Frequently asked questions

Our board is responsible for financial oversight and the strategic direction of the organisation: Izzy Obeng, Lynne Egwuekwe, Anne-Caroline Midy and Jermaine Craig, who founded Kwanda.

You can read their profiles, check our directorship and filings on Companies House, or read our constitution, which sets out how we are governed.

In the US, yes. Kwanda Inc is a registered 501(c)(3) public charity, with US tax identification number (EIN) 41-2766953.

It's different in the UK, where Kwanda Ltd is a non-profit company limited by guarantee, not a registered charity. Its company number is 12378728.

Both organisations exist to support Kwanda's mission, rather than pay profits to shareholders. You can check our UK company record and Every.org profile.

We fund things that local organisations can keep using for years, such as equipment, water systems and buildings. We work with organisations that already have experience serving their communities.

Villagers have backed projects across Africa and the Caribbean. You can explore the projects to see where that funding has gone.

Some of our older projects met urgent needs, but our focus now is on things that keep working after the grant ends. Our funding criteria explain what we're looking for.

It depends on how you give, as well as your own tax position.

If you join as a villager, your monthly contribution goes to Kwanda Ltd in the UK. These payments don't qualify as US charitable tax-deductible gifts, and we can't claim UK Gift Aid on them.

If you give through Every.org, your gift can qualify for a US charitable tax deduction, whether you give once or regularly. Every.org provides the receipt, but giving this way doesn't create a villager account.

If you're unsure what you can claim, it's best to check with a tax adviser.

You can follow the money in our public ledger, which records income and spending. To see what's happening with the work itself, visit the project pages or read our latest report.

Before funding a project, we agree with the partner what to track. That might be how many people use a service, whether equipment is being used or how much income it earns.

The ledger shows when money was sent, while project updates explain what happened next. Those updates come from partner reports, so they aren't a live view of the work.

Some of it pays for running Kwanda, including the team, tools and payment costs. These costs come from the same shared pool as project funding, and the split changes over time rather than being a fixed percentage of each contribution.

You can see what we spend in the public ledger. Our fixed-costs page also lists regular running costs, though it doesn't cover every expense.

As an active villager, you have the same say as everyone else, however much you contribute.

Each proposal explains the plan, the budget and when voting closes. Once you've read it, sign in to cast your vote. You can vote once on each proposal and see the results on its page.

When a proposal passes, that approves the funding. The money still needs to be sent and the work carried out.

Before asking villagers to vote, we look closely at the organisation, what it wants to do, what it will cost and its experience doing similar work.

There are six things we're looking for:

• Something that lasts.

• A clear benefit to people on low incomes.

• A way to cover running costs after our funding ends.

• Useful results, such as care, water or income.

• People who can manage and maintain it.

• Experience doing the work.

The local organisation leads the project. You can read more about how we assess it in our funding criteria.

Yes, you can use the suggestion box on your villager dashboard to tell us about a project and why you think it's a good fit for Kwanda.

Suggesting a project doesn't guarantee funding. It still needs to meet our funding criteria and pass a villager vote.

Your monthly contribution joins everyone else's in a shared pool, so you can't reserve it for a particular project or country.

You do have a say in which proposals receive funding: you vote alongside the other villagers, with the same voting power however much you give.

That shared pool also pays for the work needed to run Kwanda.

We work through the problem with the partner to understand what's happened and what needs to change. That might mean adjusting the plan, stopping further funding or asking for unused funds to be returned.

Once we've confirmed what's happened, we explain the setback and next steps in project updates. We can't promise that every project will succeed or that we'll be able to recover all the money.

Yes, you don't have to become a villager to support the work. You'll find the options on our Ways to give page.

Joining as a villager means contributing monthly through Kwanda and having a vote on project proposals. Those regular contributions help us plan funding and running costs.

If you give through Every.org instead, you won't get a villager account or a vote, even if you choose to give monthly.

You can join from £5, US$5 or €5 a month and choose an amount that works for you. We call our members villagers, and you'll see which currency applies before you pay.

There's no minimum term, so you can change your amount or cancel whenever you need to.

If you want to stop, open your dashboard, choose Account, then Close account. This cancels your subscription and closes your membership, but you can rejoin later.

Business accounts have a different minimum.

Yes, if you're billed in the UK and Direct Debit is offered at checkout. You can select it there when you set up your contribution.

We currently use card payments in other billing regions. You'll see the options available to you before confirming your contribution.

Yes, we'd like to hear what you could help with. Email team@kwanda.co with a little about your skills and how much time you have available.

Before anything starts, we need to agree on the work, the time involved and any payment. This is separate from joining as a villager, which still requires a monthly contribution.

1. Go to Sign in and enter the email address you used to join.

2. Enter your password, or leave it blank and choose Send sign-in link.

3. If you requested a link, check your inbox and spam folder. You can also reset your password.

If you're still stuck, email support@kwanda.co and tell us what's happening, without sharing your password.