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Dear Big Aid,

You told me you wanted to give power to the people, but you only seemed to give it to some people. You did do really good things in this world, I know you meant well, and what happened to you wasn't fair.

But let's be honest, you had become a bit of a self-licking icecream. Maybe we could see each other again when we've both found a way to be better?

I miss you, but I know a bit of space will do us good.

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Click the green '+' (plus) button at the bottom right of the screen to add your letter.

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Dear big aid,

you ended my company, you were always difficult to be with, and you never accepted my ideas, where i thought that things should be different. Now you are suffering, you turn your back on the people that have made this sector what it is.

im keen for a better way.

thanks, but no thanks

D

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Interested in joining a community of people who've broken up with Big Aid and want to take real action for our sector?

Join our LinkedIn community at Breaking Up with Big Aid: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/14701050/

See you there!

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Dear Big Aid,

Look mate, I’ve tried to make it work. I've navigated your Systems, tried to justified your overheads, and even excused the power imbalances you so desperately uphold, but honestly? I can't keep pretending this is partnership when it's still so one-sided.

You say you're transforming, but your structures still center control. This isn't collaborative, symbiotic or reciprocal.

I've outgrown you and I want to see real change happen through community-led initiatives.

This isn’t resentment. It’s clarity. See you never.

Goodbye,
Someone who finally knows they want more

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Dear Big Aid,

Time we had a chat. I was dazzled by you at uni, and now times have changed.

The unnecessary red tape, risk aversion and wastage in the system has to stop.

It's time we go our separate ways.

Love to leave ya,

Me

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Dear Big Aid,

We're done. I want more for the communities my parents and my parents' parents lived in. I want more for my children's children.

Time to find a new way forward.

Love you not,

Me

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Dear Big Aid,

I write this from a hospital in Northern Malawi. Like many of my colleagues, I've watched the news with disgust and disappointment. We've always known that our relationship needed an overhaul, and well, I guess we're here.

I’ve sat in countless meetings where orgs feigned 'cooperation' through forms of competition, where local voices were sidelined because it was 'too hard' to confirm their needs, and where programs bent to donor priorities, not community demands.

We need solutions!

Here in Malawi, we know what works. We know how to care for each other. But you never really trusted us to lead.

Now that the cracks are too big to ignore, I’m ready for something different. A model rooted in dignity, not charity. One that doesn’t collapse when priorities shift in Washington.

We deserve better. And more importantly, to the children in the communities I work in: you are the rising generations and you deserve better.

So we’re going to build it, with or without the development sector as we know it.

Sincerely,
Simo

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Dear Big Aid,

You used to be my tribe. I remember when I was at uni, hopeful of what aid could do in the world. I came here believing in you. I believed that we could build something real—something that outlived politics, outlasted regimes, and stood firm when the headlines moved on.

Too often, though, I watched the funding come with strings, the decisions made in rooms far from the people they affected. I watched promises unravel with every policy shift, every election.

I realized: if our work can be undone by geopolitics, maybe we were never building what we thought we were.

I’m tired. Not of the work, but of the way it’s been done.

I still believe in solidarity. In justice. In community-driven change. Of course, I believe in it all.

You've come under scrutiny recently, rightfully so. It's time we rethought our relationship, and how this should all go.

I need to build with people whose power doesn’t disappear when budgets do.

I want to be part of something more sustainable.

I hope we learn from this collapse. I hope what comes next is built to last.

Let me be part of a more sustainable development sector. I'm ready to innovate, in spite of you and because of you.

Goodbye for now,
Anika

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Dear Big Aid,

We’ve been through a lot together. For decades, we believed in your promises—of development, of partnership, of progress. But we have to be honest, this relationship was never equal. The systems you upheld were unsustainable, extractive, and built on outdated hierarchies that placed donors above communities, and short-term metrics above lasting change.

The dismantling of USAID confirms what many of us have long known: the old model is broken. And it’s time to stop pretending otherwise.

We’re not walking away from the work. No, we’re walking toward something better. Toward solutions rooted in local leadership, mutual accountability, and true solidarity. Toward a future where aid doesn’t trickle down, but rises from the ground up.

This isn’t bitterness—it’s clarity. We wish you well as you reckon with your legacy. But we’re building something new now.

With resolve,
Me