GiveDirectly’s co-founders Michael Faye and Paul Niehaus, along with our senior partnerships manager Joanna Macrae, defended cash transfers this week in Newsweek. They argued why cash transfers provide excellent value-for-money for taxpayers.

GIVEDIRECTLY IN THE NEWS AND BLOGS

1. WaterAid: What do we buy, and at what cost, when we give to nonprofits?
Nonprofit Chronicles, Marc Gunther, February 14, 2017
First, would it in fact be helpful if more nonprofits provided more data about the costs of what they do? A few NGOs are radically transparent about costs. GiveDirectly, Watsi, and Donors Choose come to mind, and surely there are others. I find their approach to be refreshing and reassuring. Can it be more widely applied? Should it be? Or will this only fuel the dreaded “overhead myth.”

2. The Most Innovative Not-for-Profits
Fast Company, February 13, 2017
#2. GiveDirectly

3. The Billionaire Founder of eBay Plans to Give Thousands of Kenyans Free Income for 12 Years
TIME, Rob Wile, February 13, 2017
The program called GiveDirectly is being hailed as the most ambitious experiment yet in the concept of universal basic income, or UBI. It will make cash transfers to more than 26,000 people in 200 villages in Kenya, with about 6,000 of those people receiving a long-term basic income for 12 years. The payments of $0.75 per day  amount to 50% of typical adult income in rural Kenya.

6. Basic income pilot in Kenya to receive up to $493,000 from eBay founder’s firm
Basic Income News, Kate McFarland, February 11, 2017
In the largest and longest-running basic income trial to date, GiveDirectly will provide unconditional cash transfers to the residents of 200 villages in rural Kenya (about 26,000 people in total). The residents of 40 of these villages (about 6,000 people) will receive monthly payments for 12 years. At about $0.75 per day, the amount of the basic income is roughly half of the average income in rural Kenya.

4. eBay founder Pierre Omidyar is financing a universal basic income experiment
Quartz, Michael Coren, February 11, 2017
The latest benefactor to invest in proving out the idea is eBay founder Pierre Omidyar. On Feb. 7, the Omidyar Network announced it was putting up nearly half a million dollars to test a universal basic income (UBI) program in Kenya run by a program called GiveDirectly. The money will go towards a 12-year pilot program that aims to be the largest UBI experiment to date.

5. A Billionaire Is Helping Fund a Massive Universal Basic Income Project
Futurism, Dom Galeon, Februrary 10, 2017
His philanthropic investment firm, the Omidyar Network, is stepping up its support of UBI by funding a basic income experiment in Kenya. The experiment is being implemented by charity organization GiveDirectly, which is currently running the small pilot project in a few Kenyan villages.

7. Ebay founder backs universal basic income test with $500,000 pledge
Mashable, Patrick Kulp, February 9, 2017
GiveDirectly is looking to add to that knowledge with one of the biggest trials of a basic income system in history. The group recently launched a 12-year pilot program in which it plans to give 6,000 Kenyans regular stipends for the entire duration. Around 20,000 more will receive at least some form of cash transfer.

 

8. eBay founder is testing giving people free money
Yahoo News, Ethan Wolff-Mann, February 7, 2017
To that end, on Tuesday, Omidyar Network, a “philanthropic investment firm” started by eBay (EBAY) founder Pierre Omidyar, announced an investment of up to $493,000 in GiveDirectly, a charity that facilitates cash transfers to poor people around the world. GiveDirectly has set up a trial in Kenya to give 6,000 people enough money to avoid poverty for a decade to see what happens. (This money puts the Kenya project closer to its goal of being fully funded.)

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