Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

“‘Poverty porn’ is wrong because it misrepresents poverty. It leads to donations,

but not to activism. It misrepresents the poor and denies them their dignity, and it

deceives both the helper and the helped. In the end, the images lie about the poor, but

not about the photographer and those paying the bill for the advertisement” (Block et al.,

2016, para. 12). The sole focus of my Capstone Project aims to work toward greater

equity and inclusion for vulnerable and marginalized populations that are used in

nonprofit and NGO marketing through assessing organizations’ marketing tactics and

teaching them how to include and honor those whose stories they are telling.

“The nonprofit sector has a long history of exploiting the stories of the people

they serve, particularly, people of color. This perpetuates racism and oppression, etc.

Known examples are the stories and images you see on TV of ‘the starving and dying

and warring’ children and peoples, particularly in Africa. The nonprofit sector continues

to struggle with diversity among staff, which contributes to non-people of color telling the

stories of people of color” (Shiferaw, 2019, para. 4). Poverty Porn primarily affects black

and brown people in developing countries, especially children, who are clearly the most

vulnerable. Victims in pictures and narratives are usually those who appear to be the

poorest, the hungriest, or the most helpless, which leads the under informed viewers to

think that the whole country/communities of these people are in the same situation,

which isn’t necessarily true. It paints a picture that all people in developing countries are

helpless, and that we (wealthier western nations) need to save them (Garber, Illovsky,

Adetoye, & Kraes, 2020, para. 2). This type of marketing fails to point out why people in

over exploited countries are in a position in the first place. It is not because of their own
negligence, helplessness, or wrongdoing - in fact, this is the wrong stereotype that this

type of marketing portrays - it is because of structural and systemic exploitation by

wealthier and more powerful nations (TeleSUR, 2017, para. 9). By using these people

and their stories to accumulate donations, we aren’t including them in the process or

giving them an equitable shot at telling their side of things. These groups are

historically-excluded in the way that the developed industrialized nations see them as

“other”, particularly because of marketing and the media’s misrepresentation. These

groups are not always given a say in how their stories or photos will be used. This type

of marketing where nonprofit clients’ situations are used to garner emotions and

donations from people contrasts greatly with how we see the stories of those

(particularly white, healthy, financially stable people) in developed nations are being

shared (Tapia, 2019, para. 7). You will see empowering photos and stories of the latter

group, and patronizing photos and stories of the former. How do you explain this

difference? My Capstone project aims to give these marginalized and silenced people

more equity and, more importantly, more power in the telling and sharing of their own

stories and the stories of their communities. This type of exploitative marketing isn’t

diverse in that it always targets poor and underprivileged groups. However, we don’t

want to make this type of marketing more diverse, we want to end it and replace it with

marketing tactics that honor and give a platform for nonprofit clients. This type of pitying

and emotion-playing marketing isn’t used for white, rich, or privileged people who are

struggling or in a dangerous situation. We need to give the marginalized a voice in their

stories and discretion in how and where they are told, as well as ensure that they are

empowering, just like we do for the rest of the world. Organizations need their eyes to
be opened to this difference and to look inward to assess how they could be

contributing to this problem. My program aims to walk nonprofits step by step through

this process of learning, understanding, reflecting, assessing, transforming, and then

inspiring others to do the same. The whole premise of my marketing training program is

to teach nonprofits to include their clients and the communities they serve in the sharing

of their stories.

Social Policy Implications

Ethical marketing is just one step in working towards equitable treatment of those

in over exploited countries. This problem started with nonprofits using unethical tactics

of taking photos of people in vulnerable situations without their permission as well as

telling stories on behalf of people without their knowledge. The most change will need to

happen at the organizational level. Unfortunately, it’s not yet realistic for state or federal

governments to restrict this type of invasive marketing; it simply isn’t an issue that most

care about regulating or even know about outside of industry experts. However,

organizations like Fair Trade USA operate independently from the government and

have much credibility and authority in the industry. My plan is that my program would

become as large and sought after as programs like the Fair Trade certification. With this

in mind, changes are needed at the organizational level, but are unlikely to occur

without some sort of respected regulatory body who is monitoring marketing practices in

NGOs and nonprofits. Practices that must be dismantled are taking photos and telling

stories of clients without their knowledge or permission regardless of who they are.

Changes that are also needed at the organizational level are for larger, established

nonprofits such as United Way, to spread the word of this issue and model ethical
marketing behavior themselves as well as expecting it from their own partners and grant

recipients. Some good practices for nonprofits and NGOs to start modeling in their

marketing in order to work towards equity and inclusion of their clients are to ask

questions such as: “Are we empowering the person(s) whose photo we’re sharing and

whose story we’re telling?”, “By sharing, does this story/photo help the person(s)”, “Do

we have consent to share the story/photo?”, “Is the person(s) aware of the content of

the story and the scope of the audience who will read it?”, “Is the information in this

story completely factual and true?”, “Are the writer’s opinions in the story or is it purely

about what the client(s) has to say?”, “Does our organization benefit more than the

storyteller(s) by the sharing of this story/photo?”, “Is it glorifying our organization in any

way that takes light off of the storyteller(s)?”, “Is sharing this story/photo perpetuating

existing narratives, biases, or stereotypes about this individual or their community?”,

“Does sharing this story/photo further our mission and align with the values and/or

written code of ethics of our organization?”, “Should we be the ones sharing this

story/photo?” (Shiferaw, 2019, para. 7). By adding the practice of considering these

questions when including clients in marketing tactics, we can begin to put an end to the

exclusion and inequity of those who we claim to be serving in our organizations.

References

Block, F., Block, F., Jarrin, R., Meiksins, R., Jarrin, S., Levine, C., . . . Schaffer, J. (2016,
July 12). Poverty porn: Do the means justify the ends? Retrieved March, 2021,
from https://nonprofitquarterly.org/poverty-porn-do-the-means-justify-the-ends/

Garber, E., Illovsky, M., Adetoye, A., & Kraes, D. (2020, November 30). The white
savior complex. Retrieved March, 2021, from
http://contemporaryracism.org/123261/the-white-savior-complex/

Shiferaw, A. (2019, September 11). How to tell compelling stories while avoiding
exploitation. Retrieved 2021, from https://www.nten.org/article/how-to-tell-
compelling-stories-while-avoiding-exploitation/

Tapia, A. (2019, April 16). Opinion: Dear westerners, stop taking pictures of other
people's children in developing countries. Retrieved March, 2021, from
https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/western-photography-tourism-black-
children-white-people-a8872316.html

TeleSUR. (2017, May 26). Africa isn't poor, it's just exploited. Retrieved March, 2021,
from https://www.iol.co.za/pretoria-news/africa-isnt-poor-its-just-exploited-
9361460#:~:text=Against%20the%20narrative%20that%20Western,the%20major
%20source%20of%20poverty.