Raising $1,000,000 For Giving Tuesday

+ Tell me where you are donating!

Happy Giving Tuesday! Like last year, today I’m joining lots of other Substack writers to raise $1,000,000 to deliver unconditional cash transfers to people living in rural Rwanda. The goal is to send $1,100 to all of the 800+ families living in three villages. And your donation will be matched 1.5 times, so every $100 turns into $150 for one of these families.

GiveDirectly is an organization that works in the US and worldwide (you may recall their SNAP recipient fundraiser!) that provides low-cost, low-friction direct cash transfers.

Most families in these villages are living on $1-2 a day, so $1,100 can be life-changing.

Martine is one of the past recipients of a direct cash transfer. She told Giving Directly:

“The cash support has helped me achieve a dream that would have taken me years on my own. I bought a sewing machine for $150 and an iron, which will help me work faster and train students without delays. I also bought a whipstitching machine (used to finish the edges of fabric to prevent fraying), which we used to walk long distances to access. Now, I and other tailors in nearby villages can use this machine without the long walk, and I can earn extra income from it. My monthly income has doubled, and I am now able to save more for my future.”

Jill Filipovic wrote more about the efficacy of direct cash transfers here.

Unconditional cash transfers:

• Radically cut down infant deaths.

• Are more effective than job training programs in improving the economic situation of unemployed young people

• Result in more students attending school

• Decrease hunger and are more effective than shipping people food

• Empower women and significantly decrease domestic violence

• Improve maternal and infant health outcomes

• Do not decrease hours worked

• Contribute more than double to local economies

• Lead to higher earnings years later

Cash transfers aren’t the whole solution for addressing global poverty. But they’re an important component. You may have heard that a recent study called direct cash transfers into question, so I want to offer a point of clarity: That was a single study of whether cash payments in the US helped improve child development outcomes, and it spanned the Covid pandemic, when significant government cash payments were also sent out. It’s an interesting study but it has serious limitations, and doesn’t have much to do with direct cash giving to the world’s most impoverished communities.

I’m always excited to participate in this annual project because I lived in Rwanda (about 20 years ago) and met so many wonderful people. My relationship with the country is a little complicated now, as I was on the legal team representing Paul Rusesabagina (made famous in the movie Hotel Rwanda) in his lawsuit against the Rwandan Government for kidnapping. Wonderfully, he was released from prison and is back with his family.

Organizations Fighting Trump

Oath is also matching the first $10 of every donation to groups across seven different issue areas with a proven track record of fighting back against extremist attacks and winning.

• Lambda Legal - uses litigation, public education, and policy advocacy to advance the civil rights of LGBTQ+ people and everyone living with HIV

• The Center For Reproductive Rights - a legal organization fighting in court to protect reproductive health, self-determination, and dignity

• Giffords Law Center - A team of lawyers and policy experts ensuring evidence-based gun safety measures stand strong against extremist legal attacks.

• Welcome Democracy Institute - strengthens American democracy by encouraging pragmatic political leadership and independent political participation.

• Everybody Votes Campaign - partners with local organizations to support accessible, successful, and high-quality voter registration programs that expand access to our democracy for people in communities of color

• Empower Fund - help civically engage hard-to-reach and historically marginalized communities through non-partisan relational organizing

• Voting Rights Lab - protects the integrity of close elections by mapping risk, monitoring election certifiers, and building rapid-response infrastructure before a crisis hits

In Your Neighborhood

I’m always a big advocate for finding an organization local to you, building a relationship and establishing a consistent giving cadence!! I regularly donate to a local food bank and recently learned about DC’s version of Angel Trees to buy holiday presents for kids in foster care! They have a very easy-to-use Amazon wishlist for kids, if you don’t have much time but want to spread some holiday cheer.

I’m opening up the comments to all today - please tell us what organizations you are supporting this Giving Tuesday!!