Any person who makes an investment — in a start-up business, in a retirement fund, or in a program aimed at ending extreme poverty — wants and needs to know whether that investment has been a good one. Being accountable for wisely spending the investor’s money according to a plan is good. Being accountable for impacts and results is even better.
In this newsletter, I am delighted to provide you, our philanthropic “investors”, with a summary report on THRIVE’s return on investment.
Unlike most investments, THRIVE’s payout is not to the people who have put the cash in — at least not in this life. Rather, the investment return is improved economic well-being in the lives of the people we are serving. That is, people who are living in extreme poverty.
I am delighted to report that THRIVE has had a 667% benefit to program participants. That is, every $1.00 “invested” has resulted in $6.67 in improved economic well-being for the families in the program. That is an exceptionally positive result!
You will also find a very brief summary of and link to our THRIVE 2030 annual report. THRIVE is continuing to roll out to 30 times as many people than the original THRIVE program: By 2030, we will equip everyone, everywhere we work in 11 countries — at least 10 million people* — with access to the tools they need to lift themselves out of extreme poverty.
I like how we are starting 2025!
*Reach will require additional support from other sources such as public grants, gifts-in-kind, field offices, and other funding sources.
World Vision’s THRIVE value for money results
Each of World Vision’s five original THRIVE programs were evaluated by TANGO International for impact and effectiveness. In 2024, World Vision hired Limestone Analytics to undertake a synthesis analysis of these evaluations and also to provide an evaluation of THRIVE’s return on investment, or value for money.
Limestone Analytics’s review of World Vision’s THRIVE program shows that THRIVE yielded a very strong Benefit-Cost Ratio of 6.67 to 1.00, and better value for money than comparable programs in the agriculture and livelihoods space.
Other key findings include:
THRIVE offered better value for money than comparable projects. THRIVE’s Benefit–Cost Ratio (BCR) ranged from 4.5 (Rwanda) to 10.54 (Malawi). In contrast, BCRs for comparison projects in Malawi ranged from 1.20 to 3.30.
The most significant benefit of THRIVE is its effect on participating families’ income, accounting for 55% of the estimated benefits. The impact on the resilience of household income is the second largest benefit, accounting for approximately 44% of the program’s benefits.
On average, a household participating in THRIVE experienced a $3,375 economic gain from income growth and livelihood stability.
Figure 1 shows the BCR for each country and the portfolio’s overall BCR. The BCRs for individual country projects across the five countries are all substantially greater than 1, indicating a strong positive return for THRIVE in each country.
Malawi was the most cost-effective implementation, returning $10.54 in benefits for every dollar in costs. Rwanda has the lowest BCR at $4.15. Differences in BCR across the countries are explained mainly by differences in income change over time and between THRIVE and non-THRIVE households, as well as costs per participant. Malawi’s BCR is higher partly because of the highest percentage increases in many economic indicators, including income.
Furthermore, the findings suggest that combining elements such as Biblical Empowered Worldview, savings groups with locally adapted agriculture, Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration, and livelihood diversification into a single program provides greater cost-effectiveness than the individual components on their own. The findings also suggest that THRIVE offers outstanding value for money compared to other economic empowerment programs.
Fiscal year 2024 annual report for THRIVE 2030
World Vision has just completed year two of our eight-year THRIVE 2030 business plan. Our first year laid a solid foundation, and with the second year behind us we are now accelerating and achieving the scale we are aiming for. We are moving into the heart of THRIVE programming, using the knowledge gained during household registration to refine our plans.
Please clickHEREto access the full THRIVE 2030 annual report.
We are now implementing our core activities in all 11 countries:
Biblical Empowered Worldview training (BEWV)
Savings groups (SGs)
Market knowledge and access (MKA)
Loans to savings groups (FAST)
Knowing that THRIVE 2030 is 30 times larger than our original THRIVE program, our performance in 2024 is exactly what we expected. Some countries are doing better than expected, and some are having challenges meeting our ambitious targets. Our savings groups certainly seem to be saving significantly more money than we originally expected. One very interesting learning is that in the household registration process, we found family sizes to be smaller than the expert-published data.
While staff have been working hard, our focus on vulnerable communities means we will encounter weather, market, and political challenges. The El Niño weather event brought both droughts (Malawi and Zambia) and floods (combined with cholera in Tanzania) to Africa. Political disturbances temporarily disrupted our training in Guatemala and Ghana. This is why THRIVE aims to build both improved and resilient livelihoods. We equip the people with whom we work to prepare for and recover from shocks and disasters, whatever their nature.
THRIVE 2030 is working. The roll-out is proceeding well and THRIVE is resulting in huge changes for the families involved.
Join us in prayer
Praise God for the impact of THRIVE on families living in extreme poverty with the news from our externalevaluator, Limestone Analytics, which has reported that every $1.00 invested in THRIVE resulted in $6.67 in economic benefit to the program participants.
Praise God for World Vision donors’ quick response to support church partners in the Los Angeles area in responding to the devastating wildfires. Please continue to pray with us for the long road of recovery for those who were affected.
Pray for wisdom and guidance for World Vision as we navigate the recent U.S. government decisions to pause foreign assistance.
Thank you for uniting with us in prayer and for your faithful partnership!
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