Here’s the thing, we set out to welcome 300 new A+ members and raise $13,000 for our birthday. Then, you all got us to 317 members and $17,424 and counting! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU — on behalf of every reader who can keep reading, from every writer who can keep writing, from everyone working each day to make this little queer website that could happen — because your support means so much more than just the dollars and cents you’ve given. It means that indie queer media can hold out, even against some pretty tough odds. That fact inspires me more than I ever thought possible, each and every day. Thank you for believing in what we are all doing here, together, and thank you for being a part of this queer community. Thank you for believing that Autostraddle can stick it out for a little longer on this planet, to our 14th birthday and beyond!

So, where will this money go? Primarily, toward paying our gay team. As always, we keep your dollars 100% gay! In 2021, A+ members funded 50% of our entire annual budget by themselves, and another 26% was made up by contributions from fundraisers. When you add in merch and affiliate sales, Autostraddle is 84% reader-funded. Growing our A+ membership is a hugely important part of our plans for future sustainability — and when we’re talking future we’re also talking over the next 9 months, through the rest of the year. It’s not easy keeping an indie queer media publication afloat, but thanks to you, we believe we can keep going — and that we can do it right. Your support means that we can remain independent, that we can lead with our hearts when we make decisions, that we can continue to, together, lift up queer and trans writers and lift up stories that are by us for us, and lift up our readers and our community. Thank you for making the decision to be a part of this. We hope to make you proud.

But enough from me! Let’s hear from the rest of our team.

From Valerie (who, for context, I tag-teamed running our fundraiser Twitter with) had this to say:

HERE’S THE THING, it’s hard to tweet so often about a fundraiser. It’s hard emotionally because I hate feeling like I’m flooding timelines and sometimes it feels a little like preaching to the choir because we know you know how important independant queer media is, but also without your donations, memberships, and retweets we simply cannot keep existing. And it’s hard logistically because it’s just 2-6 queers at any given time trying to do 1-2 jobs while also checking numbers and trying to time tweets between our regularly scheduled content. It’s Nicole pretending like they’re giving other people’s shifts but actually working the whole time anyone else is on shift to help keep us updated on our progress. It’s hard but then it’s so exciting to watch those numbers creep up, to see your tweets of encouragement, to see you celebrating the small wins with us. So thank you to everyone who joined, donated, retweeted, bullied their straight friends, begged on our behalf, etc. And thank you to all my friends who were patient with me stopping midsentence when there was an important update to craft a fundraiser tweet because they know just how important this all is.

From Kayla:

While I’m no stranger to Autostraddle’s fundraising efforts, this was my first fundraiser as a full-time member of the senior team, and I got to not only see up-close how damn hard this team works but also how passionate our readers and supporters are in helping us get to DO the work! Because we really, truly couldn’t do it without y’all. Thank you for showing up — every $, signup, tweet, like, share, or even just words of encouragement HELPS immensely!

From Carmen:

There’s never a fundraiser or a membership drive when I’m not floored — I mean seriously, left speechless — by the sheer power of this community. It’s such a vulnerable thing, to ask for help. But every time, with every membership (or gifting a membership to someone else), with every gift, with every encouraging comment on our post or retweet, you show up because you know — and we know — that this matters. Keeping Autostraddle around for the next queer person who needs us matters. A million thank you’s will never be enough!!!

And with all that said, thank you. Thank you for collectively making the choice to keep this queer publication and community going, for everyone who needs us. We cannot wait for what’s next in this 13th year!

P.S. Are you an A+ member? Celebrate with us on Discord!!!

Before you go! Autostraddle runs on the reader support of our AF+ Members. If this article meant something to you today — if it informed you or made you smile or feel seen, will you consider joining AF and supporting the people who make this queer media site possible?

Join AF+!