Create Economic Opportunity Fund
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Create Economic Opportunity Fund

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A One Acre Fund farmer standing in her corn field showing off two ears of corn
One Acre Fund

 

This fund is for donors who seek to address a root cause of premature death, suffering, and disempowerment among people living in extreme poverty. Breaking the cycle of poverty by creating economic opportunity is one critical way to make the world a more humane place to live.

A Village Enterprise fruit vendor showing mangos to a shopper.
Village Enterprise

Fund Objective

Financial security, access to information, and job opportunities are the foundation of sustainable economic well-being and equality. When you donate to an effective economic development charity, you’re helping the world’s poorest people permanently break the cycle of poverty. These programs may be especially appealing to donors who seek to support work that is oriented toward sustained economic improvement, rather than providing life-saving interventions in the present. 

Read more about the Create Economic Opportunity Fund.

Fund Recipients

Recipent
Amount
Description
GiveDirectly
33.33%
GiveDirectly provides unconditional cash transfers using cell phone technology to some of the world’s poorest people, as well as refugees, urban youth, and disaster victims. They also are currently running a historic Universal Basic Income initiative, delivering a basic income to 20,000+ people in Kenya in a 12-year study.
One Acre Fund
33.33%
One Acre Fund helps smallholder African farmers boost productivity by delivering a bundle of services directly to their doorsteps, including start-up financing, high-quality farming inputs, agricultural training, and market facilitation to help maximize profits. These tools help farmers increase their yield per acre, sales, and household income.
Village Enterprise
33.33%
Village Enterprise equips the extreme poor in Africa with resources to start sustainable businesses through a four-part program: entrepreneurship training, a cash grant, business mentoring, and a savings group. There is strong evidence that this leads to a significant and persistent increase in income. Village Enterprise has a sustained focus on increasing gender equity. In 2021, 83% of first-time entrepreneurs in the program were women.

Currently, funds raised will be evenly distributed among charity recipients.

Our Giving Strategy

Our charity evaluation framework explains why and how our team identifies and evaluates recommended charities. Our framework seeks to be:

  • Focused: We focus on problems that are important, tractable, and neglected amongst people living in extreme poverty.
  • Adaptive: We consider a wide range of solutions and organizations with diverse strategies to achieve impact.
  • Practical: We identify the most cost-effective charities, and encourage the greatest number of people to donate.
  • Data-driven: We draw on the best possible evidence available to estimate the impact of each charity.

The Create Economic Opportunity Fund seeks to address a wide range of factors that are barriers to escaping extreme poverty by:

  1. Approaching people living in extreme poverty as knowledgeable and empowered shapers of their own lives. For example, providing unconditional cash transfers empowers beneficiaries to buy what they need to escape extreme poverty. Research evidence indicates that recipients spend their grants wisely on things that improve their family’s overall wellbeing. This approach leads to increased earnings and assets and reduces food insecurity in children.1
  2. Deploying holistic programs that improve business profits such as facilitating an increase in business and agricultural income through financial assistance, training, and increasing the accessibility of key inputs.2

1GiveDirectly (cash transfers, universal basic income initiative)
2One Acre Fund (smallholder farmer support), Village Enterprise (entrepreneurship training and support)

Fund Managers

Our research and evaluation team works to recommend high impact investments. Contact us if you would like to know more.

  • Anna Demant – Advisor, Research and Evaluation
  • Bilal Siddiqi – Advisor, Research and Evaluation
  • Matias Nestore – Associate, Research and Evaluation
  • Katie Stanford – Research & Business Intelligence Manager

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