, not as a demand to do more, but as an invitation to do better.
Better aligned.
Better resourced.
Better cared for.
Success doesn’t have to look like burnout dressed up as ambition.
It can look like sustainability.
It can look like joy.
It can look like staying.
And that is a resolution worth keeping.
Sincerely,
Queers
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>.
