Help us fight for foreign aid, one rad koozie at a time
Because if you're going to speak truth to power, might as well do it in style (and with an outfitted beverage)
Turns out the childcare and bills don’t pay themselves when you’re RIF’d and fighting the good fight for foreign aid. So after months of sheer determination, we’re thrilled to share that we’re finally launching our:
🧢 Merch store (part of your purchase is tax-deductible 🥂)
💸 Donations page via Givebutter (100% tax-deductible)
📬 Paid Substack subscriptions ($10/month or $100/year) (Subscribe below! ⤵️)
Why did we wait so long? Well, we wanted to do this right. With the proper infrastructure, financial transparency, and all the unglamorous backend systems that make a real operation work. Because unlike some people we know **cough cough DOGE** we ACTUALLY care about doing things the right way.
And now that all our ducks are in a row, we’re extremely proud to offer you a number of ways to fuel our fight so we can:
a) Eat (not eggs though, ‘cause those are still a splurge),
b) Continue to delight your inboxes and your Instagram feeds with the best content around on foreign aid, and
c) Keep operating like the real-deal, justice-loving, movement-building, fact-obsessed nerds we are.
Why This Matters
We’re a small but scrappy team of former USAID folks who’ve been doing this work unpaid, because—well—someone had to.
As we sat there watching the agency we love with all our hearts get demolished (woodchipped, rather), we kept waiting for someone in power to do something. For one of our leaders to say something.
The silence was deafening.
So, we said f*ck it. We grabbed an Instagram handle, started this Substack and began telling the story we should’ve told all along: USAID was never just from the American people. It was 🇺🇸 for the American people 🇺🇸 too.
And, boy, we told that story like our lives depended on it. Like others’ lives depended on it. Because they did, and they still do.
Not just orphans in Zambia who don’t know where they’ll find their next anti-retroviral treatment, or kids in Sudan who are now at the brink of starvation because the peanut-butter paste they need to save their lives is sitting in a warehouse in Rhode Island, collecting dust.
You and your family need foreign aid too.
We presume you would very much like to not get Ebola. Or see a surge of measles in your county, brought on from the erasure of our work with GAVI, which vaccinated millions of kids against a slew of preventable diseases including measles, helping keep disease risks away from our shores.
We know we’re preaching to the choir here. But a lot of folks are still learning about the 6,373,797 ways foreign aid keeps America safe, strong and prosperous. And we’re here to let them (and their mom, their neighbor Bill, their kids’ pediatrician, and their best friend Nancy) know that aid is a deal none of us can afford to lose.
And momentum is exactly what we’ve built.
What We’ve Built Together
In just four months (four months? it feels like four years), we’ve accomplished so much:
We grew our Instagram to 81,000+ followers with zero budget (and a whole lot of righteous rage)
We launched a fast-growing, global Substack community hungry for connection, context, and a little catharsis
We collaborated with major voices in development and foreign policy—and caught the attention of some unexpected (and very cool) supporters, including Amy Poehler, Jane Fonda, Jess Craven, Katie Couric, Elizabeth Warren, Cory Booker, Nick Kristoff, and Ms. Rachel (!)
We lifted up individual stories and opened conversations that had been left out of the official narrative
But maybe most importantly: We showed up, even when our leaders didn’t.
We made USAID staff feel seen—not just for their work, but for who they are: people who signed up to serve their country with integrity, and who deserved someone in their corner when things fell apart.
We created a space for staff, alumni, allies, and the public to process, respond, and organize—with transparency, honesty, and our signature sass.
And we’re just getting started.
What Your Support Makes Possible
Your support will help us:
Pay our contributors, editors and fact checkers (all RIF’d USAID folks like us!)
Develop digital resources and advocacy toolkits
Help us reach out to new collaborators and public figures to keep the spotlight on the issues that matter to our community
Build out a sustainable infrastructure that keeps this alive long after the headlines fade
We don’t want this incredibly vital work to end just because the news cycle is shifting. Or because we can’t find a big donor. We, the people, can do this. Just like we always have. In fact, that’s exactly why we need to keep going.
Our Long-Term Vision
This isn’t just about documenting the end of something—it’s about building toward what comes next.
We hope to create a lasting, independent space to:
Highlight the importance of foreign aid and development work
Advocate for bold, mission-driven public service
Energize people to fight for a future where this work is possible
Honor the legacy and impact of what’s been built—so we can rebuild better, stronger
It’s All Live — Let’s Goooooo ❤️🔥❤️🔥❤️🔥
🧢 Our merch store is open, and it’s stocked with swag that’s actually cool. Like, wear-it-in-public cool. Like your-teenager-will-try-to-steal-it cool. Tees, totes, mugs, and sassy candles—all designed to rep the mission and the moment. (P.S. A portion of every merch purchase is tax-deductible! So, honestly, you’re basically earning money when you support Friends of USAID!)
💸 You can now make a small (or big!) tax-deductible donation through our Givebutter page. Help us keep the lights on so we can keeping serving up the content that matters to you. (And yes, all donations are 100% tax-deductible!)
📬 Paid Substack subscriptions are open at $10/month or $100/year, for those who want to go deeper, support independent storytelling, and maybe get a surprise or two in the future...
Everything you give—whether it’s a few bucks, a new mug, or a full subscription—helps us keep this community strong and sustainable.
And yeah…we think the merch is pretty freaking awesome. We suggest you buy it so you can look great and passive-aggressively signal that you know what a functioning democracy looks like.
Let’s keep this going!
