When crises hit or emergencies arise, the instinct is to act fast, which does not always result in acting smart.
The recent suspension of foreign aid has created unprecedented funding gaps, threatening decades of progress in fighting poverty, disease, and malnutrition. In moments like this, strategic, evidence-based decision-making becomes more critical than ever.
The Life You Can Save’s Rapid Response Fund, launched in partnership with Founders Pledge, represents a different approach to crisis giving: one that maintains the same rigorous evaluation standards we apply to our regular charity recommendations, even when time is of the essence.
The Challenge: Crisis Giving vs. Strategic Impact
Most emergency funding operates on a “fastest first” principle. Whoever can deploy money quickest gets priority. But speed without strategy often means missing the highest impact opportunities.
When Catholic Relief Services needed US$300,000 to distribute antiretroviral drugs in Zambia, the question wasn’t just “Can we fund this quickly?” but “Will this funding generate the maximum possible impact per dollar?”
The answer came through our multidimensional evaluation framework. That US$300,000 grant is expected to provide the equivalent to approximately 450 years of healthy life for HIV patients. This represents a cost effectiveness ratio that meets our highest standards for impact.
Our Framework for the Rapid Response Fund
The Rapid Response Fund operates with an expanded scope and accelerated decision making process while maintaining our commitment to evidence based, high impact giving.
We use our standard recommendation framework while also considering previously overlooked but critical intervention areas that become urgent priorities during crises.
We integrate insights from partners like Founders Pledge and employ adapted methodologies that still rigorously vet for effectiveness.
We prioritize funding based on urgency, impact, and unmet needs where funding gaps threaten critical progress in disease prevention, evidence generation, and life saving interventions.
Step 1: Evaluating the Problem Through a Multidimensional Lens
Just as we use the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) to assess regular charity recommendations, we’re applying this framework to evaluate urgent needs for the Rapid Response Fund. Since this is our first rapid response initiative, we’re adapting our established methodology to assess which dimensions of poverty are most urgently threatened by funding cuts.
The MPI recognizes that poverty isn’t just about income. It encompasses health, education, and living standards across ten weighted indicators. For this fund, when U.S. foreign aid suspensions hit, we immediately assessed which of these dimensions faced the most critical gaps:
- Health dimension (1/3 weight): Maternal and child health programs, HIV/AIDS treatment, malaria prevention
- Education dimension (1/3 weight): Community health worker training, basic literacy programs
- Living standards dimension (1/3 weight): Clean water access, sanitation, nutrition programs
This framework helped us prioritize where rapid funding could prevent the most severe deprivations across multiple indicators simultaneously.
Step 2: Evaluating Solutions Using Our Four Pillar Assessment
Every Rapid Response Fund grant undergoes the same intervention evaluation we apply to regular recommendations:
**Evidence: Is the intervention backed by rigorous research? **
**Scale: Can it reach high numbers of beneficiaries cost effectively? **
**Depth of Impact: How many poverty indicators does it address? **
Durability: Will the impact be sustained over time?
Take our US$300,000 grant to Population Services International (PSI) in Angola. This funding supports 240 community health workers for 9 months across two provinces where malaria is hyperendemic:
- Evidence: Community health worker programs have extensive research backing their effectiveness
- Scale: Reaches 96,000 people at risk across 2,400 households
- Depth: Addresses health outcomes while strengthening local health systems
- Durability: Builds local capacity that continues beyond the grant period
Step 3: Organizational Assessment Under Pressure
Even in crisis mode, we maintain our rigorous organizational evaluation criteria:
- Track record of impact: Has the organization demonstrated results?
- Cost effectiveness: Are they delivering maximum impact per dollar?
- Transparency and learning: Do they measure and improve their work?
- Community understanding: Do they respect beneficiaries’ dignity and priorities?
- Systems strengthening: Are they building local capacity for long-term change?
Our grant to Sanku-PHC exemplifies this approach. The $250,000 for dosifier machines in Ethiopian mills wasn’t just about immediate nutrition impact. It was about an organization with a proven track record providing fortified flour to millions of people.
Real-World Impact: How Framework Meets Crisis
The proof of our approach lies in the outcomes. Since launching in February 2025, the Rapid Response Fund has raised over US$3.6 million and deployed US$1.6 million in funding across multiple high-impact interventions:
Preventing Child Deaths: Our $300,000 grant to GOAL 3 implements 150 vital signs monitors across Malawi hospitals.
Malaria Prevention at Scale: The $300,000 to Catholic Relief Services funds door-to-door antimalarial distribution to 40,000 children.
Nutrition Security: Through Sanku-PHC, we’re reaching millions with fortified flour, addressing the reality that a nutritious diet costs US$3.54 per day while people in extreme poverty live on US$2.15 per day.
Each grant reflects the same systematic approach we use for regular charity recommendations, adapted for urgent funding needs.
The Missing Dimensions: What Crisis Funding Often Overlooks
Our research identifies several poverty dimensions often missing from traditional crisis response: quality of work, empowerment, physical safety, social connectedness, and psychological well-being. The Rapid Response Fund explicitly considers these factors.
When we funded the International Rescue Committee’s Acute Child Malnutrition program, we weren’t just addressing immediate nutritional needs. We were supporting an approach that empowers local communities, builds social connections through community health networks, and provides psychological well-being through reduced family stress over child health.
Transparency in High-Stakes Decision Making
Crisis giving often happens behind closed doors, but we maintain the same transparency standards that guide our regular recommendations. Every grant is documented with clear impact metrics, cost-effectiveness ratios, and expected outcomes.
We’re doing our best to allocate resources in the most effective way possible, while acknowledging that crisis giving involves complex trade-offs and imperfect information. Our methodology continues to evolve as we learn from each response and gather more evidence about what works.
This transparency serves multiple purposes:
- Donor confidence: You know exactly how your donation creates impact
- Organizational accountability: Recipients know they’re held to measurable standards
- Sector learning: Other funders can see what evidence-based crisis giving looks like
- Continuous improvement: We can refine our approach based on documented results and ongoing evaluation
Multiplying the Impact
When organizations face sudden funding cuts, the human cost extends far beyond budget shortfalls. Families lose access to food assistance, students miss educational opportunities, and communities lose advocates who understand their needs.
Strategic support doesn’t just fill financial gaps. It helps organizations maintain operations, retain skilled staff, and position themselves for future funding recovery.
Without this support, experienced program directors leave, community relationships are severed, and vulnerable populations lose critical services. A US$100,000 grant during a crisis can prevent the loss of programs that cost millions to rebuild and years to restore trust with the communities they serve.
Why This Approach Matters Now More Than Ever
The current funding crisis isn’t just about money. It’s about preserving decades of evidence-based progress in global health and development. Programs being cut today represent years of research, community relationship building, and systems strengthening.
The human cost is immediate: trained health workers without resources to continue life-saving interventions, communities losing hard-won progress against disease, and vulnerable populations falling back into cycles of poverty and illness
Our framework ensures that rapid response funding doesn’t just address immediate needs, but protects long-term impact. When we fund HIV treatment in Zambia or malaria prevention in Angola, we’re not just responding to a crisis. We’re safeguarding sustainable progress against poverty’s multiple dimensions.
Your Role in Evidence-Based Crisis Response
When you donate to the Rapid Response Fund, you’re not just giving money. You’re participating in a systematic approach to maximizing impact during critical moments. Your donation undergoes the same rigorous evaluation process as our top charity recommendations, ensuring every dollar generates maximum benefit for the world’s most vulnerable populations.
The urgency of the crisis doesn’t mean abandoning evidence. It means applying evidence more strategically than ever.
Learn More: Curious about how your support makes a difference? Explore the stories of impacted communities, dive into the fund’s mission, and see the impact of your generosity. Visit The Rapid Response Fund page here.
Take Action Now: Join the fight against the global health crisis. Your donation can save lives and create lasting change today. Make a donation here, and be part of the solution.
