Joy as Resistance: How Nonprofit Leaders Can Reclaim Power Through Community and Consultants that Care
- Lee Domaszowec
- Sep 9
- 4 min read
The nonprofit sector is living through one of the most volatile moments in modern history.
The Trump administration’s return has brought a relentless wave of attacks on freedoms, justice, and human dignity. From voting rights to reproductive freedom, from LGBTQ+ protections to immigrant justice, from environmental safeguards to international alliances, each week brings new challenges that cut at the core of why nonprofits exist.
For nonprofit professionals, the emotional toll is heavy. Executive Directors feel exhausted, angry, and powerless. Development staff are stretched thin. Program managers question whether their efforts matter when powerful systems appear designed to undo progress. Board members worry about financial sustainability.
And yet, in moments like this, there is an antidote more radical than despair: joy.
Deliberately creating joy is a form of resistance
Joy has always been a form of resistance. It says: you cannot steal my humanity, no matter how much you dismantle rights or deny dignity to the people I serve.
When activists marched through the streets singing, when communities celebrated despite oppression, when organizers gathered to laugh and share meals—they weren’t ignoring hardship. They were defying it.
For nonprofit leaders, joy is not a luxury. It is the energy that prevents burnout, sparks innovation, and sustains movements long enough to win.
Why nonprofit joy requires community
Cultivating joy individually is important. But joy multiplies in community.
Consider this:
A Development Director struggling with a 40% government funding cut may feel isolated and hopeless. But when they join a peer network where others share strategies to replace lost revenue, they feel less alone—and more capable of finding solutions.
A Program Manager who just watched a legislative victory get overturned can easily fall into despair. But when they hear how another organization pivoted quickly to engage donors directly, they regain perspective.
A small, foster-based animal rescue overwhelmed by intake numbers may feel powerless. But when they connect with groups testing low-cost spay/neuter clinics, they realize they’re part of a larger fight for systemic change.
These examples aren’t unusual—they’re everyday realities. And they illustrate why joy is strongest when it’s collective.
Movements don’t survive on strategy alone. They endure because people link arms, celebrate wins together, and keep pushing forward despite setbacks.
For nonprofit professionals, joy grows when we:
Collaborate across causes. Victories in human rights, animal welfare, education, or climate work fuel one another.
Celebrate progress—even when small. A grant secured, a donor renewed, a policy shifted—all are reasons to rejoice.
Encourage creativity. New approaches to fundraising, storytelling, or technology inject energy back into the mission.
Joy doesn’t just restore individuals. It strengthens organizations.
What is fractional consulting: It’s doing the work together
This is where the PhoenixFire SPARK Community comes in. SPARK stands for Social Purpose Accelerator for Results & Knowledge. It’s a membership community designed for nonprofit leaders who want both the solidarity of peers and the expertise of experienced consultants… without the high cost of hiring full-time help or very expensive consulting firms.
Through the PhoenixFire SPARK Community, nonprofits gain access to “fractional consulting”: senior-level strategy and support at a fraction of the price. That means:
Grant writing strategies backed by data, rubrics, and proven results.
Fundraising systems that save time while growing donor revenue.
Board engagement models that actually work.
Marketing and communications strategies built for impact, not vanity metrics.
Instead of watching leaders struggle alone, SPARK pairs them with peers and experts who have seen these challenges before—and know how to move through them.
Fractional consulting isn’t theory. It’s hands-on help, applied in real time, shared across a community so that every member benefits.
Turning Joy Into Action: Practical Steps Nonprofits Can Take Today
PhoenixFire blogs always give you something you can use immediately. Here are five practices you can apply now to build resilience and reclaim joy in your work:
Host “wins check-ins” at staff meetings. Begin with a single question: “What’s one thing that went right this week?” This small shift reframes energy, builds morale, and helps staff see progress even in chaotic times.
Audit your fundraising portfolio for quick wins. Most nonprofits carry a “quiet leakage” of lapsed donors or missed monthly giving opportunities. Spend two hours this month reactivating lapsed donors, converting volunteers to givers, or adding one new automated monthly gift option.
Borrow brilliance. Ask one peer organization what they’ve done differently in the last year that worked. Adapt it. This is how collective joy turns into collective innovation.
Guard your team’s energy. Protect staff from meeting overload and unrealistic deadlines. A tired team cannot innovate, and joy cannot thrive in burnout. Create space for laughter, downtime, and creativity.
Invest in community. Whether it’s joining a network like SPARK or forming a local coalition, don’t operate in isolation. Community itself is a renewable source of energy and joy.
These practices may feel simple, but in combination, they create resilience. And resilience is resistance.
Why This Matters Now
Authoritarian systems thrive on exhaustion and despair. They want you too tired to organize, too cynical to dream, and too isolated to resist.
That’s why joy matters. Every time we celebrate together, share strategies, or build systems that endure, we deny the narrative of hopelessness.
And when we channel joy into practical strategies, shared knowledge, and collective action, we don’t just survive—we advance.
A Call to Join SPARK
PhoenixFire’s SPARK Community exists for nonprofit professionals who are tired of going it alone. It’s for leaders who want to reclaim joy as a strategy, build organizations that last, and surround themselves with others who are doing the same.
SPARK offers fractional consulting, peer connection, and proven systems that make your work easier, faster, more efficient, and more sustainable.
If you’re feeling frustrated, angry, or powerless in this moment, don’t stay there.
Visit www.phoenixfiresc.com/spark.
Discover a community that refuses to be beaten down by despair. Find the joy that makes resistance possible