Wikipedia
GiveDirectly is a nonprofit organization currently operating in Kenya and Uganda that aims to help people living in extreme poverty by making unconditional cash transfers to them via mobile phone (through M-Pesa in Kenya and MTN's Mobile Money system in Uganda). It is the first charity dedicated exclusively to cash transfers. Approximately 90% of donor funds are sent directly to recipients, with the remaining 10% split between fees for the transfers and recipient identification and follow-up costs. This is far more efficient than other charities, according to the American Institute of Philanthropy.
In August 2012, Chris Hughes, one of the co-founders of social network Facebook and (as of August 2012) the publisher and editor-in-chief of The New Republic, who had also worked for the 2008 Obama presidential campaign, joined the GiveDirectly board and published a personal message on the GiveDirectly website lauding GiveDirectly's approach.
In November 2012, charity evaluator GiveWell named GiveDirectly its #2 recommended charity for 2012 end-of-year giving. In December 2013, GiveWell named GiveDirectly as one of its top three charities (numerical rankings were not provided in 2013, but GiveWell recommended donors give to all three top charities until they reached "minimum targets", which was $2.5M for GiveDirectly). In December 2014, GiveWell listed GiveDirectly as one of its top four recommended charities, alongside Against Malaria Foundation, Deworm the World Initiative, and Schistosomiasis Control Initiative. GiveWell listed the same top four charities in November 2015, recommended that Good Ventures donate $9.8 million to GiveDirectly, and identified an additional funding gap of $74.3 million for the organization (of which $24.8 million would be necessary for the organization's current or planned programs for the coming year). The status as a top charity was reaffirmed in a June 2016 top charity refresh, with updates to the estimated funding gap.
In April 2016, GiveDirectly announced an initiative to test a 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" and, if it works, pave the way for implementation in other regions.