WokeOnPaperLaugh. Laugh harder. Then ask — are we woke only on paper?
Satirical takes on the everyday realities, contradictions and absurdities of the nonprofit sector — because sometimes laughter is the easiest way to start a harder conversation.
The Primary Health Centre Test
A training module is not the same thing as knowing the place where the work happens.
Read the take →
The Fellowship That Doesn't Count
Apparently, working in a fellowship is not always considered work experience.
Read the take →
The Theory of Change vs The Change
One lives beautifully inside the deck. The other has to survive outside it.
Read the take →
Policy for Everyone Except Us
It is easier to recommend good policy than to practise it.
Read the take →
Gender Equality, But Make It Comfortable
Some causes receive applause. Others require taking a real position.
Read the take →
Watching NGO Workers Work
Half the salary. No job security. Somehow still called a sector of changemakers.
Read the take →
The Funding Fashion Cycle
Some problems become fundable. Others quietly disappear from the menu.
Read the take →
Groundwork Needs a Branding Budget
Sometimes the money meant for doing the work becomes money for showing the work.
Read the take →
The 200-Slide Solution
Some problems are easier to solve from a conference room.
Read the take →
The CSR Tap
Install a tap. Add a logo. Call it impact.
Read the take →
The Unpaid Internship Economy
Free labour, plus an experience letter. What a deal.
Read the take →
Before Grant Proposals
Imagine fighting systemic problems without first writing a twelve-page concept note.
Read the take →
When One Corporate Name Is Everywhere
Power, healthcare, mining and schools can sit under the same corporate umbrella.
Read the take →
Impact vs Instagram
What happened on the ground and what happened on social media are often two different stories.
Read the take →
The Fellowship Naming Committee
Emerging leaders. Young innovators. Social leadership. Pick your favourite.
Read the take →
The Change Word
Change is everywhere. Apparently, it needs several more synonyms.
Read the take →
The Community Vocabulary
Community-led. Community-based. Community-centred. Community everything.
Read the take →
Whose Story Becomes Knowledge?
When research leaves the community but the community never gets the finished paper.
Read the take →
The NGO Government Corporate Triangle
Explain the relationship between public money, private power and nonprofit work in one diagram.
Read the take →
The Job Description Mystery
If the JD does not mention the salary, what exactly are we applying for?
Read the take →
Change Has a Price Tag
The crowd wants change. The money wants something else.
Read the take →
Who Is the Nonprofit Accountable To?
If the money comes from one place and the work serves another, where does accountability sit?
Read the take →
Make It Flashy
Deep-rooted problems are difficult. Photo-worthy projects are much easier.
Read the take →
The NGO Hospital
When the nonprofit sector becomes the emergency room for public problems.
Read the take →
Selling Knowledge
Thirty years of advertising. A tuition teacher changes the game.
Read the take →
Changing the Name of the Scheme
When history, branding and public policy collide.
Read the take →
The Proposal Writing Test
Did the organisation fail, or did the proposal fail to sound impressive enough?
Read the take →
Why Now?
Sometimes government action arrives when the political calendar makes it useful.
Read the take →
Fund What You Can Measure
Structural problems do not become simple because a proposal needs indicators.
Read the take →
A Bad NGO Worker
Questions power. Wants fair pay. Refuses unpaid overtime. Sounds dangerous.
Read the take →
A Bad Indian Citizen
Reads the Constitution. Questions power. Refuses propaganda.
Read the take →
The Elastic Community
Community-led. Community-based. Community-driven. Community what?
Read the take →
Everything Is Systemic
Systems, systems, systems. Sometimes a problem is also just a problem.
Read the take →
Sustainable Everything
Sustainable growth. Sustainable impact. Sustainable future. Is the word itself sustainable?
Read the take →
Humbled and Honored
We wrote the post. We approved it. We scheduled it. We liked it. We are humbled.
Read the take →
Fresh Perspective Required
Ten years of experience can suddenly become less valuable than being new.
Read the take →
Where the CSR Money Goes
The geography of philanthropy can reveal a lot about power.
Read the take →
Let's Discuss the Partnership First
The people need help. The ecosystem needs another meeting.
Read the take →
When Jargon Meets a Donor
Sometimes the problem is not the work. It is that nobody understands the explanation.
Read the take →
Teacher, Please Report for Election Duty
The school can wait. The election machinery cannot.
Read the take →
When NGOs Become Implementers
Someone else sets the path. NGOs are asked to walk it and call it innovation.
Read the take →
When Accountability Feels Threatening
What happens when rules make discrimination harder?
Read the take →
Authentic Stories, Carefully Edited
We want the complexity of the ground, but please remove anything complicated.
Read the take →
Dignity Is Not Optional
Rights can become fragile when power decides whose individuality matters.
Read the take →
Two Indias, Two Standards
Who gets to receive foreign funding can reveal a lot about power.
Read the take →
Funding Safety After Creating the Risk
The strange business of solving harms after helping create them.
Read the take →
Handle Jokes With Caution
Not every joke is harmless just because people laughed.
Read the take →
The Nonprofit Ecosystem, From Outside
Everyone is collaborating with everyone. Somewhere, the grassroots NGO is still waiting.
Read the take →
AI Needs Water Too
The same companies funding digital access can also consume huge amounts of natural resources.
Read the take →
Community Voices, But Only the Right Ones
We love community voices. Opinions are slightly harder to manage.
Read the take →