Futurology, white saviourism and reimagining monitoring & evaluation

Welcome to Unconventional Wisdom - where we trawl the Internet for some of the more unusual, challenging and progressive articles out there, and serve them up in a periodic digest for charity leaders and fundraisers. With the odd podcast link thrown in for when you need a screen break.

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Navigating the guilt of finding joy when the world feels like crap 
Written by Vu Le and published by Nonprofit AF
As the post-Christmas blues hit and we’re thrust back into the oppressive realities of the world in which live and work, this darkly comical yet poignant piece feels like a relevant place to start. Vu Le is based in the US, but gives all of us working in the non-profit sector a timely reminder that being grounded in joy, love, hope and laughter is a vital tool for driving systems change. If you’re feeling particularly guilt-ridden this month, Vu reminds us that the tension between the joy we experience and the injustices in the world can provide us with the fuel we need to keep fighting for a more equitable world. 

Reimagining Impact: Afrofuturism, Imagination, and Traditional MERL Practices
Written by Jessica Oddy and published by Design for Social Impact (DSFI)
Monitoring and Evaluation are words that rarely fill us fundraisers with joy and inspiration, but they really ought to. This article is the latest in a series by DSFI on challenging the inherent inequities built into normalised practices in the social impact sector. We love Jessica’s observations from Afrofuturism, applied with radical insight into the limiting tick-box nature of the traditional monitoring, evaluation and research practices we tend to rely on. She demonstrates the immense value of imagination in designing projects which truly support community-driven solutions and transformative change. We hope this piece challenges and inspires you as much as it did us.  

What’s in store for the sector in 2025?
Written by Tamsin Anderson and published by Mills & Reeve
From imagination and innovation, to an area of charity operation where it’s crucial not to use a creative license. Mills & Reeve Charity Law specialists provide a helpful roundup here of the important changes and predictions which will legally affect charities in the year ahead. For many this won’t be the most exciting topic, but remaining on top of regulations and ensuring you are operating responsibly is crucial for the sustainability of your organisation. This article also gives us some important movements to look out for, such as the new Civil Society Covenant and a revised Charity Governance code. 

Do White Saviour perceptions reduce charitable giving? Evidence from five online studies
Written by Swee-Hoon Chuah et al. and published by Kyklos International Review for Social Sciences
Next up, after Band Aid 40 contentiously hit our headlines last month, this recently published empirical study investigated what impact appeal photos that depict typical White Saviour perceptions have on donations to international aid charities. The ‘White Saviour’ narrative (i.e. Caucasians helping those in the Global South) has been increasingly called out for being problematic and exploitative. Putting its use to the test, Chuah et al. found that charities using images of poverty porn not only do not raise more donations, but can actually lower someone’s likelihood of donating. The study concludes that there is “no case for international NGOs to use such imagery.”

The Future is "AND" - not "OR"
Interview with Richard Watson by Alex Andreou, featured on the Quiet Riot podcast
Lastly, we’re giving your eyes a break and sharing something compelling to listen to. This recent episode of the excellent politics podcast Quiet Riot features Richard Watson, a futurologist (what a job title!) who helps organisations create better strategies by anticipating and responding to big societal trends. In just 35 minutes, this fascinating interview unpacks the art of making predictions in such a volatile landscape, the big trends we ought to be paying attention to, and why we should spend more time thinking about how to shape our "preferred future", rather than just assuming things are set in stone. It’s given us plenty of food for thought for our strategy work in 2025, and we think you'll enjoy it too.