Better Futures Guide
Finding high-impact livelihoods nonprofits
We identify organizations that effectively grow incomes and economic independence — so each donated dollar reduces poverty as much as possible
Research
We use rigorous evidence to identify high-impact livelihood organizations.
Recommendations
We recommend nonprofits that deliver high impact for every dollar invested.
Donor engagement
We connect impact-minded donors with highly effective nonprofits.
How we form our recommendations
Cost-effectiveness
How much we estimate each donated dollar improves economic wellbeing.
Evidence of effectiveness
Strength of the evidence base that a given intervention works and that the organization implements it well in practice.
Room for more funding
Whether the organization has the team, systems, and opportunities to turn additional donations into additional impact.
Team and track record
Including leadership, the team’s operational capacity, and the organization's history of delivery.
Our evaluation framework is still evolving. We plan to publish a full methods note in early summer, then road-test it with advisors and a pilot evaluation before it shapes any recommendations.
Year-one sectors
Livelihoods is a vast space. For year one, we selected three sectors with strong evidence bases, meaningful room for impact, and real unmet donor demand for rigorous evaluation.
Poverty Graduation
Sequenced 18–24 month programs that combine a productive asset, cash support, skills training, and coaching for people in extreme poverty. Large randomized trials across low- and middle-income countries show durable income gains, with some studies tracking participants past a decade. Outcomes vary widely by design and implementation — which is part of what makes this sector worth evaluating carefully.
Education
Education is a long-standing route out of poverty, and effectiveness-minded donors have told us they want to give here but lack evaluations that speak to their priorities. We’ll focus on programs where robust evidence ties learning to economic gains – such as structured pedagogy, foundational learning, and livelihoods-focused educational programs that target near-term income gains.
Cross-Border Livelihoods
The same person doing the same job can earn vastly different wages in two different countries or regions. Supporting moves into higher-wage labor markets — across borders, or from rural to urban areas — is one of the highest-return interventions per person in development economics. The nonprofit field here is smaller and less well-mapped than our other two sectors, which we see as a reason to look closely, not to pass.
What's next
We publish a full methods note describing how we evaluate – a starting point we’ll refine through a pilot.
We road-test the methodology with real organizations, incorporating feedback from practitioners and advisors.
We publish our recommendations ahead of end-of-year giving.
Co-Founders
Elizabeth Weissberg
15+ years of research and communications experience including work at Yale's SCAN Lab and the Aspen Institute. Focused on bringing technical research into practical use.
Rens Bakker
9+ years of policy experience at the national government of the Netherlands. Specialized in coalition-building. Worked on labor market and livelihood reforms.
Help shape our work
We're talking to effectiveness-minded donors, advisors, and researchers to make sure our evaluations are useful and actionable. If you'd like to weigh in, please reach out.