White saviourism is still prevalent in fundraising practices. Here are four simple ways to avoid it.
Why It Matters
White saviour fundraising isnโt just paternalistic and racist. It can condition donors to believe that humanitarian issues in the Global South are unsolvable. Fundraising campaigns that promote solidarity can be just as effective as traditional ads, if not more so.
Content warning: This story includes descriptions of racist fundraising advertisements.ย
A Black child stares dully into the camera. Perhaps theyโre picking through a mountain of garbage, carrying jugs of water on their heads, or sitting in a dirt-floored hut. There is often sad music, reminiscent of an animal adoption campaign. Sometimes, they cry.ย
Amid these heart wrenching scenes, a narrator urges donors to give something โ anything โ to spare these poor children from their hardships. Cue a 1-800 number, a charitable organizationโs logo, and a fade to the next commercial.ย
This narrative template is known as the โstarving baby appealโ: a reliance on white pity to draw donations from benefactors in the Global North. These appeals can take many forms, but tend to rely on colonial stereotypes about local communities as helpless, one-dimensio
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