Operations – GiveDirectly

From proven to fit-for-purpose: what we’re doing next with cash

Sarah Moran — Wed, 30 Jul 2025 01:58:20 +0000

Summary This year, GiveDirectly will hit a milestone few thought possible: $1 billion committed to people in poverty, alongside 25+ independent studies rigorously testing how that cash was spent, what changed, and why. Now we’re raising the bar. GiveDirectly has set an audacious new goal: deliver $5 billion by 2035 to accelerate the end of extreme poverty and meet…

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In Bangladesh, AI targeted aid faster, cheaper, and often more accurately than manual methods

Abir Chowdhury — Wed, 02 Jul 2025 15:50:16 +0000

About one in five Bangaldeshis live below the national poverty line. The government runs over 100 social protection programs reaching nearly 30m people. But many rely on static registries that fail to capture real-time need, like when a cyclone hits, a breadwinner loses work, or a family is displaced. As a result, people who should qualify for support are often missed. GiveDirectly and a team…

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How AI helped send cash just before floods hit in Nigeria

Federico Barreras and Sarah Kenkuyu — Fri, 27 Jun 2025 17:15:56 +0000

Getting cash to people before disaster strikes can save lives. That’s why we piloted an AI-powered flood response in Nigeria, predicting where floods would hit and delivering early cash to those most at risk. By combining cutting-edge forecasts with local insights, we reached flood-prone communities faster, more affordably, and with greater precision—delivering aid before the waters rose.

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Report: risks we faced delivering cash in 2024

GiveDirectly — Mon, 23 Jun 2025 20:20:02 +0000

GiveDirectly’s work is rooted in integrity and focused on safety. We deliver unconditional transfers to people in poverty while managing the risks this creates, including fraud, abuse, and safety threats. Our code of ethics and values, along with national laws, guide staff conduct and set clear standards. We continuously improve safeguards to strengthen protection for both recipients and…

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Why we sent the largest-ever cash payment to homeless Americans

Maggie Shun — Thu, 24 Apr 2025 20:19:39 +0000

In 2024, the U.S. saw the highest number of people unhoused — 770,000 on a given night — despite $10B+ in federal spending on homelessness. There is growing evidence that a large lump sum of cash can help homeless families become stably housed, which is why GiveDirectly launched a program in Chicago doing just that. Our Stability for Investment Housing program is co-led by the…

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How to explain AI/ML across the digital divide

Nirali Desai and Vera Lummis — Mon, 27 Jan 2025 18:54:28 +0000

When a crisis hits a low-income country, aid groups often struggle to quickly find and help those most in need because governments have incomplete or outdated information on their citizens (‘social registries’). This is why GiveDirectly has used mobile phone metadata and AI to predict people’s level of need and send them emergency cash quickly—often 4-8x faster than conventional aid.

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Rethinking efficiency to better reflect our diverse cash programs

GiveDirectly — Mon, 25 Nov 2024 17:08:54 +0000

Minimizing costs maximizes our impact for the world’s poorest: in a million-dollar GiveDirectly program, increasing efficiency from 75% to 80% might allow us to give an additional 100 people cash.1 But efficiency is not the only important metric, as some higher-cost programs reach more vulnerable populations or unlock new funds to go directly to people in poverty. In our aim to better…

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How GiveDirectly prevents, addresses, and reports risks

GiveDirectly — Mon, 23 Sep 2024 19:16:47 +0000

If you believe you’ve observed GiveDirectly staff, volunteers, vendors, contractors, or partners engaging in misconduct (including fraud, harassment, discrimination, or any other form of unethical behavior), please file a report to whistleblower@givedirectly.org or to our third-party whistleblowing portal here→ Giving cash directly is a proven and dignified way to relieve…

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Which U.S. cash programs work the best? We don’t know yet.

Sarina Jain — Mon, 16 Sep 2024 18:22:40 +0000

Giving cash directly to people in poverty is proven to help. Our research increasingly focuses on testing the impact of different cash designs by varying how much, how often, and when people receive cash.1 For example, a first-of-its-kind study found the impact of delivering the same amount of cash to Kenyans in poverty is significantly greater if given all at once rather than broken into monthly…

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GiveDirectly pursues greater impact as Nick Allardice joins as President & CEO

GiveDirectly — Mon, 05 Aug 2024 12:00:00 +0000

GiveDirectly has been a major player in scaling the use of unconditional cash transfers, helping build consensus among the international community that direct cash is a key component to tackling extreme poverty. Now, as we near $1 billion delivered, we’ve appointed Nick Allardice as President and CEO to lead this next phase of growth. GiveDirectly is currently running our most ambitious…

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