Timeline of GiveDirectly
From Timelines
This is a timeline of GiveDirectly, a not-for-profit organization whose claimed mission is "to reduce poverty by providing financial assistance directly to those in need." It offers a service of cash transfers. GiveDirectly operates primarily in Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda.[1]
Contents
Big picture
Time period | Development summary |
---|---|
2009 | GiveDirectly launches and focuses on its novel cash transfers model. Kenya becomes the first operating country. |
2012 | GiveDirectly is rated as a "standout organization" by charity evaluator GiveWell. |
2013 | Uganda becomes GiveDirectly's second operating country. |
2014 | GiveDirectly board members launch Segovia, a software technology platform aimed at streamlining payment systems. |
2015 | Rwanda becomes GiveDirectly's third operating country. |
2016 | GiveDirectly undertakes its basic income enterprise. Kenya becomes the first operating country of the program. |
2017 | GiveDirectly begins a study of providing long-term, ongoing cash transfers sufficient for basic needs ("basic income guarantee").[2] |
2018 | GiveDirectly starts operating in Liberia, Malawi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. |
Full timeline
Year | Month and date | Event type | Details |
---|---|---|---|
2009 | September 1 | Founding | GiveDirectly incorporates in the State of Massachusetts.[1] |
2009 | Program (cash transfers) | GiveDirectly launches in Liberia and Kenya, and starts using mobile payments to deliver cash transfers.[3][4][5] | |
2011 | July 2 | Field staff in Kenya launches a large-scale evaluation of GiveDirectly's work, funded by the National Institutes of Health and led by Dr. Johannes Haushofer of the University of Zurich in collaboration with GiveDirectly's board.[6] | |
2011 | July 21 | Media coverage | GiveWell blogs about GiveDirectly, calling it "a charity to watch".[7] |
2011 | July 22 | Donation | Economics blog Marginal Revolution makes a donation and blogs about GiveDirectly.[8] |
2011 | July 26 | Media coverage | The Boston Globe's Brainiac blog writes about GiveDirectly and its procedure.[9] |
2011 | August 2 | Media coverage | NPR's Planet Money blog covers FiveDirectly approach, calling it a "simple but radical".[10] |
2011 | August 3 | Media coverage | Time Magazine's Moneyland blog calls GiveDirectly approach "radical, if obvious", asking: "Instead of using charitable donations to set up elaborate programs (and to cover hefty administrative costs for those programs), all in the name of helping the poor, why not just give the money directly to poor people, in as efficient a way as possible?".[11] |
2011 | Year round | Funding | GiveDirectly reaches 164 funders.[12]. |
2012 | January 3 | Media coverage | Vishnu Sridharan at the New America Foundation writes a blog post on GiveDirectly approach and where it fits in to the big picture.[13] |
2012 | May 2 | Recognition | GiveWell completes its full review of GiveDirectly and rates them a "standout organization."[13][14] |
2012 | August 2 | Team | Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes joins GiveDirectly board as director.[15][16] |
2012 | November 2 | Recognition | GiveWell updates its evaluations for 2012 and names GiveDirectly one of three "top-rated" organizations.[13][14] |
2012 | December 5 | Funding | GiveDirectly receives a US$2.4 million Global Impact Award from Google, with over 90% of the amount (US$2.21 million) being earmarked for direct cash transfers to the poor, and the remainder of the award (US$ 190,000) to underwrite the fixed costs of setting up operations in a second country.[17] |
2012 | December | Funding | Good Ventures awards a grant of US$500,000 to GiveDirectly for general operating support in recognition of GiveWell’s No. 2 charity ranking in the year.[18] |
2012 | Year round | Funding | GiveDirectly reaches 810 funders.[12]. |
2013 | March | Financial | GiveDirectly reports US$3 million in funds available, 2 million of which it has designated for future transfers in Kenya, and 1 million of which it has designated for use in scaling its model to a second country.[19] |
2013 | June 11 | GiveDirectly announces New Blog Format "Thanks to the time and efforts of a generous volunteer, this section of the GiveDirectly website will now feature more frequent updates, including reports from our field team, lessons learned from our work, and the latest evidence on the impact our cash transfers have on the lives of the poor. "[20][21] | |
2013 | June 26 | Media coverage (cash transfers) | GiveWell's publishes first full update on GiveDirectly, and produces an in-depth report on GD’s work in Kenya and their long-term outlook as they continue to scale up their cash transfer operations. The report covers GD's activities since November 2012, when GiveWell named GiveDirectly their second rated charity based on their criteria of efficiency, impact, transparency, and capacity for growth.[20][22] |
2013 | June | Program (cash transfers) | GiveDirectly plans to target only mud and thatch households in a second country chosen for its cash transfer program.[19] |
2013 | September 6 | Media coverage | David Kestenbaum and Jacob Goldstein from Planet Money report on GiveDirectly work in Kenya, explaining whether its method of charity works, and why some people think it's a terrible idea.[23][24][20] |
2013 | November 20 | Program (cash transfers) | GiveDirectly announces it has a program up and running in Uganda, its second country.[25] |
2013 | Year round | Funding | GiveDirectly reaches 6,195 funders.[12]. |
2013 – 2014 | December 2013 – January 31, 2014 | Funding | Good Ventures awards a grant of US$2 million to GiveDirectly in December 2013 and matches $5 million in additional donations from December 3, 2013 through January 31, 2014. Both grants are for general operating support in recognition of GiveDirectly's earning a "top charity" ranking from GiveWell in 2013.[26] |
2014 | February 10 | Recognition | American business magazine Fast Company names GiveDirectly one of the world's Top Ten Most Innovative Companies in Finance.[27][28][3] |
2014 | March 11 | Media coverage (cash transfers) | Staff at the Mulago Foundation comments on the results of Innovations for Poverty Action’s impact evaluation of GiveDirectly’s cash transfer program. Broadly speaking they see the results as “important” but think the media have overhyped them.[29][30][3] |
2014 | July 9 | Program (cash transfers) | GiveDirectly board members Michael Faye, Chris Hughes, and Paul Niehaus announce plans to start a separate, fee-for-service for-profit venture called Segovia to develop technology for managing field logistics, with a focus on programs that transfer cash to the poor.[3][31][32][14][33] |
2014 | November 26 | GiveDirectly launches a new website, the first major update since www.givedirectly.org went live in 2011.[3][34]
| |
2014 | October 24 | Media coverage (cash transfers) | In a new TED talk Joy Sun talks about GiveDirectly, and comments on the benefits of unconditional cash transfers.[35][36][3] |
2014 | December 10 | Recognition | GiveWell lists GiveDirectly as one of their top recommended charities once again.[3][37][38] |
2014 | December | Funding | Good Ventures awards a grant of US$5 million to GiveDirectly for general operating support in recognition of the organization's earning a "top charity" ranking from GiveWell.[39] |
2014 | Year round | Funding | GiveDirectly reaches 7,275 funders.[12]. |
2015 | ? | Expansion | GiveDirectly registers in Rwanda.[1] |
2015 | June | Donation | Good Ventures announces an unrestricted US$25 million grant to GiveDirectly for support of general operations.[40][41][42][43][44][16] |
2015 | August 7 | Donation | Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz and his wife Cari Tuna agree to donate US$25 million to GiveDirectly, the largest donation to date.[45] |
2015 | November 23 | Recognition | GiveWell names GiveDirectly one of their top-rated charities of 2015, this time for the fourth consecutive year. GiveWell also rates GiveDirectly strongest on all aspects of organizational performance, including on “transparency and communication,” “robustness of the case for impact,” and “room for more funding.”[46][40][14] |
2015 | Year round | Funding | GiveDirectly reaches 8,886 funders.[12]. |
2016 | ? | Donation | Segovia donates its software and services to GiveDirectly. The in-kind donation of the software and associated services are valued at US$52,454 for the delivery of approximately US$5,170,928 of grant transfers that would be disbursed between January through April of 2016.[1] |
2016 | ? | Expansion | GiveDirectly begins enrollment in Rwanda.[1] |
2016 | January | Donation | Good Ventures awards a US$9.75 million grant to GiveDirectly for general operating support, in recognition of the organization’s earning a “top charity” ranking from GiveWell in 2015.[47] |
2016 | February | The Global Innovation Fund announces its first round of investments, the first of which goes to Segovia.[33] | |
2016 | April | Program (basic income) | GiveDirectly announces a US$30 million initiative to test universal 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’.[48] |
2016 | May | Donation | Segovia no longer donates the software and services to GiveDirectly and instead charges at a fixed percentage of grant transfers.[1] |
2016 | ? | Program (cash transfers) | GiveDirectly launches GDLive, an online tool for donors to read recipients' answers to questions about their lives and their reactions to receiving cash transfers from GiveDirectly.[2] |
2016 | October | Program (basic income) | GiveDirectly launches a pilot version of what would become the largest basic income experiment in history so far. Beginning early 2017, 40 villages would receive roughly US$22.50 per month for 12 years. Meanwhile, 80 villages would get the same amount for just two years, another 80 would get a lump sum equal to the two-year amount, and 100 villages would get no money.[49] |
2016 | October | Program (cash transfers) | GiveDirectly begins its transfers cash program in Rwanda.[14] |
2016 | November 29 | Recognition | GiveWell recognizes GiveDirectly as one of their top rated charities for the fifth year running.[50][51][14] |
2016 | December | Program (basic income) | GiveDirectly’s launches the first long-term Universal Basic Income evaluation in history.[50][52] |
2016 | December | Program (basic income) | GiveDirectly enrolls 31,000 new households, and places US$27 million into the hands of 40,000 households (or more than 180,000 individuals), most of whom live on less than $1/day. This represents more than a 1000X increase in distributions from just five years ago.[50][53] |
2016 | December | Expansion | GiveDirectly is registered under the Companies Act 2006 as having established a UK Establishment in the United Kingdom.[1] |
2016 | Year round | Funding | GiveDirectly reaches 10,999 funders.[12] |
2017 | January | Media coverage (basic income) | A range of outlets around the world mentions GiveDirectly in relation to universal basic income, including El Mundo, The World Post[54], Inside Philanthropy[55], New York Magazine[56], New Statesman[57], and The Guardian[58].[59][60] |
2017 | January | Donation | Good Ventures awards a US$2,500,000 grant to GiveDirectly for general operating support, in recognition of the organization’s earning a “top charity” ranking from GiveWell in 2016.[61] |
2017 | May | Media coverage | In a webinar, Greek American engineer Peter Diamandis interviews Michael Faye, who talks about the disruption of philanthropy through peer-to-peer aid.[62] |
2017 | May 17 | Media coverage (basic income) | Vox's "Weeds" interviews Michael Faye as well as several recipients of GiveDirectly basic income program in Western Kenya. The interview deals with a range of issues, from recipient choice to social welfare policy, and featuring some of the most important voices which are often left out of the debate: recipient families themselves.[63][64] |
2017 | July 5 | Media coverage (basic income) | Hamilton Nolan interviews GiveDirectly's co-founder Paul Niehaus, who discusses the current state of the debate around basic income and the details of our experiment. Elsewhere, GiveDirectly's basic income experiment is referenced in Fortune[65], Business Insider[66], and IndiaSpend. GiveDirectly is also mentioned in The Washington Post[67] as part of a broader shift toward cash transfers in the aid sector.[68][69][64] |
2017 | July 13 | Media coverage | In a 30-minute documentary, national broadcaster ABC Australia profiles GiveDirectly's work in Kenya, speaking at length with GD External Relations Director Caroline Teti, and Regional Director Mitch Riley.[64][70] |
2017 | October | Program (cash transfers) | GiveDirectly starts conducting two pilot projects in the United States to deliver cash transfers to people affected by Hurricanes Harvey and Maria.[1] |
2017 | November 13 | Program (basic income) | GiveDirectly officially launches its trial of basic income in rural Kenya, and starts enrolling experimental participants. The US$30 million experiment is expected to be the largest trial of basic income to date, in terms of both size and duration. All residents of about 120 rural Kenyan villages, comprising more than 16,000 people in total, would receive some type of unconditional cash transfers during the experiment; some of these villages, moreover, would receive the universal basic income for twelve years.[71] Field officers in Bomet County, Kenya begin to enroll the first (post-pilot) households into the basic income initiative[72][64] |
2017 | ? | Program (cash transfers) | GiveDirectly begins using Segovia mobile money wallets for delivery of cash transfers to the recipients in East Africa.[1] |
2017 | ? | Donation | GiveDirectly receives a US$663,500 grant from the Government of the United Kingdom's Department for International Development for its project serving refugees in Uganda.[1] |
2017 | December 7 | Recognition | GiveDirectly is recognized as a "top charity" by GiveWell.[73] |
2017 | December | Donation | The Open Philanthropy Project recommends a grant of US$2,500,000 to GiveDirectly for general operating support, due to its status as a GiveWell top charity.[74] |
2017 | December | Program (cash transfers) | GiveDirectly launches a US$3.5 million pilot program distributing cash transfers to refugees in Uganda. The program targets refugees who have been displaced for at least five years, as well as households in the communities hosting them.[2] |
2018 | January | Donation | GiveDirectly receives a US$3.6 million award from USAID to begin cash transfer operations in Liberia.[1] |
2018 | April | Donation (cash transfers) | GiveDirectly receives a US$3 million award to begin cash transfer operations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and a US$3.75 million award to begin cash transfer operations in Malawi.[1] |
2018 | June | Expansion | GiveDirectly starts partnership projects in three new countries: Liberia, Malawi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.[14] |
2018 | September 13 | Program | GiveDirectly publishes the results from their first experimental benchmarking study, a collaboration with USAID, Google.org, and academic and implementing partners set in Rwanda.[75][60] |
2018 | November | Recognition | GiveDirectly is listed as one of GiveWell's four top-rated charities, and is recognized for offering donors an outstanding opportunity to accomplish good with their donations.[76] |
2018 | November | Funding | GiveWell recommends that Good Ventures grant $2.5 million to GiveDirectly, citing several factors including standout transparency and GiveDirectly's strong process for ensuring that cash is well-targeted and consistently reaches its intended targets.[14] |
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See also
External links
References
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 "Financial Statements" (PDF). givedirectly.org. Retrieved 8 March 2019.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "GiveDirectly". givewell.org. Retrieved 3 May 2019.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 "blog2014". givedirectly.org. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
- ↑ "News round-up: Digitizing cash transfers". givedirectly.org. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
- ↑ "GiveDirectly launching in Liberia". givedirectly.org. Retrieved 3 May 2019.
- ↑ "NIH evaluation grant". givedirectly.org. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
- ↑ "A charity to watch: GiveDirectly". blog.givewell.org. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
- ↑ "Give Directly". marginalrevolution.com. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
- ↑ "Is Cash the Best Way to Help the Poor?". archive.boston.com. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
- ↑ "A Charity That Just Gives Money To Poor People". npr.org. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
- ↑ "GiveDirectly: A Charity That Just Gives Money to Poor People, So They're Not So Poor". business.time.com. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 12.4 12.5 "Funders and Partners". givedirectly.org. Retrieved 9 March 2019.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 "2012". givedirectly.org. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 14.4 14.5 14.6 14.7 "GiveDirectly". givewell.org. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
- ↑ "Chris Hughes joins the board". givedirectly.org. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 "2014 Annual Report" (PDF). cdn.givedirectly.org. Retrieved 9 March 2019.
- ↑ "Global Impact Award from Google". givedirectly.org. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
- ↑ "GiveDirectly — General Support". goodventures.org. Retrieved 20 April 2019.
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 "GiveDirectly - May 2013 Update". givewell.org. Retrieved 8 March 2019.
- ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 "blog2013". givedirectly.org. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
- ↑ "New Blog Format". givedirectly.org. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
- ↑ "GiveWell's First Full Update on GiveDirectly". givedirectly.org. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
- ↑ "Money for Nothing and Your Cows for Free". thisamericanlife.org. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
- ↑ "Looking Beyond the Buzz". givedirectly.org. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
- ↑ "GiveDirectly is in Uganda!". givedirectly.org. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
- ↑ "GiveDirectly — General Support". goodventures.org. Retrieved 20 April 2019.
- ↑ "GiveDirectly is The 4th most Innovative Company in Finance for 2014". givedirectly.org. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
- ↑ "Most Innovative Companies 2014". fastcompany.com. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
- ↑ "GiveDirectly? Not So Fast.". ssir.org. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
- ↑ "What's the hype evidence?". givedirectly.org. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
- ↑ "GiveDirectly and Segovia". givedirectly.org. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
- ↑ "Segovia: A New Player in Cash Transfers". cfr.org. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
- ↑ 33.0 33.1 "New company from GiveDirectly founders aims to streamline payment systems". devex.com. Retrieved 9 March 2019.
- ↑ "Our new website". givedirectly.org. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
- ↑ "Cold, hard cash". givedirectly.org. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
- ↑ "TED". ted.com. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
- ↑ "GiveWell (re-)recommendation". givedirectly.org. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
- ↑ "Our updated top charities". blog.givewell.org. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
- ↑ "GiveDirectly — General Support". goodventures.org. Retrieved 20 April 2019.
- ↑ 40.0 40.1 "blog2015". givedirectly.org. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
- ↑ "Announcing a $25 Million Grant to GiveDirectly". goodventures.org. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
- ↑ "A Facebook billionaire is handing tons of cash to poor people in East Africa". vox.com. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
- ↑ "New Money, Big Bets: Three Takeaways From a Massive Tech Grant to Fight Global Poverty". insidephilanthropy.com. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
- ↑ "Facebook Co-Founder Giving Millions Directly To The Poor, No Strings Attached". huffingtonpost.com. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
- ↑ "A $25 million gift to GiveDirectly". medium.com. Retrieved 9 March 2019.
- ↑ "GiveWell recommends GiveDirectly (again), and benchmarks others against cash". givedirectly.org. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
- ↑ "GiveDirectly — General Support (January 2016)". openphilanthropy.org. Retrieved 8 March 2019.
- ↑ "An efficient way to fight extreme poverty". olbios.org. Retrieved 8 March 2019.
- ↑ "These are the Basic Income Experiments Coming in 2017". futurism.com. Retrieved 8 March 2019.
- ↑ 50.0 50.1 50.2 "blog2016". givedirectly.org. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
- ↑ "On GiveWell's recommendation". givedirectly.org. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
- ↑ "The largest basic income experiment in history". givedirectly.org. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
- ↑ "The year in cash – $27 million distributed". givedirectly.org. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
- ↑ "Universal Basic Income Is Our Best Weapon Against The Rising Far Right". huffingtonpost.com. Retrieved 21 February 2019.
- ↑ "Radical Idea? The New Funding Around a Basic Income". insidephilanthropy.com. Retrieved 21 February 2019.
- ↑ "What Happens When You Give Free Money to Poor People". thecut.com. Retrieved 21 February 2019.
- ↑ "The right's next target: foreign aid". newstatesman.com. Retrieved 21 February 2019.
- ↑ "The Scottish pioneer whose plan for a basic income could transform Britain". theguardian.com. Retrieved 21 February 2019.
- ↑ "El ensayo africano de la renta básica". elmundo.es. Retrieved 21 February 2019.
- ↑ 60.0 60.1 "blog2018". givedirectly.org. Retrieved 21 February 2019.
- ↑ "GiveDirectly — General Support (January 2017)". openphilanthropy.org. Retrieved 8 March 2019.
- ↑ "What We're Learning From a Big Universal Basic Income Experiment". singularityhub.com. Retrieved 21 February 2019.
- ↑ "Peer-to-peer aid – Cash in the News". givedirectly.org. Retrieved 21 February 2019.
- ↑ 64.0 64.1 64.2 64.3 "blog2017". givedirectly.org. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
- ↑ "Why Free Money for Everyone Is Silicon Valley's Next Big Idea". fortune.com. Retrieved 21 February 2019.
- ↑ "A $15,000 basic income lottery promised free money for a year — then the checks stopped coming". businessinsider.com. Retrieved 21 February 2019.
- ↑ "What if philanthropy isn't the best way for rich people to help others?". washingtonpost.com. Retrieved 21 February 2019.
- ↑ "How to Give Poor People Money In Order to Save the World". splinternews.com. Retrieved 21 February 2019.
- ↑ "givedirectly.org". Allocating the capital – Cash in the News. Retrieved 21 February 2019.
- ↑ "Not everybody wants a goat – Cash in the News". givedirectly.org. Retrieved 21 February 2019.
- ↑ "US/KENYA: GiveDirectly Officially Launches UBI experiment". basicincome.org. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
- ↑ "We're officially launching UBI". givedirectly.org. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
- ↑ "Our top charities for giving season 2017". blog.givewell.org. Retrieved 3 May 2019.
- ↑ "GiveDirectly — General Support (December 2017)". goodventures.org. Retrieved 3 May 2019.
- ↑ "4 years in the making: first cash benchmarking results released". givedirectly.org. Retrieved 21 February 2019.
- ↑ "GiveDirectly". givewell.org. Retrieved 20 April 2019.