One of the main benefits of giving cash is that people can use the cash to buy whatever they want or need. When people first hear about cash transfers, this freedom is sometimes one of the things they worry about – “and… they can just spend it on anything?” But it turns out that, on […]
Blog
Candid thoughts from staff, donors, and recipients on our work and the broader movement towards cash transfers.
Opinions
Becoming known in Siaya town
For the past year, I served as the Field Director in Kenya and led our team to deliver more than $3 million to poor households. Since transitioning to a New York-based role recently, I’ve been reflecting on how far we’ve come in a year. When I arrived in Kenya, our office was aptly described as […]
Opinions
What does direct giving mean to you?
When I first started interning at GiveDirectly earlier this year, I was new to the whole idea of cash transfers. As I’ve explored the topic more on social media, I’ve come to realize there is a growing and very eclectic community of people who are passionate about direct giving for different reasons. Here are some […]
Opinions
Heartbleed Update
We treat the privacy of our donors and recipients seriously and do not believe it was affected by the Heartbleed Bug.We confirmed that our hosting provider, Amazon, had patched the bug and then we updated all our certificates and keys. We verified that Stripe, our payments processor, did the same. We do not believe that […]
Opinions
First Impressions from the Field
“We target the poorest people in the region and try to get the cash to them as efficiently as possible.” “Okay…” I responded. There was a five-second pause before Joy clarified: “And that, in it its simplest form, is it.” “Oh, ok…. You don’t give them advice on how to spend it?” “No. We believe […]
Research
What’s the hype evidence?
Staff at the Mulago Foundation recently commented on the results of IPA’s impact evaluation of GiveDirectly’s cash transfer program. Broadly speaking they see the results as “important” but think the media have overhyped them. As an organization, we are skeptical of nothing more than hype. Our intention from the start has been to search for […]
Opinions
“Please help me….” a report from the GiveDirectly inbox
About a year ago, I took on the job of answering phone calls and responding to the messages that come to GiveDirectly’s email inbox. At the time, I had no idea what to expect, but I was happy to be involved with this “crazy new idea” of giving cash directly to the poor. It looked […]
Operations
What Happened When We Gave to Whole Villages
“How do you decide whom to give to?” is usually the first question I get when I describe GiveDirectly’s model. It’s also a question we think about a lot internally. Effective targeting is a core feature of the product we offer donors, and a moral imperative. In 2013, we began to experiment with a new […]
Opinions
GiveDirectly is The 4th most Innovative Company in Finance for 2014
Fast Company has just named GiveDirectly one of the world’s Top Ten Most Innovative Companies in Finance. The list highlights enterprises that “exemplify the best in business from across the economy and around the world.” GiveDirectly is the only one on the list focused exclusively on finance for the poor in developing countries, and was […]
Opinions
Two countries, one team
I had the great pleasure of attending our first East Africa staff retreat this past weekend. Eight members of our Kenya team made the six hour trip from Kisumu to Mbale, the hub for our Uganda country operations. Members of our Kenya and Uganda field teams gathered in Mbale, Uganda for last weekend’s GiveDirectly staff […]
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