What problem are they working on?
GiveDirectly works on lifting people from extreme poverty alleviates the suffering caused by hunger, stress and poverty related diseases.
- More than 700 million people are still living on less than $1.90 a day; many lacking access to adequate food, clean drinking water and sanitation.
- The overwhelming majority of people suffering from extreme poverty live in Southern Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.
What do they do?
GiveDirectly provides cash transfers to extremely low income households using mobile phone-linked payment services. GiveDirectly targets the poorest households in Kenya and Uganda to receive cash transfers.
Does it work?
GiveDirectly has been effective at delivering cash to low-income households. Unconditional cash transfers reliably increase wealth, which is a strong proxy for quality of life. Further evidence suggests that cash transfers can have leveraged impact in the range of 35-75% annual rate of return on funds invested.
What do you get for your dollar?
For every dollar donated to GiveDirectly, roughly $0.91 will be transferred if the cash transfer recipient lives in Kenya and $0.85 if they live in Uganda.
How much money could they use?
The charity evaluator GiveWell believes that GiveDirectly could use between $66 million (50% confidence) and $144 million (5% confidence) for its 2017 budget year.
We recommend GiveDirectly because of its:
- Focus on a program with a low burden of proof and a strong track record.
- Strong process for ensuring that cash is well-targeted and consistently reaches its intended targets
- Consistent ranking among the top giving opportunities as rated by the most rigorous charity evaluator, Givewell.