Send life-changing cash directly to Kenyans in need
Created by
Nebula video creators
Your favorite Nebula video creators teamed up to deliver life-changing funds for all 164 families in a rural village in Akorian, Kenya where most residents live on less than $1/day.
Your donations go directly to families as cash, no strings attached
Each family in this village will receive ~$850 via digital transfer to spend and invest on what they need most. Rather than telling them what to do or guessing what they need, you’re letting them choose for themselves.
A little goes a long way in Akorian, Kenya
Families there struggle to afford:
- 🥘 Food – families are eating just 1 meal per day (either fish from Lake Baringo or food bought in town)
- 🎒 School – many parents cannot afford the $23 trimester fees to keep their children in school
- 🎣 Business investments – there are front costs to get involved in farming, fishing, or bee-keeping
To you, $850 might mean a new laptop or smartphone. For these families, it means a whole new life, empowering them to feed themselves, start businesses, go back to school, and more.
| Cost (USD) | What a family might choose to buy |
| $9/each | 🛖 Iron sheets for a permanent roof |
| $23 | 📚 One trimester of primary school fees |
| $25 | ❤️🩹 Hospital visit |
| $45 | ☀️ A solar panel |
| $45 | 🐐 A goat |
| $350-400 | 🛖 House reconstruction |
| $300-600 | 🌱 A small plot of land for a home or farm |
Research shows families use your donations to make lasting change
See more on how it works from the Economist:
Frequently asked questions
What is GiveDirectly?
We’re a non-profit that lets you send money directly to the world’s poorest, no strings attached. In the last decade, we’ve delivered cash to over 1.6 million people across 15 countries and research the impacts it can have for families in need.
Which video creators are you partnering with?
We’ve partnered 11 creators from Nebula, paying each a fee for sponsorship in exchange for their promotion of this fundraiser.
You can watch their videos (we’ll hyperlink them as they premiere): Cogito, ColdFusion, Extra History, Foreign Man in a Foreign Land, Money & Macro, Our Changing Climate, Princess Weekes, Religion for Breakfast, Signified B Sides, Simon Clark, Step Back History.
What if we raise more or less than the fundraising goal?
Any excess funds will help us deliver cash to more people in Akorian, Kenya, with the goal of funding all 164 families in this village with ~$155,000 total. GiveDirectly will allocate internal funds to make up any gap between our fundraising and the total needed to ensure every family receives funds. No matter what, your donations will end up in the hands of families in extreme poverty.
How did you identify this village in Akorian, Kenya to receive money?
We enroll those most in need using criteria that are simple, fair, cost-effective, and difficult to scam. For this program, we identified extremely poor villages from national poverty survey data in the Baringo region of Kenya and then enrolled in-person all households in those villages.
When will people receive my donation?
All 164 families in the village will receive $150 on December 11, followed by $350 in February and $350 in April. We split payments up this way because it’s what recipients tell us they prefer.
How does the match work?
The first $30k in donations made through this webpage will be matched (doubled, 1:1, or 2X). This match comes from a generous GiveDirectly supporter who wants to encourage fans of YouTube creators to give directly – more on why matches work here.
Is my donation tax-deductible?
Yes, donations are tax-deductible in the United States. We accept all major credit and debit cards, PayPal, checks, wires, stocks, cryptocurrencies, and more.
If you’re giving outside the U.S., you can still give to this campaign but your gift may not be tax-deductible. You can donate via our international partners to claim tax benefits, but due to partner processing delays those donations may not come in before the campaign ends.
Reach out to us at [email protected] with any questions or for more information on ways to give.
What if I’d like to make a major gift?
We’d love to hear from you! Reach out to us at [email protected].
Can I sign up to receive money / aid?
No. In order to be as fair to all as possible, we select recipients using a systematic and proactive set of criteria that vary from country to country, and do not accept inbound applications for our international programs.