We have some exciting news for GiveDirectly supporters in the UK. The recently launched GiveDirectly UK trust (UK charity #1167938) makes it easier to claim Gift Aid which boosts donations by 25p for each £1 donated. Additional rate taxpayers can also reclaim tax relief via their Self Assessment returns. All money donated via GDUK (less […]
Candid thoughts from staff, donors, and recipients on our work and the broader movement towards cash transfers.
Operations
On enrolling over 50,000 families
GiveDirectly started in 2008 as an idea in the minds of a few graduate students and a handful of documents. Many thought the idea of giving out money unconditionally to aid the poor was doomed to fail.Recently we enrolled the 50,000th household in our history and wanted to take a moment to mark the milestone. […]
Research
Long term impacts of cash transfers here at home
In April, a team of researchers from Brown, Toronto, Northwestern, and UCLA published a fascinating study on the long-term impacts of cash transfers in the United States, looking at impacts on kids whose mothers received transfers from a pension program in the 1910s-1930s. The paper isn’t experimental (the US government probably hadn’t seen the memo […]
Operations
Refusals in Kenya
In general, an overwhelming majority of eligible recipients opt to receive cash transfers from GiveDirectly. In Siaya, where GiveDirectly Kenya has operated from 2011 to the beginning of 2016, over 95% of recipients who are given the opportunity to be a part of the program accept it. In Uganda and Rwanda more than 96% of […]
Research
Measuring effects
Today we’re introducing a small but substantive change to the way we present impact evaluation results on our landing page. Previously we reported the size of impacts relative to average values in the control group (e.g. a 58% increase in assets); now we report the size of impacts relative to total transfer costs (e.g. a […]
Research
What is (and isn’t) in the new ODI review of cash evidence?
The Overseas Development Institute has just released a systematic review of the evidence on cash transfers, which is timely as I think we all felt that FCDO’s 2011 review had probably passed its sell-by date. The review is a massive undertaking, covering 165 distinct studies of 56 programs and reviewing impacts on a wide range […]
Opinions
The decision making of a teenager
Zev Minsky-Primus explains why he donated some of his Bar Mitzvah money, no strings attached, to poor families via GiveDirectly.I recently had my Bar Mitzvah, and as you might expect, that came along with a lot of gifts. And let’s be real, a few thousand dollars is more than a 13-year-old knows how to spend, […]
Operations
Why and how we invest
We have a strong incentive and desire to transfer the majority of the funds we receive to our recipients as quickly as possible. GiveDirectly is a service – donors use GiveDirectly to transfer funds to the extreme poor – and our donors expect that service to be efficient and timely. And beyond that, transfer speed […]
Opinions
GiveDirectly featured in Google San Francisco’s Giving Week 2015
From November 30th to December 4th 2015, Google San Francisco hosted their annual Giving Week, highlighting one organization each day and encouraging employees to donate to their favorite organizations. GiveDirectly was chosen as one of very few charities featured during that week. Not only did Google employees step up to support direct cash transfers to […]
Opinions
Why I give directly: Reaching someone a world away
After hearing from Beverly Archer on one of our open conference calls, we asked her to share her perspective on why she gives directly. Here she describes her search for a better way to help. When I was a very little girl, I saw a picture of emaciated children in a magazine. It frightened and […]