September 2025

 

Hi First name / there,

Fabulous news: Queer For Hire is growing!
 

Four incredible consultants have joined our team! They bring new skills, lived experience, and powerful alignment with our mission to uplift LGBTQIA+ communities to accomplish personal success and shared equity for all through the power of authenticity, uniting diverse people, and maximizing the abundance of philanthropy on all levels.

 

🌟 Laura Martinez (she/ella)
Development Manager
Specialties: Institutional fundraising, Queer history, nonprofit theater, grant writing, and justice-centered philanthropy

 

🌟 Andrew Mai Osborne (he/him)
Senior Consultant

Specialties: Individual giving, corporate sponsorships, event production, donor experience design, and community partnerships

 

🌟 Daa’iyah “Yaya” Rahman (she/her)
Senior Consultant

Specialties: Cash flow fundraising, board development, equity-focused development strategy, and inclusive fundraising planning

 

🌟 Eli Barnard (he/him)
Senior Consultant

Specialties: Campaign architecture, storytelling ethics, systems improvements, donor communications, and cross-functional strategy

 

🌟 Maggie Schutzler (she/her)
Senior Consultant

Specialties: Strategic fundraising, donor pipelines, education-sector philanthropy, and sustainable growth frameworks

 

With this team in place, we’re ready to support even more mission-driven organizations in building inclusive, Queer-centered cultures of philanthropy.

 

"Sincerely, Queers" Blog Feature

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.

If you're a Queer professional, we'd love to have you contribute to the blog! “Sincerely, Queers” uplifts the voices of LGBTQIA+ professionals to improve employee culture and engagement.

FREE “Get Q'd Up” Video Class

Level 2 Training in Queer For Hire's “Get Q'd In” education series is here! And it's free! This training dives into the LGBTQIA+ donor lifecycle from first discovery to long-term retention and shows how to build pipelines that are inclusive, sustainable, and rooted in belonging.

 

✅ Attract Queer donors through authentic storytelling and visibility

✅ Convert one-time gifts into monthly giving with identity-affirming strategies

✅ Cultivate major and legacy gifts through community and values

✅ Retain LGBTQIA+ supporters by fostering true belonging and leadership pathways

 

FREE Guide: Diversify Your Funding

LGBTQIA+ nonprofits are chronically underfunded; in 2023, less than 0.20% of all U.S. foundation giving went to Queer causes. Too many organizations rely on one or two fragile revenue streams, leaving their missions vulnerable to political shifts, grant cycles, or a single lost funder.

 

That’s why I created Diversify Your Funding: A Survival Guide for LGBTQIA+ Nonprofits. This free, 6-page guide is packed with practical strategies, examples, and step-by-step methods to help Queer-led organizations build sustainable, multi-stream revenue.

 

✅ Grow a base of individual donors and monthly givers

✅ Activate peer-to-peer fundraising that builds power, not just dollars

✅ Cultivate LGBTQIA+ major donors and create leadership giving circles

✅ Strengthen board giving and turn events into pipelines

✅ Secure grants and pursue values-aligned foundations

✅ Explore earned income opportunities unique to Queer nonprofits

✅ Build legacy giving programs that honor chosen family and community values

✅ Retain donors through belonging, visibility, and leadership pathways

 

This isn’t theory, it’s a roadmap for survival, growth, and Queer abundance.

 

The Future of Philanthropy

is Intersectional

Queer For Hire is proud to be presenting at AFP LEAD 2025 this October!

Founder & CEO Matthew Easterwood (he/they) and consultant Daa’iyah “Yaya” Rahman (she/her) will co-lead a session titled:

The Future of Philanthropy is Intersectional: Leading with Inclusion for Maximum Impact.
 

We’ll explore how nonprofit leaders can move beyond performative DEI and build truly inclusive, intersectional fundraising programs, centering lived experience, shifting power, and creating cultures that reflect the communities we serve.