WE ALL KNOW WHERE WE'RE HEADED:

GiveDirectly -- a charity that pioneered the practice of sending money to people in poverty, no strings attached -- recently announced it sent $1,000 each to more than 178,000 U.S. households in need during the pandemic, with plans to reach another 20,000 over the next few months.

GiveDirectly works with Propel -- a company that provides software that helps Americans digitally manage food stamps and other benefits -- to identify households in need and quickly send out money.

The direct cash giving model's greatest advantage is its "exceptional efficiency," says Alex Nawar, GiveDirectly's U.S. director, who estimates that 98-99 cents of every dollar donated to the charity goes directly to giving, with little required for overhead.

Between the lines: GiveDirectly's program, as successful as it was, is a drop in the bucket compared to the billions in direct stimulus checks and expanded jobless benefits from the federal government that have flowed to Americans during the pandemic.

That aid -- much of it cash -- not only prevented much of the massive economic pain Americans could have suffered during the pandemic, but it actually helped reduce the U.S. poverty rate in 2020.

But what both private philanthropy and government aid demonstrate is the power of rapidly distributed cash to shield the needy from catastrophe and actually lift people out of poverty.

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