Send cash for emergency relief
GiveDirectly delivers cash within days so survivors
can meet their own needs with dignity and speed.
Where we’ve delivered in emergencies
Other responses:
- 🇵🇭 Philippines → 2025 North Cebu Earthquake
- 🇺🇸 United States → 2025 Texas Floods
- 🇨🇩 DRC → 2025 Armed Conflict
- 🇺🇸 United States → 2024 Hurricanes Helene & Milton
- 🇲🇦 Morocco → 2023 Earthquake
- 🇺🇸 United States → 2022 Hurricanes Ian and Fiona
- 🇲🇼 Malawi → 2022 Cyclone Ana
- 🇾🇪 Yemen → 2022 Civil War
Cash is a fast, efficient way to help survivors recover with dignity
When a crisis hits, people know best what they need most. Cash gives them the freedom to act – whether that’s buying food, finding shelter, or rebuilding their home.
Cash is FAST
Delivered within days, without the delays of shipping, storage, or distribution.
Cash is FLEXIBLE
Overwhelmingly preferred by survivors over in-kind aid as it lets them decide what they need most.
Cash is EFFICIENT
Proven to be at least 25% more cost-effective than in-kind aid.
Increasing the share of humanitarian aid delivered as cash from 20% to 50% could have helped 8.6 million more people in 2024 without additional spending. Read more →
We’ve built a response system to reach survivors faster, smarter, and at global scale
Over the years, we’ve strengthened our crisis response system so we can reach families faster and use funds where they’ll have the greatest impact.
🌍 Better preparedness
Our in-house monitoring system tracks 20+ global data sources to spot crises early.
⏱️ Faster decisions
A new framework helps us act fast where impact is greatest, as millions are displaced each year.
🤝 Wider reach
We can now reach survivors and send funds in 130+ countries, up from under 30.
💸 Positioned funding
Donors can now give before the next crisis so we can act immediately when disaster strikes.
Together, these upgrades make GiveDirectly ready to deliver life-saving cash anywhere, faster than ever.
Rapid emergency responses are more critical than ever
Emergencies are becoming more frequent and more complex – driven by conflict, climate, and economic instability. Over 60% of the world’s poorest people now live in fragile or conflict-affected states, yet traditional aid systems remain slow and costly. Families often wait weeks or months before help arrives.
With global aid budgets shrinking, the world can’t afford a slow response system. We’re currently building the tech, data, and partnerships to deliver cash anywhere within 5 days of a disaster – not just to prove it’s possible, but because speed can determine who recovers and who doesn’t.
We’re also investing in research to help us understand the relative impact of cash, information, and quick action.
Your impact in the press
Help build the future of emergency response
Every donation helps us act faster in the next emergency – reaching families within days, not weeks.
Frequently asked questions
Do donations through this page support U.S. emergency responses?
No. Donations made through this page go to our Emergency relief fund, which supports people affected by crises and climate disasters outside the U.S.
To designate a recent donation for U.S. emergency responses, please contact us at info@givedirectly.org.
What if I’d like to make a major gift?
Please contact our major giving team at majorgifts@givedirectly.org, or learn about what your major gift could achieve here.
Can I sign up to receive money?
Generally no, you cannot sign up to be a cash recipient. To ensure fairness, GiveDirectly distributes funds in pre-assessed areas and selects recipients based on systems and criteria that vary by country.
As a rule, we do not accept inbound applications or referrals for our programs, other than in some of our U.S. disaster programs.
Why does GiveDirectly have humanitarian response programs?
GiveDirectly’s mission is to accelerate the end of extreme poverty via the provision of direct cash transfers. To do this, we need to work across both the development and the humanitarian sectors to reach those most in need.
People living in or near poverty are disproportionately affected by crises. By 2030, two-thirds of the world’s poorest are expected to be in fragile and conflict-affected situations, while climate change will push 130 million people into poverty. Cash transfers play a critical role in helping people prepare for, adapt to, and recover from shocks, respecting their own assessments and decisions about their needs.
Leveraging extensive evidence on the effectiveness of cash transfers and our specialized expertise, GiveDirectly has the ability to help vulnerable individuals meet their acute needs, increase self-reliance, and recover or transition out of humanitarian assistance.
How do you prevent corruption and fraud?
The main corruption/fraud risks to our programs are:
- Manipulation of the list of eligible recipients
- Diversion of transfers sent to eligible recipients
To address the first risk, we implement a comprehensive audit process with multiple independent checks to ensure enrolled recipients are eligible. These checks include:
- In-person visits by fire-walled teams
- In-person audits by senior management
- Remote data audits
- Phone calls with each recipient
To address the second risk, we use identity-matching between our records and those of our payment providers, conduct comprehensive follow-up calls to ensure money reaches the intended recipients, and in some cases, directly monitor cash-out points with our staff.
Learn more about how we prevent, address, and report risks here →