This startup is helping cities and nonprofits deliver ‘direct cash with dignity’

AidKit is one of the winners of Fast Company’s 2023 World Changing Ideas Awards. Explore the full list of projects we’re honoring for making the world more equitable, accessible, and sustainable.



Once merely a fanciful policy idea, there is now a guaranteed income pilot program in nearly every major city across the country. But these tests need to run smoothly, from selecting recipients to distributing cash in a timely and consistent manner.



They need a “tech backbone,” like the platform provided by AidKit, says Brittany Christenson, director of partnerships and program development at the startup. This tech platform is the winner of Fast Company’s World Changing Ideas Award in the On the Rise category.



AidKit evolved during the height of the pandemic, when direct cash suddenly surged in the form of stimulus checks. Nonprofit Impact Charitable dispersed $38 million to undocumented immigrants, a group that had been notably excluded. “It became clear that there wasn’t a product on the market that was leveraging the best modern technology to make it efficient to disperse aid at scale,” Christenson says. In 2021, AidKit spun off as a stand-alone company to address that gap.



Previously, local governments and organizations had to deal with outdated systems, disparate tools, and manual processes. The social sector wasn’t benefiting from tech advancements seen in other industries. AidKit’s philosophy was “Let’s bring the superpowers of Silicon Valley to the social sector,” Christenson says.



That’s vital as programs get more popular and more people apply than there is cash available, requiring identifying and selecting recipients equitably, so it’s not just “the people who are really good at doing paperwork” getting all the relief, Christenson says. It’s a key part of providing what AidKit calls a “dignified” experience, which includes offering multilingual applications and payments via prepaid debit cards rather than direct deposit for unbanked individuals.



To date, AidKit has dispersed more than $130 million in direct cash aid, and has joined with 140 partners. Last year, it teamed up for income pilots with groups like In Her Hands, for Black women in Georgia (in collaboration with GiveDirectly) and the Denver Basic Income Project, the largest U.S. pilot for unhoused people (with Impact Charitable). In April, it partnered with Jewish Family Services of San Diego for a first-of-its-kind pilot for families referred by the Child Welfare Services Department.



Many of these organizations have a shared goal: to make guaranteed income national and more permanent. If that were to happen, AidKit has demonstrated its high-volume capacity, having processed 100,000 applications and transferred more than $16,000 in a single day. “What sets us apart is our ability to be super-effective at scale,” Christenson says, “while not compromising the dignity element.”