A different kind of midterm review for Shifting the Power

Halfway through their 10-year timeline, Comic Relief’s Shifting the Power programme wanted a piece to mark the milestone, celebrate voices from across the programme, and give an honest account of their progress.

Not another ‘success story’

Shifting the Power wanted their midterm review to be useful to other funders and to invite anyone interested in an alternative approach to funding into their work - something vital in a sector where roughly 1% of global development funding reaches local actors directly.

Striking the right tone

Working closely with the programme team, we captured the shared ambitions running through the organisation and shaped them into a distinct verbal identity: honest, resilient, and rallying. Through these early collaborative sessions, the title ‘Our First Five Years’ was born.

Learning fast

A vital part of the work was a deep dive into Shifting the Power’s world, their strategy, insights, and learnings, to build the knowledge and understanding we needed to write Our First Five Years. Many of their challenges, lessons, and progress were hidden in their independent midterm review, which was comprehensive but difficult to understand for those outside the sector.

Saying less to mean more

The design brings the lived realities of the people involved into focus, using interview quotes and photography to show the locally led projects at the heart of the programme’s efforts. It’s made more engaging and memorable because of its honesty, positivity, and willingness to share lessons learnt - rather than trying to provide answers, Our First Five Years hopes to spark discussion.