Fluff is the Stuff of Life

If you’ve ever worked for a nonprofit organization, you’ve probably been told—directly or indirectly—to avoid fluff.

Don’t waste limited resources.

Don’t indulge in pleasure when so many people are suffering.

Don’t use too many descriptive words or imaginative ideas when talking about the work you do.

The message is clear: focus on the essentials, stay serious, and strip away anything that might be seen as frivolous.

But here’s the problem: these “rules” are not guiderails. They are closed doors. They don’t help us do better work—they stifle creativity, shut down joy, and reinforce a culture of scarcity that keeps us running on fumes, minimizing our potential community impact.

The truth is, fluff is the stuff of life.

Fluff is color, texture, humor, sparkle, softness, fun. It’s the pause for celebration after a hard-won victory. It’s the birthday cupcakes in the break room, the flowers on the windowsill, the story told with care and beauty instead of bullet points. Fluff is not a distraction from the “real” work—it’s what makes the work worth doing.

Without fluff, life becomes mechanical, transactional, and ultimately unsustainable. And nonprofits, perhaps more than any other sector, need fluff—because they are built on human connection.

Think about it:

• In relationships, fluff is what makes us feel cared for and seen, not just managed.

• In organizations, fluff fosters culture, belonging, and trust—things that make people want to be engaged and stay connected.

• In communities, fluff inspires, uplifts, and reminds us that joy is not separate from justice, but essential to it.

Too often, nonprofits adopt a posture of austerity, as if seriousness equals legitimacy. But cutting out all the “fluff” doesn’t make us stronger—it makes us brittle.

The most resilient movements and organizations are the ones that center beauty, celebration, and imagination.

Fluff is not wasteful. It is generative.

It sparks creativity. It strengthens bonds. It keeps burnout at bay. It helps us remember why we’re here in the first place.

If we want our organizations and communities to flourish, we need to bring back the fluff—not as an afterthought, but as a vital part of the ecosystem. Because fluff doesn’t just make life bearable; it makes life beautiful. And a beautiful life is one worth fighting for.