Why GiveDirectly switched to CommCare to support their Cash Transfer Programs

GiveDirectly is one of the world’s leading cash transfer organizations, pioneering unconditional cash assistance for people living in poverty. Operating across multiple countries with large field teams, GiveDirectly relies on technology that is secure, adaptable, and able to support high-volume, integrity-critical workflows.

The challenge: outgrowing a lightweight system

As GiveDirectly scaled programs across communities and countries, they ran up against the limits of their previous data collection tool, TaroWorks. Without an easy way to create a reusable library of questions, teams built new forms by copying older versions. This carried forward outdated patterns rather than embedding best practices into each new build.

Copying and heavily editing older forms was time-consuming, and without standardization across projects, the same questions were often asked in different ways, making downstream data analytics messy.

The solution: a supported migration to a more flexible architecture

GiveDirectly adopted CommCare as its global standard because it could support both scale and complexity while accelerating project delivery. Success came from two key drivers, a flexible platform and a deeply collaborative migration process, delivered through four critical areas.

The CommCare team worked closely with GiveDirectly to align the CommCare system to their operational model.

“We were looking for a new tool with good support from the product team. They gave us a lot of confidence that this is a very strong engineering team, and they’re available to provide support,” said Nikhil Swaminathan, Technical Program Manager at GiveDirectly.

“Given that we work with cash transfers, we’ve set up very granular permission structures. The onboarding calls helped us figure out how we could meet our permission standards within the CommCare ecosystem.”

CommCare introduced a far more streamlined way for GiveDirectly to build and adapt their forms.

“One of the biggest benefits is how CommCare allows us to streamline workflows by easily copying and reusing content across forms. Previously, we had to do this more manually, which limited our ability to unlock learnings across projects,” said Stella Luk, VP of Programs at GiveDirectly.

With TaroWorks, a form submission error could abruptly halt work in the field. With CommCare, submissions always go through, and any issues are routed directly to the tech team, so field staff can keep working without interruption. CommCare’s robust and flexible architecture also strengthens GiveDirectly’s internal processes.

“Secure API integrations are a huge win for our tech team, allowing us to seamlessly and securely connect CommCare with our many internal systems. These capabilities make CommCare a powerful tool for scaling our impact,” said Stella Luk, VP of Programs at GiveDirectly.

Cash transfer programs require rigorous data verification, including capturing GPS (Global Positioning System) coordinates to verify enrollment locations. While this is a standard anti-fraud measure, the reliability of the tool capturing that data is where CommCare shines. GiveDirectly found that CommCare was significantly faster and more stable in remote areas, removing the friction field officers faced with their previous tool.

“Our field officers are really loving CommCare because it’s a lot more of a seamless process for them. The time it takes to sync with the server is a lot less than what it used to take.”

Nikhil Swaminathan, Technical Program Manager at GiveDirectly

The results: operational efficiency at scale

Impact across teams

Thinking about a transition from TaroWorks or similar tools?

Many organizations using simpler tools like TaroWorks, ODK, SurveyCTO, or Kobo Toolbox eventually face the same inflection point GiveDirectly did: growing program complexity, more demanding data flows, and increasing pressure to launch faster.

Drawing on GiveDirectly’s migration experience, Dimagi created a practical guide to support organizations considering a similar move. The resource covers the TaroWorks to CommCare transition process.

If programs are expanding and tools aren’t keeping up, it may be time to explore a platform built for scale. To understand what that transition to CommCare could look like, reach out to the Dimagi team.

To see how GiveDirectly runs on CommCare today, including the impact on their teams and a podcast conversation with VP of Global Programs Stella Luk, visit the GiveDirectly partner spotlight.