GiveDirectly retires basic income
Focusing on large cash transfers
Mabel and William, GiveDirectly recipients from Liberia
Our long-time partner GiveDirectly recently announced that they are no longer accepting donations for their basic income programme. This decision was informed by a study which showed key advantages of large lump sum payments over a universal basic income (UBI):
💰 Giving $500 as a lump sum enabled bigger investments and resulted in greater economic improvements than giving the same amount in smaller monthly UBI payments.
🔄 Many UBI recipients simply joined rotating savings groups to pool small amounts into larger payouts, essentially creating their own lump sums.
🤳🏿 Other research found 95% of recipients prefer larger payments over smaller monthly ones.
As a result of these findings, GiveDirectly are now focused on scaling large, one-time cash transfers in Africa, and testing monthly basic income only in unique cases. You can read more about how this change fits into their current strategy here.
What this change means for our donors
Existing Recurring Donors
If you have an existing recurring donation to GiveDirectly’s basic income programme, we’ll be in touch with you to discuss your options. By default, we’ll reallocate your donation to GiveDirectly’s general cash transfer programme, which addresses extreme poverty in Africa. However, if you’d prefer to switch to one of our other partner charities (or change the amount or frequency of your donation) you’re more than welcome to do so.
Future Donors
If you’d like to send direct cash transfers to people living in extreme poverty, you still can! We’re continuing to accept donations for GiveDirectly’s general cash transfer program, which addresses extreme poverty in Africa.
A big thank you to all our GiveDirectly donors for your ongoing support! Your donations make a real difference, and will still go to people living in extreme poverty as cash.
