Pods Fight Poverty: 1.5x your impact for 700+ families in Rwanda
Created by
GiveDirectly & Giving Multiplier
Join us in sending life-changing cash to every family across 3 Rwandan villages.
Very Bad Wizards Listeners: Join us in sending life-changing cash to every family across 3 Rwandan villages.
Choiceology Listeners: Join us in sending life-changing cash to every family across 3 Rwandan villages.
Love Factually Listeners: Join us in sending life-changing cash to every family across 3 Rwandan villages.
How To Be a Better Human Listeners: Join us in sending life-changing cash to every family across 3 Rwandan villages.
What It’s Like To Be Listeners: Join us in sending life-changing cash to every family across 3 Rwandan villages.
Passion Struck Listeners: Join us in sending life-changing cash to every family across 3 Rwandan villages.
How God Works Listeners: Join us in sending life-changing cash to every family across 3 Rwandan villages.
You Are Not So Smart Listeners: Join us in sending life-changing cash to every family across 3 Rwandan villages.
Inner Cosmos Listeners: Join us in sending life-changing cash to every family across 3 Rwandan villages.
ReThinking Listeners: Join us in sending life-changing cash to every family across 3 Rwandan villages.
The Science of Happiness Listeners: Join us in sending life-changing cash to every family across 3 Rwandan villages.
Speaking of Psychology Listeners: Join us in sending life-changing cash to every family across 3 Rwandan villages.
Hidden Brain Listeners: Join us in sending life-changing cash to every family across 3 Rwandan villages.
On Purpose with Jay Shetty Listeners: Join us in sending life-changing cash to every family across 3 Rwandan villages.
10% Happier with Dan Harris Listeners: Join us in sending life-changing cash to every family across 3 Rwandan villages.
Ologies with Alie Ward Listeners: Join us in sending life-changing cash to every family across 3 Rwandan villages.
Pushkin Network Listeners: Join us in sending life-changing cash to every family across 3 Rwandan villages.
Freakonomics Radio Listeners: Join us in sending life-changing cash to every family across 3 Rwandan villages.
Your favorite podcasters are teaming up to send ~$1,100 via digital transfer to all 700+ families across 3 villages in the Bikara region of Rwanda to spend and invest on what they need most.
While match funds last, your donation will be 1.5x matched, meaning every $100 donation will turn into $150 for families in need.
Families in Bikara currently live on $1-2/day and struggle to meet their basic needs:
- Most people are farmers, but don’t own large enough plots to grow enough food; many struggle to eat more than one meal a day
- Water supply is inconsistent – people often rely on nearby natural streams to collect water when the wells are dry
- There are few jobs for young people, and families don’t have the capital to start small businesses
To us, ~$1,100 buys a new laptop or a month of rent. In the hands of a family in extreme poverty, it’s more than one year’s income. Here’s how far your donation can go:
| Cost (USD) | What a family might invest in |
| $4 | 🐔 A chicken |
| $35 | 🌽 1 month of food for 1 person |
| $60 | 🛏️ A mattress |
| $200 | 📚 1 semester of university fees |
| $600 | 🛖 A new house |
Your donation will help people like Winfred transform their own lives.
Winfred, 67, lives in northern Rwanda, and her village received their cash transfers earlier this year. “My youngest two sons are now at university. I sold most of our land and harvests to support their education, but that has made it hard for me to meet my other needs.”
“When I got the GiveDirectly cash transfer, I was $90 in debt, which would have taken months to pay. This support helped me clear those debts and pay $120 toward my son’s overdue tuition fees. Now he can study without the fear of being sent home for unpaid fees.”
She also invested in livestock, buying a pig and a sheep. “They’ve already started to give us fertilizer for our farm, and we hope to earn income soon by selling their offspring.”
“We bought food and household essentials, and I no longer sleep on dry banana leaves because I was able to buy a mattress. With the remaining $600, we plan to install a water line to our house, as getting water has been a constant struggle. We will also repair our home by plastering the mud walls with cement. We’re so grateful and happy for this support.”
Research shows that cash can transform lives – and entire communities.
500+ rigorous academic studies show just how effective cash can be across diverse outcomes like:
- 📈 Boosting local economies by 2.5x for every cash transfer
- 👶 Cutting infant mortality rates in half
- 🍛 Improving families’ food security and nutrition (even more than a nutrition program)
People in poverty deserve to choose how best to improve their lives, and cash gives people the dignity and flexibility to meet their own needs. By giving today, you’re helping families in need choose how to invest in their futures.
Join your favorite podcasts in sending cash to all 700+ families.
- 10% Happier with Dan Harris
- Choiceology
- Freakonomics Radio
- Hidden Brain
- How God Works
- How To Be a Better Human
- Inner Cosmos
- Love Factually
- Ologies with Alie Ward
- On Purpose with Jay Shetty
- Passion Struck
- Pushkin Network
- ReThinking
- Soul Boom
- Speaking of Psychology
- The Happiness Lab
- The Science of Happiness
- Very Bad Wizards
- What It’s Like To Be…
- You Are Not So Smart
Are you a podcast that wants to join? Please fill out this form and our team will get back to you.
Give by DAF, check, wire, or stock →
Frequently asked questions
How does the match work?
All donations made by new GiveDirectly donors through this page will be boosted by 50% until 11:59PM ET on Dec. 31st, or until the match funds are used. New donors will be identified by email address. For monthly donations, the first month will be boosted.
This is a “true match”, so if we don’t reach our $500,000 goal, the leftover match funds will not be donated to GiveDirectly.
Due to processing times, we’re unable to match donations made via check, wire, DAF, stocks, crypto, or our international partners.
If you’re interested in making a match pledge for future campaigns like this or would like to request we run a match campaign in your country, reach out to us at info@givedirectly.org.
What if we raise more or less than the fundraising goal?
Any excess funds will help us deliver cash to more people in Rwanda. GiveDirectly will allocate internal funds to make up the gap between our fundraising and the total needed to ensure every family receives funds. No matter what, your donations will end up in the hands of families in extreme poverty.
How much money will each family receive?
Every eligible household in the village will receive ~$1,100 in Rwandan francs, sent directly to their mobile phone accounts. Read more about the enrollment and payment process here.
What if I’d like to make a major gift or help fund more villages?
We’d love to hear from you! Reach out to us at info@givedirectly.org.
Can I make a recurring donation?
Please do! Recurring donations make our fundraising more consistent, which makes planning and operations more efficient. If you donate with a recurring donation today, only the first payment will be boosted.
What is GiveDirectly?
GiveDirectly is a non-profit that lets donors send money directly to the world’s poorest, no strings attached. In the last decade, we’ve delivered your donations to 1.8+ million people across 15 countries.
What is Giving Multiplier?
Giving Multiplier is a donation platform that adds matching funds to any charity meaningful to you when you split your donation with an expert-recommended charity like GiveDirectly. It was created at Harvard University in 2020 with the goal of helping people increase their charitable impact. Learn more →
What donation information is collected?
This fundraiser is co-hosted by GiveDirectly and Giving Multiplier. If you choose to donate, your email address and donation information may be shared with both organizations for follow-up and impact reporting purposes. You can opt out of further communications at any time.
Is my donation tax-deductible?
Yes, donations are tax-deductible in the United States. We accept all major credit and debit cards, PayPal, checks, wires, stocks, cryptocurrencies, and more.
If you’re giving outside the U.S., you can still give to this campaign but your gift may not be tax-deductible. You can donate via our international partners to claim tax benefits, but due to partner processing delays those donations may not come in before the campaign ends.
Reach out to us at info@givedirectly.org with any questions or for more information on ways to give.