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How TraceGiving works

Give to one real person. Follow exactly what happens.

TraceGiving lets you choose a specific, verified person living in poverty, fund their plan, and then watch it unfold — the day your gift is delivered, what they buy with it, and how their life has changed a year later. Not a cause. A person, with a name and a face, whose story you get to follow.

The promise is simple: you see where your money goes.

The journey

A gift you can follow, from your hands to theirs.

Every recipient moves through the same steps — the same ones you’ll see on their profile page. Here is the whole path.

Step 1 · Verification

Verified in person

Before anyone appears on TraceGiving, a local field officer meets them at their home. They confirm who the person is, the situation they live in, and the specific plan they have to change it — and they document all of it with a short film and a written report you can read. Real people, met face-to-face. This is our anti-fraud anchor, and it’s the whole reason you can trust the rest.
Step 2 · You choose & fund

You choose someone and fund their goal

Browse real, verified profiles and pick the person or family whose plan you want to back. Each one has a funding goal — the cost of the exact plan the field officer verified (say, €310 for two dairy goats, an irrigation pump and a season of seed). You can give any amount toward that goal; when it’s met, delivery begins. Not sure who to choose? Let us match you with someone in genuine need, or give to the shared fund for those in greatest need.
Step 3 · Delivery

Delivered in person, and recorded

Once the goal is met, our field team delivers the funds in person and stays with the recipient while they make each purchase — recording it as it happens. Nothing is wired into the dark. The hand-over is dated and logged, so there’s a record tying your gift to the moment it arrived.
Step 4 · A few weeks later

You see exactly what they bought

A few weeks after delivery, you get an update — a short video and a note — showing precisely what your gift became. The goats, the pump, the seed in the ground. This is the moment the model is built for: your money, made visible.
Step 5 · About a year on

You see the long-term impact

We return to each person about a year later and ask a simple question: what changed? You’ll see their own update on how the plan played out — a harvest sold, school fees paid, an income that lasts — in their words, not ours. Honestly, and whatever the outcome.
Optional · If you both wish

Connect, if you both want to

When the recipient is an adult with a phone, and only if both of you choose to, you can exchange moderated messages and stay in touch over time. It’s always optional, always moderated, and never required to give.
Where your money goes

95% reaches your recipient. We keep 5%. Here’s exactly why.

We won’t tell you there’s “no overhead” or that “100% goes to the cause” — that’s never quite true, and you’d be right to be sceptical of anyone who claims it. Here is the real arrangement, stated plainly.

95%
5%
95% — reaches your recipient 5% — our transparent fee

What the 5% actually buys

That 5% is what makes the whole model trustworthy. It pays for the in-person verification and field work — the field officer who travels to each home, confirms the situation, records the report, and returns to deliver the funds and capture the updates you see. It also covers secure payment processing and running the platform. Without that work, there would be no way to prove your gift did what it was meant to. The verification is the product.

You give to a non-profit, not a person

Your gift goes to TraceGiving, a Belgian non-profit (ASBL) — that’s what makes it a charitable donation rather than a private money transfer, and it’s why it may be tax-deductible. At checkout you can also choose to add the 5% on top, so the full amount you intended reaches your recipient.

And if this changes, we’ll say so

We’re early, and the model may evolve as TraceGiving grows — the fee, the mechanics, the regions. Whatever changes, we’ll always tell you what it is and why. Transparency isn’t a feature here; it’s the whole point.

Trust & safeguarding

How we prevent fraud and protect the people you support

The obvious question about direct giving is: how do I know this is real? Here’s how we answer it — and how we protect the dignity of the people who trust us with their stories.

Verified in person

Everyone is met face-to-face at home by a local field officer who confirms they are genuinely who and where they say. We don’t publish the exact methods we use to check this — that’s deliberate, to keep them effective — but no one appears here on the strength of a form alone.

Privacy & dignity, by default

We show regions, not precise locations — you’ll see “Tamil Nadu”, never an address. Every story is shared with the person’s informed consent, and we take extra care with anyone vulnerable. People appear here as capable individuals with a plan, never as objects of pity.

The updates are the proof

Because delivery is recorded in person and followed by dated updates — what was bought, then what changed a year on — your gift is tied to a specific, documented outcome. If something doesn’t add up, the trail shows it. That accountability runs both ways.

The honest trade-off

Who we help, and the honest reason why

Here is a choice we’d rather tell you about than hide. The people on TraceGiving are genuinely poor — below the international poverty line — but they are not always the very poorest people on earth. That’s deliberate; finding and reaching those people costs much more. A personal connection, a name and a face you can follow, moves people to give far more than an anonymous appeal ever could. More total generosity means more families reached. We think that trade is worth making — openly.

This makes TraceGiving a complement to other kinds of giving, not a replacement — and certainly not “better”. If you want your gift to reach those in the deepest need, our shared fund prioritises exactly them, verified and traced the same way.

Give with your heart here. Give with your head too.

We’ll say this plainly, because honesty is the point: if your goal is the most lives improved per euro, the evidence points to a handful of highly effective charities working on things like malaria prevention. TraceGiving offers something different — a real relationship and radical transparency. The best answer is often both. We’d rather be the honest option than the only one you consider.

Who & where

The people you’ll meet, and where they live

We’re starting in Tamil Nadu, in southern India, and expanding across Northeast India from there. We work region by region so that a real field team can meet every recipient in person — that’s the constraint that keeps the model honest.

The people you’ll meet are farmers, parents, small traders — capable people facing a solvable obstacle. Most are working toward a productive asset that creates lasting income: dairy goats, an irrigation pump, a sewing machine, a market stall. They’re not waiting to be rescued. They have a plan, and they’re asking for the means to carry it out.

Common questions

The questions donors actually ask

Is my donation tax-deductible?
You give to TraceGiving, a Belgian non-profit (ASBL), so your gift may be eligible for a Belgian tax receipt. Whether you can deduct it depends on your own country and situation, so check locally — but the charitable structure is what makes it possible.
Can I really talk to the person I support?
Often, yes — if they’re an adult with a phone and you both choose to. You can exchange moderated messages and follow their progress over time. It’s always optional on both sides, and never a condition of giving.
What if a recipient isn’t fully funded?
You can give any amount toward someone’s goal; delivery happens once the goal is met. Choosing a specific recipient is a preference, not a binding instruction — we honour it wherever we can, but if a goal stalls or a situation changes, we may direct your gift to someone else in genuine need. We’ll always tell you if we do.
What if something goes wrong, or their situation changes?
Life is not a straight line, and we won’t pretend otherwise. If circumstances change, we tell you honestly in the updates — including when a plan didn’t go as hoped. The in-person verification and recorded delivery are there precisely to catch problems early and keep everyone accountable.
Is my payment secure?
Yes. Payments are handled by an established, secure payment processor — we never see or store your card details.
Can I give monthly?
Yes, and monthly giving is the heart of TraceGiving. It lets us plan and support people steadily over time; disbursements to the field happen roughly quarterly.
Who runs TraceGiving?
TraceGiving is a Belgian non-profit (ASBL) based in Brussels, working with local field officers in the regions where recipients live. If you ever want to know more about the team or our finances, just ask — that’s rather the point.

Choose someone today.

Pick a real, verified person, see your gift delivered, and follow what it makes possible — one life at a time. Or give to the shared fund and reach those in greatest need.