 | |
| Founded | 2008; 18 years ago (2008) |
|---|---|
| Type | 501(c)(3)non-profit organization[1] |
| Purpose | Alleviatingextreme poverty throughcash transfers |
| Location | |
Area served | Bahamas,Bangladesh,DRC,Liberia,Kenya,Malawi,Morocco,Mozambique,Nigeria,Rwanda,Togo,Turkey,Uganda,USA,Yemen |
President | Nick Allardice |
| Employees | Approx 175[2] |
| Website | givedirectly |
GiveDirectly is anonprofit organization operating in low income areas that helps families living inextreme poverty by makingunconditional cash transfers to them via mobile phone. GiveDirectly currently transfers funds to people inBangladesh,DRC,Liberia,Kenya,Malawi,Mozambique,Rwanda,Uganda andUSA. In the past, it has worked inThe Bahamas,Morocco,Nigeria,Turkey,Togo andYemen.[3]
GiveDirectly originated as agiving circle started by Paul Niehaus, Michael Faye, Rohit Wanchoo, and Jeremy Shapiro, students at MIT and Harvard, based on their research into philanthropy.[4] In 2012 they formalized their operation into GiveDirectly.[4]
In December 2012, GiveDirectly received a $2.4M Global Impact Award from Google.[5] In June 2014, the founders of GiveDirectly announced plans to create a for-profit technology company, Segovia, aimed at improving the efficiency of cash transfer distributions in the developing world.[6][7] In August 2015, GiveDirectly received a $25M grant fromGood Ventures.[8]
In April 2016, GiveDirectly announced a $30M initiative to testuniversal basic income in order to "try to permanently end extreme poverty across dozens of villages and thousands of people in Kenya by guaranteeing them an ongoing income high enough to meet their basic needs" and, if it works, pave the way for implementation in other regions.[9] The initiative launched in November 2017 and is set to run for 12 years.[10]
In 2017, GiveDirectly applied their model for the first time in the U.S., distributing cash-loaded debit cards to residents ofRose City, Texas, followingHurricane Harvey.[11]
In 2022, GiveDirectly appointed British politician and diplomatRory Stewart as their president.[12] In 2023, Nick Allardice became president and CEO of the company.[13]
In 2023, an investigation revealed that in theDemocratic Republic of Congo, where GiveDirectly began operations in 2018, employees had diverted at least $900,000 from several hundred intended recipients inSouth Kivu to themselves, including the very audit teams tasked with identifying such cases. GiveDirectly paused its operations in the country in January 2023 and began an audit of its funds transfers in another African country.[14]
GiveDirectly set up two emergency response programs to the COVID-19 pandemic: one in the US, for which it has raised US$118 million, and one in African countries, for which it has raised US$76 million. The organization has sent cash relief to 116,000 families in the US and 342,000 families in Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Rwanda and Togo.[15]
In Togo it built on an existing government of Togo cash transfer program called Novissi. Money is paid via mobile money technology, with beneficiaries withdrawing money at local shops. GiveDirectly helped expand the program to certain rural areas where the government found it difficult to identify the poorest beneficiaries.[16] The machine learning algorithm First, it finds the poorest villages by analyzing roof material, sizes of farm plots and the presence of paved or unpaved roads through satellite images. Second, it finds the poorest individuals in a village by analyzing their mobile phone data like lengths and frequency of phone calls, number of inbound versus outbound calls, and amount of mobile data used.[17]
In April 2016 GiveDirectly announced a 12-year experiment to test auniversal basic income on a rural region in Western Kenya.[18][19] More than 26,000 people received some type of cash transfer, with more than 6,000 receiving a long-term basic income.
In November 2019, aneconomics paper on the GiveDirectly experiment found each dollar from cash transfers increased local economic activity by $2.60.[20]
Another decade-long study found that this initiative also lowered infant mortality rates by nearly half and in deaths in children under five by 45%.[21]
Since 2016, GiveDirectly has been working in partnership with the Government of Rwanda, through the Ministry of Local Government (MINALOC), to accelerate poverty reduction. The organization delivers unconditional cash transfers to individuals living in poverty, empowering them with the means to choose how best to improve their lives.[22]
As of 2024, GiveDirectly has provided cash transfers to over 200,000 households across various districts, including Gasabo, Gicumbi, Gisagara, Kayonza, Ngoma, Ngororero, Nyamagabe, and Rusizi. Notably, 84% of these households are female-led.[22]
In 2023, GiveDirectly launched a national scale-up program, beginning with pilot projects in Gikomero, Cyabakamyi, Murama, Shingiro, and Butare districts. Under this initiative, eligible households receive a minimum of Rwf 1.1 million to support sustainable livelihoods and facilitate graduation out of poverty.[22]
Impact assessments in districts such as Nyamagabe, Ngororero, and Gisagara have shown that recipients commonly invest in productive assets such as agriculture, livestock, businesses, and education. Approximately 31% of funds are used for home renovations, while 43% support income-generating activities. Additionally, cash transfers have contributed to food security, health insurance participation, and electrification of homes.[22]
Through collaboration with local leadership and in-person engagement with households, GiveDirectly ensures effective implementation and addresses challenges during the process. The organization’s efforts align with Rwanda’s National Strategy for Sustainable Graduation out of Poverty (NSSG).[22]
GiveDirectly collects donations from private donors as well as foundations.[23] In 2015, the organization received $25 million fromGood Ventures, a private foundation started byFacebook co-founderDustin Moskovitz and his wifeCari Tuna.[24] In 2019, the organization won a grant of $2.1m from theGlobal Innovation Fund.[25] In 2020, the organization received funding from Blue Meridian Partners as a part of a $100 million COVID-19 emergency response initiative.[26] In 2025,Canva announced a $100 million commitment to GiveDirectly to assist their efforts in Malawi.[27]
GiveDirectly has been named one ofGiveWell 'top rated' charities for 2012[28][29] through 2020.[30]
After the release of GiveDirectly's impact self-evaluation in October 2013,[31]World Bank economistDavid McKenzie praised the robustness of the study's design and the clear disclosure of the study lead's conflict of interest, but raised two concerns:[32]
Chris Blattman, an academic in development economics, with a particular focus onrandomized controlled trials, also blogged about the study. He expressed two main reservations:[33]
