Almost Basic

Dignity by Design. Progress on Purpose.

Community + Cash = Magic

Study after study has shown that unconditional cash transfers are among the most efficient ways to address poverty.
While we wait for big solutions like Universal Basic Income, we can make real progress right now—by unlocking generosity in the context of community.

Poverty Makes All of Us Poor

  • We hoard more than we really want to, afraid we might slip.

  • We stop encouraging our kids to dream, far sooner than we’d like.

  • We fear innovations that could make our jobs unnecessary.

  • We spend precious time micromanaging people who fall behind.

  • Our neighbors can’t bring their best ideas forward when they’re scrambling just to survive.

Cash transfers could ease each of these pressures. And the dignity of saying “I trust you” has a multiplying effect—its return on investment is huge, whether you’re giving or receiving.

Community is key

But if this works so well, why don’t we already do it?
Because we’re afraid:

  • We might be taken advantage of. The current system rewards those who game it best.

  • We might do more harm than good. People don’t always make the best decisions.

  • Dignity gets in the way. Pride keeps real needs from surfacing.

That’s where community steps in.

Strangers can game a system. Friends can’t.
People usually make wise choices when trusted with cash—but community adds wisdom, support, and feedback.
And within community, honesty becomes safe.

That’s our model: cash + community = magic.

Three Ways to Start

  1. The Gift Model — Outside In
    Outside donors give directly into trusted circles—neighborhoods, mutual aid groups, or support networks—where members know who’s struggling and decide together how to share.

  2. The Match Model — Partner Up
    Matching funds invite local groups to invest time and some dollars to test whether direct cash works better than traditional aid.

  3. The Sharing Model — Inside Out
    Simple infrastructure helps communities share their own resources like the early church did—“so that no one among them was in need.”

Almost Basic

Almost Basic is building the tools and partnerships to make these models work anywhere.
Cash transfers delivered with dignity, fueled by generosity, and extended through community can fill the gap our current systems leave behind.

We already have everything we need:

  • Abundance, too often hoarded or wasted on luxury and addiction.

  • Communities, spending time on the basics instead of deeper needs.

  • Human potential, locked away by poverty.

What’s missing is strategy and infrastructure—dignity by design, progress on purpose.

Let’s stop waiting.
Let’s stop overcomplicating.
Let’s build a better system—together.
Join us. Help unlock what’s Almost Basic.