New York, United States · Established 2009
GiveDirectly
Send money directly to people living in poverty.
(About)
Unconditional cash transfers via mobile, backed by rigorous evidence.
GiveDirectly was founded in 2009 by four economics graduate students at MIT and Harvard who had been researching the impact of cash transfers on poor households and decided the simplest way to prove the idea at scale was to build the organisation themselves. It is a US 501(c)(3) nonprofit and was the first NGO to deliver unconditional cash transfers directly to recipients' mobile-money wallets at scale.
The model is deliberately narrow. Recipients are identified through village-level enrolment or, increasingly, by satellite and machine-learning targeting of the poorest villages; they receive a lump sum or a monthly transfer with no conditions on how it is spent; and every donor dollar is traceable to a recipient.
GiveDirectly is also one of the most heavily studied charities in the world. Randomised controlled trials of its work in Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Liberia have measured effects on consumption, assets, mental health, food security and local price levels. Its long-run Universal Basic Income study in Kenya, running for twelve years across dozens of villages, is the largest of its kind ever conducted.
(Verified profile)
What the record actually says.
Sourced from official reports & independent registers
Structure & mandate
US 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded 2009. First charity to deliver cash transfers directly to recipients' mobile-money wallets at scale. Publishes recipient-level program data.
Key public programmes
- ▸Large unconditional cash transfers to households in extreme poverty
- ▸Universal Basic Income (UBI) long-term randomised study in Kenya (with GiveWell / research partners)
- ▸Emergency cash response after climate shocks and displacement
Founded
2009
HQ
New York
United States
Countries of work
8+
Independent registers
(Public perception & reviews)
What people actually say.
AI-synthesized from watchdogs, press & donor reviews
The Reach Out Score is generated by our AI based on public-domain signals (watchdog ratings, transparency, program-vs-overhead, controversies). It's a starting point — always verify against the primary sources above.
(Work in the field)
Photos of their work.
Sourced from Wikimedia Commons
(Where we operate)
Active in 8 countries.
- Kenya
- Uganda
- Rwanda
- Malawi
- DR Congo
- Liberia
- Morocco
- United States
(Related organizations)
Concern Worldwide
Because no one should go hungry.
Reducing suffering and eliminating extreme poverty in the world's poorest countries.
Evidence Action
Scale evidence-based programs.
Scales cost-effective evidence-based programs.
IPA
Evidence for changing lives.
Research nonprofit for evidence-based policy.