GiveDirectly helps people escape poverty through cash transfers. People living in poverty or close to poverty are disproportionately affected by crisis, and it’s estimated that two thirds of people living in extreme poverty will be living in fragile and conflict-affected situations by 2030.1 A well-timed cash transfer can help people affected by crises meet their […]
Blog - Operations
Candid thoughts from staff, donors, and recipients on our work and the broader movement towards cash transfers.
Operations
Our experiments to raise more money for people in poverty
If you’re reading this, you probably already know giving cash directly to someone in poverty works, and are donating based on the research and evidence. You might also believe that you decide where to give based solely on a nonprofit’s mission or effectiveness. However, most of us can be nudged to give based on less-than-logical […]
Operations
Tech improvements we made in 2023
We think of GiveDirectly as the pipes that deliver your money to people living in poverty. Sharing some updates (big & small) we made to those pipes this year: Improved payments Simplified operations Tightened fraud prevention Made donating easier Improved org-wide analytics General systems updates
Operations, Opinions
Why too few disaster survivors get cash aid and what we can do about it
Summary People impacted by disasters need cash aid, but rarely receive it People impacted by a crisis prefer cash relief over in-kind aid (e.g. food, tarps), as it allows them to meet their own needs rather than having others guess for them. Decades of evidence show giving cash improves basic needs like food security and […]
Operations
Update on GiveDirectly leadership roles
Summary Rory Stewart is transitioning from President to Senior Advisor Rory Stewart has served as GiveDirectly’s President since August 2022. Under his leadership, GiveDirectly delivered more cash to people living in extreme poverty than any year prior, expanded our climate change response, and secured formal collaborations with multiple African governments. Rory is transitioning to a […]
Operations
Sending cash to flood survivors – 4 things we got right and wrong
For Hassana in Kogi, Nigeria, October’s floods were not like years past. “All our farmlands washed away as many had not yet harvested what they planted. The flooding continued until our homes and other things were destroyed. At this point we were running helter-skelter,” she said. These floods, the worst in a decade, result from […]
Operations, Recipients
The power of getting a mobile phone
Rural poverty in sub-Saharan Africa can mean disconnection. Too poor to afford telephones or travel, some families struggle to keep in touch. Many cannot bank or send money securely. Global news can be slow to reach areas without a cell network. When you donate, you provide people in poverty with more than just cash; you […]
Operations
Fraud in D.R.C. – our apology and response
Update as of November 16, 2023: since the original post below, we’ve completed our investigation and are sharing these updates: Summary GiveDirectly has delivered cash transfers to some of the poorest households across sub-Saharan Africa for over a decade. Cash aid sent directly to recipients’ mobile money accounts is effective in avoiding many forms of […]
Operations
How AI helped 6x our disaster response speed
For nearly two weeks after Hurricane Ian hit Ft. Myers, Florida, Shannon P. went without power. Shannon relies on food stamps to make ends meet and is dependent on insulin, which must be refrigerated. To power her fridge, she had to purchase a generator and a constant supply of gas to run it, costing hundreds […]
Operations, Opinions
More climate funding should go directly to people in poverty
Last month, negotiators at the U.N.’s COP27 secured agreement from wealthier countries to create a fund to help low-income, vulnerable countries cope with climate disasters. This builds on the $100B per year pledged by wealthier countries for a similar purpose, a financial acknowledgment that those living in the poorest nations bear the brunt of but […]