A Fan Favorite, Pushing the Envelope Once Again

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Traditional international giving can be complicated. Large NGOs with the best intentions tend to be inefficient in terms of how much of any given donation actually gets to the people they are aiming help. This month’s nonprofit has flipped the current system on its head by taking money from donors and giving it directly to the poor in under-served communities. With this model, GiveDirectly is able to harness the power of mobile payments technology and achieve 91% efficiency — meaning 91 cents of every dollar given goes directly to those in need.

In addition to their no-stings-attached cash payments to the poor, which are backed-up by rigorous third party research into their effectiveness, GiveDirectly is in the midst of a fundraising campaign to launch a basic income experiment. Basic income is an approach to economic security where governments provide everyone with a small income, regardless of work, no strings attached. Advocates say the system could lift millions out of poverty, while doubters worry that recipients will waste money, or stop working. While there have been experiments on basic income in the past, none so far have been universal and long-term. By working with leading economists, GiveDirectly will be able to test the impact of different models of basic income over 12 years in Kenya.

We are so excited to be featuring GiveDirectly again, especially given their new basic income project. They have proven to be an Altruist Member favorite time and again, recently winning the Member’s Choice Prize in 2016. We can’t wait to see what our members’ dollar donations can do.

Learn more about the Altruist community and how you can make your dent $1 at a time at joinAltruist.com.