Jaded Aid: The satirical playing cards with your (organization's) name all over them

What did USAID bring to the people of Haiti after the 2010 earthquake? The answer could be relief, recovery or long-term reconstruction assistance. But it’s more likely Sean Penn, per diems or “poverty porn” — especially if you’re playing the new Cards Against Humanity-inspired Jaded Aid game. Even if you’re unfamiliar with the “party game for horrible people” — in which players compete to select the funniest, and often crudest, answers to a set of “fill-in-the-blank” questions — you’ve heard by now that three young development professionals have you covered. In fact you’ll no longer need to use the generic version at all. Jaded Aid’s yet-to-be-finalized deck of cards, with questions and answers crowd sourced from the development community, will be available by mid-December. First — for the price of $200 — you could get your own employer’s name inked on a card so that any Jaded Aid player around the world can answer the next giggle-inducing question with your particular NGO, for-profit or donor. Jaded Aid co-founders soon heard rumors of pools of money being collected by NGOs in Uganda to throw their name in as an anonymous jab. (And originally, large contractors out there who didn’t wish their name sullied by the game could get themselves off the list for $1,000). But the founders removed this option in favor of confirming that all those who suggested a name were doing it in the spirit of the game — fun, not spite. The organization names will be used in playful ways that laugh with, not at, the firms. And some — especially tech startups — might see this as a marketing opportunity, according to co-founder Jessica Heinzelman. “Some smaller companies in the innovation and tech space that are more open to new school thoughts about marketing … could see it as a great way to get people to Google their name,” she told Devex. It’s not a ridiculous thought, especially considering the speed with which Jaded Aid has morphed from a laugh-until-you-cry night out to a more than $30,000-crowdfunded project. This “innovative public-private partnership” took shape one night at Washington, D.C. bar Board Room, when a few aid workers found it hysterical to add their own development-specific answers to Cards Against Humanity questions. It led to a Kickstarter campaign with a goal of $12,000, which would allow the group to “print 500 decks and throw a good party or two and call it a day,” said co-founder Wayan Vota. “We thought it could be a cult favorite.” Instead, Jaded Aid was fully funded in 48 hours, with 200 percent funding within a week. Now with 15 days to go, the count stands at $30,000 and rising. It appears the three co-founders— who describe themselves as “an Indonesian-born Mexican-American, a white woman and an honest-to-God African” — have struck a nerve. The three, also known as Wayan Vota, Jessica Heinzelman and Teddy Ruge, all have experience in the technology and communication side of the development industry. They’re also “accomplished experts in biting satire on the aid industry and we are excited to deliver stinging critique to one and all in international development,” according to their Kickstarter. Results from Kickstarter and the number of submissions for card ideas — now nearing 2,000 — suggest that they aren’t the only ones who enjoy taking “the piss out of everything we all love to hate about our industry.” (So far, contributors seem to enjoy designing question and answer cards featuring Chemonics, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, International Relief and Development, U.S. Agency for International Development, the United Nations, and the World Bank, according to the latest update from the founders). Any questions the founders had about whether people would feel comfortable sharing Jaded Aid on social media has been long forgotten, and the productization of the deck has become an open space for a conversation that wouldn’t take place otherwise. Compared to the original game, the sector-specific humor resonates at a much more personal level, taking funny ideas to deeply funny insider catharsis, Heinzelman told Devex. “There are some things in this industry that we as peons can’t change, so we might as well laugh at it,” she added. There are certainly people who could say they’re crossing a line — with answer cards like “sexpats,” “U.N. Peacekeeper Cholera” and “a sinking boat full of brown people.” But aid shouldn’t take itself too seriously, said Vota, who feels the group is doing development work with Jaded Aid by contextualizing a solution that was working in another context (Cards Against Humanity) to a local community (aid workers). “We believe that we got into international development because we are optimists,” Vota said, “Yet there is a certain amount of cynicism that pops up when you get into it and realize development and humanitarian work is an industry, and there are trade offs and dark sides.” So “A photogenic handicapped child with flies in her eyes” might be a choice answer card for a group of world-weary, inebriated aid workers playing Jaded Aid in Sudan. But it’s also real, and it’s something that could help spark further conversation. “Should that be really be something that happens in our industry? Should we pushing back the next day when we’re all sober back in the office, talking about the cover of the next donor report?” Vota said. Crowdsourcing the questions continues to be a huge part of the project, and Jaded Aid will have 10 design parties around the world — in Cambodia, Uganda, the United Kingdom. the United States, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Nepal — the week of Oct. 12, where groups will be provided prototyped decks in order to give the founders direct feedback. It’s not too late to submit your card ideas for consideration. If they use your idea, they’ll send you a free Jaded Aid deck, “or you can have a deck donated in your name to a needy aid worker who just lost danger pay.” Now, the crew is eagerly awaiting the debrief from their submitted proposal to USAID’s Development Innovations Ventures, an open competition supporting breakthrough solutions to the world's most intractable development challenges. Imagine the possibilities of a Jaded Aid with $1 million in funding. Whether you’re a seasoned expert or budding development professional — check out more news, analysis and advice online to guide your career and professional development, and subscribe to Doing Good to receive top international development career and recruitment news every week.