“The sight of a child so starved he’s too weak to cry… it’s enough to make the angels cry,” says Sally Struthers, strolling through a slum in an unidentified south Asian country. These Christian Children’s Fund ads, which ran for two decades, exemplify the ‘poverty porn’ trope still employed by many charities––a practice so ubiquitous […]
Blog - Recipients
Candid thoughts from staff, donors, and recipients on our work and the broader movement towards cash transfers.
Recipients
Inflation is worst for people in extreme poverty
You’ve likely been impacted by the cost of living crisis: U.S. gas prices spiked this summer and energy prices are still at all-time highs across Europe. While overall inflation in high-income countries is at 6%, in low-income countries it’s at 9%. Consumers in wealthy countries can often switch from higher-quality goods to lower-quality ones, an […]
Recipients, Research
We asked people in poverty how they prefer to receive money
In the past two years, 182 countries launched cash aid programs, recognizing the autonomy they provide people in poverty to make decisions for themselves. In many cases, however, aid recipients have limited control over exactly how they get their cash transfers. While the total amount might be fixed, the frequency and size of payments and the […]
Recipients
We gave single-use cameras to 4 villages — see what they captured
Last month, we distributed Fujifilm QuickSnaps to select recipients in Kenya, Rwanda, and Liberia and asked them to document their village as they received cash transfers. Over the course of November, these photographers captured their neighbors’ stories and projects. Our team returned at the end of the month to collect the cameras, the details, and […]
Operations, Recipients
I was a COVID-19 recipient. Now, I’m an employee
Note: This post was was written in Kirundi and translated by Aline’s coworker, Roben. Read the original here. My name is Aline Fernicka. I am a Burundian refugee and a former GiveDirectly recipient. I currently work as a Field Officer at GiveDirectly in Kigali, Rwanda registering recipients in our programs so that they can receive […]
Opinions, Recipients
Don’t wait – there’s plenty more need and opportunity today
Yesterday, leading charity evaluator GiveWell announced they’re committing more money than ever to effective causes, which we commend. This generosity reflects great news: the world is wealthier than ever before. However, they also decided not to distribute $110M this year because they don’t believe they can find good enough ways to use it now. They […]
Recipients
We’ve reached 1 million households in poverty and counting
We sent a cash transfer to our 1 millionth household this fall. In 2011, our first year operating, we paid… 99. See the growth in real time: The very first GiveDirectly payment ever Below is GiveDirectly’s co-founder Rohit Wanchoo making our very first test payment ever. Before we were instantly enrolling and paying tens of thousands people at […]
Recipients
The story of Eunice and 144 more in the Kibera program
Eunice lives in the Kibera slums of Nairobi, Kenya and was one of 494 people who received ~$1,125 between November 2020 and June 2021 as part of a GiveDirectly COVID-19 relief program focused on entrepreneurs. This program, funded by Google.org, provided women with cash transfers plus elective budgeting and entrepreneurial training from SHOFCO, a local […]
Recipients
Working in the U.S. helped us get more money to international recipients
Our U.S. COVID19 response was based on a bet In April 2020, we launched Project 100, a U.S. COVID-19 response, in partnership with Propel and Stand for Children. To date, the program has delivered one-time $1,000 payments to over 178K Americans living in poverty, with the most recent round going out last week. For the […]
Recipients
A Spotify Playlist by Women Recipients in Nairobi
We compiled a Spotify playlist featuring the favorite songs of five women enrolled in GiveDirectly’s urban youth program in Nairobi, Kenya.
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