UBI Programs

United States

The Bridge Project is a New York-founded nonprofit (spun out of The Monarch Foundation in 2022) that gives low-income pregnant women and new mothers unconditional, biweekly cash payments during pregnancy and their child's first 1,000+ days. In May 2023 it announced an expansion to Rochester, New York, offering new mothers $1,000/month for 18 months followed by $500/month for another 18 months (36 months total), with an initial cohort of about 100 mothers; it later also launched a separate, smaller Buffalo cohort. The organization is funded primarily through philanthropic sources, including The Monarch Foundation, and now operates in 14+ states. It pairs direct cash with research (in partnership with the University of Pennsylvania's Center for Guaranteed Income Research) and policy advocacy, including support for New York's proposed MILC Allowance.

United States

Bridge to Prosperity is a Massachusetts pilot program implemented by Springfield WORKS (an initiative of the Western Massachusetts Economic Development Council) to address the 'benefits cliff,' where modest wage increases cause working families to lose more in public benefits than they gain in pay. Authorized by the 2022 Massachusetts Economic Development Bill and funded with state (ARPA-origin) and private/philanthropic/corporate dollars, it provides tiered monthly cash bridge payments plus career and financial coaching to residents of Springfield, Worcester, and Boston who are advancing toward higher-wage jobs. UpTogether administers cash disbursements and coaching partners include United Way Pioneer Valley, Worcester Community Action Council, and Women's Money Matters. The Center for Social Policy at UMass Boston independently evaluates the pilot to inform future statewide safety-net policy.

United States

The Build HOPE Fund was a four-year initiative (2022-2026) run by Maine Equal Justice that provided flexible, need-based financial assistance of up to $2,000 per year to low-income parents enrolled in Maine's HOPE and Parents as Scholars postsecondary education programs. Funds helped cover unmet costs such as transportation, housing, utilities, child care and school supplies that could otherwise force parents to drop out. The project was funded by private philanthropic sources, including seed funding from leftover 2020 U.S. Senate campaign funds and support from the John T. Gorman Foundation. Over its life the fund distributed nearly $2.9-3 million to almost 1,800 families across all 16 Maine counties. Maine Equal Justice released a final evaluation report in March 2026, at which point the initiative concluded.

United States

Impact Charitable is a Denver-based nonprofit that designs, administers, and facilitates payment for guaranteed income and direct cash assistance programs nationwide, partnering with foundations, municipalities, and community organizations such as Gary Community Ventures. Seed data indicates Impact Charitable managed a program called "Build with Families" that provided 110 applicants with $199 monthly payments via prepaid debit cards from June 2022 to March 2023. Public web searches could not independently confirm a program by this exact name, though Impact Charitable is a verified, active operator of numerous similar guaranteed income pilots (e.g., Denver Basic Income Project) and is a known Usio prepaid card client. Funding source and partnership with Gary Community Ventures (a Denver-based philanthropic organization focused on family economic mobility) are plausible given documented collaboration between the two organizations, but could not be verified for this specific program.

United States

UpTogether partners with FORCE Detroit (a Community Violence Intervention organization incubated by Faith in Action) to invest directly in Detroit individuals and families who have been impacted by community violence. Participants receive $500 per month in unrestricted cash for six months to support peacemaking and trauma-reducing efforts. The initiative is privately funded and is one of several direct-cash pilots UpTogether operates across Michigan. UpTogether is a national nonprofit (formerly Family Independence Initiative) that provides unrestricted cash and trusts recipients to determine their own priorities.

United States

Provide students experiencing homelessness with direct cash assistance to support their transition out of high school and their access to employment and postsecondary education.

United States

California SOAR is a proposed state guaranteed income program that would give $1,000/month for four months (May-August 2026) to public high school seniors experiencing homelessness. It would be administered by CDSS, funded by a state General Fund appropriation, distributed through opt-in counties. The enabling bill, SB 33 (2025-26), required a legislative appropriation that was never made; on January 5, 2026, SB 33 was gutted and amended into unrelated public-contracts legislation, eliminating this vehicle. Two earlier versions (SB 1341 in 2022, SB 333 in 2023-24) also failed. As of this research, SOAR has not launched and no cash has been disbursed.

United States

Cambridge RISE was an 18-month guaranteed income pilot launched in September 2021 by then-Mayor Sumbul Siddiqui, the City of Cambridge, and the Cambridge Community Foundation, providing $500/month unconditional cash payments to 130 single-caregiver households with children. It was a randomized controlled trial (130 treatment, 156 control) executed by the Center for Guaranteed Income Research (CGIR) at the University of Pennsylvania, and affiliated with Mayors for a Guaranteed Income (MGI). The $1.6 million program was funded by a coalition of public and philanthropic/corporate donors including the City of Cambridge, Harvard University, MIT, The Boston Foundation, Biogen, and others. It concluded in March 2023 and directly informed the city's larger successor program, Rise Up Cambridge.

United States

Camp Harbor View (CHV), a Boston youth-development nonprofit best known for its free summer camp and Leadership Academy, runs a Guaranteed Income Program in partnership with distribution platform UpTogether. An original pilot (Aug 2021–Fall 2023) gave 50 lottery-selected CHV families $583/month unconditionally for 24 months, funded by over $750,000 from 107 private donors and evaluated by Blakely Consulting with an independently (UMass Boston) administered lottery and control group. A second, current phase (2024–July 2026) provides 38 families with a child enrolled in CHV's Leadership Academy $652.90/month for 28 months. The program pairs unconditional cash with optional financial-wellness workshops and biannual community convenings to help working Boston families move beyond the public-benefits cliff toward economic mobility. CHV describes it as among the largest privately funded guaranteed income initiatives in the U.S.

Guam

In April 2020, the Government of Guam used about $11 million in local General Fund money to send early one-time COVID-19 relief checks to roughly 6,800 of the island's lowest-income tax filers (2018 household income of $10,000 or less), ahead of the federal Economic Impact Payments those funds would later reimburse. Payments followed the federal EIP formula ($1,200 per individual filer, $2,400 for joint filers, plus $500 per qualifying dependent) and were mailed automatically to eligible 2018 tax filers with no separate application. The program was administered by the Guam Department of Revenue and Taxation under authority Governor Lou Leon Guerrero exercised to advance federal impact payments using local cash, with reimbursement expected once Guam's $134.8 million federal EIP allocation arrived. It was a one-time, short-lived bridge program distinct from Guam's broader federal Economic Impact Payment rollout and from the separate CARES-funded 'Prugraman Salappe Ayudon I Taotao' disaster aid program created by Executive Order 2020-12.

United States

CASH LA Cohort 1 was a 2025 pilot led by the AMAAD Institute, in partnership with Point Source Youth and LA Emissary, that gave about 100 young adults (ages 18-30) in Los Angeles County a one-time, flexible cash payment to prevent them from entering the homelessness system. Each participant worked with a trained provider to build a personalized 'Housing Action Plan,' and the payment amount was tailored to that plan rather than a fixed stipend. The pilot was funded through philanthropic and private support, including Cedars-Sinai, the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, and private donors, and is being evaluated by Johns Hopkins University. A separate later phase, CASH LA Cohort 2, is led by a different organization (Safe Place for Youth).

United States

CASH LA is a homelessness-prevention program for young adults in Los Angeles County who are at imminent risk of losing housing. Participants build a personalized Housing Action Plan with a trained provider and then receive a one-time, tailored cash payment to execute it, along with access to financial coaching. The program's second phase (referred to in seed data as Cohort 2) launched in 2026 and is led by Safe Place for Youth, following an initial 2025 phase led by the AMAAD Institute. It is funded by the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation and private donors, in partnership with Point Source Youth and LA Emissary.

Hong Kong

The Cash Payout Scheme was a one-time HK$10,000 (about US$1,290) universal cash payment announced in Hong Kong's 2020-21 Budget and administered by the HKSAR Government's Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau in partnership with 21 retail banks and Hongkong Post. It was funded entirely by the Hong Kong government to relieve residents' financial burden and stimulate consumer spending amid the 2019-2020 social unrest and the COVID-19 pandemic. Every Hong Kong permanent resident aged 18 or above by March 31, 2021, holding a valid Permanent Identity Card or Certificate of Exemption could register, regardless of income or need. By the time registration closed in December 2021, more than 6.5 million of an estimated 7 million eligible residents had been paid, at a total budgeted cost of roughly HK$71 billion.

Armenia

FAO's Cash+ pilot in Armenia paired the government's existing 'Family Living Standards Enhancement Benefits' cash transfer with agricultural inputs (a pregnant heifer or poultry plus raspberry seedlings) and training on agriculture, nutrition and financial literacy for 133 poor rural households (802 people) in the Lori and Shirak regions. It ran from November 2018 to March 2020 as part of the broader FAO project 'Developing Capacity for Strengthening Food Security and Nutrition in Selected Countries of the Caucasus and Central Asia' (2016-2021). The pilot was funded by the Russian Federation and implemented with Armenia's Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs and Ministry of Health. It aimed to improve food security, dietary diversity and resilience for vulnerable households already enrolled in the national social protection scheme.

United States

Cash with Care is a guaranteed income pilot launched by the New York City Council in partnership with Covenant House New York (CHNY) to support young people experiencing homelessness. Funded through a $1.5 million allocation in the City's Fiscal Year 2026 budget under Local Law 105 of 2023, it provides 60 participants ages 18-24 living in CHNY shelter and transitional housing programs with a monthly cash stipend plus a flexible lump-sum payment alongside wraparound services. Chapin Hall, a youth-homelessness policy research organization and CHNY's "Insight to Impact" partner, is conducting the accompanying evaluation, tracking outcomes such as permanent housing, food security, debt reduction, and long-term stability.

United States

CashRx is Bread for the City's first in-house guaranteed income program, providing DC medical/health clinic patients living with chronic health conditions (e.g., hypertension, uncontrolled diabetes, depression, anxiety) with monthly cash transfers as a "prescription for cash" to address negative social determinants of health. Participants themselves determine their monthly cash amount, typically $1,100-$1,400, with staff support via a needs worksheet. It launched in fall 2023 with an initial cohort of 5 patients and planned to add 5-10 more in 2024. The program is funded by private philanthropic sources, including the Greater Washington Community Foundation's Health Equity Fund and grants from the Diane & Norman Bernstein Foundation and Hartfield Foundation.

United States

Catapult's Guaranteed Basic Income Program provided $500 per month for 11 months (June 2023-April 2024) to 25 single mothers in Pittsburgh who had at least one child under age 5, aiming to reduce economic disparities for families living in poverty. It was run by Catapult Greater Pittsburgh in partnership with Pittsburgh Scholar House and Point Park University, with funds loaded onto MoCaFi prepaid debit cards with no restrictions on use. The pilot was funded by a $250,000 grant from the Early Childhood Funders Alliance at Grantmakers of Western Pennsylvania as part of a broader Prenatal to Three initiative in Allegheny County.

United States

Chelsea Eats was a guaranteed income pilot launched by the City of Chelsea, Massachusetts in fall 2020 in partnership with the Shah Family Foundation, United Way of Massachusetts Bay, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Beth Israel, funded by a mix of city funds, federal CARES Act dollars, and philanthropic contributions. It provided reloadable Visa debit cards worth $200-$400 per month (based on household size) to 2,213 low-income Chelsea households selected by weighted lottery from over 3,600 applicants. It was designed and evaluated by Harvard Kennedy School researcher Jeffrey Liebman and the Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston as a randomized controlled trial, becoming one of the largest guaranteed income RCTs conducted in the United States.

United States

The Chicago Future Fund Round 1 was a guaranteed income pilot run by Equity and Transformation (EAT), a Black-led Chicago nonprofit focused on economic equity for justice-impacted and informal-economy Black Chicagoans. It provided $500/month for 18 months to 30 previously incarcerated residents of West Garfield Park, distributed via the Fund for Guaranteed Income (F4GI). The pilot ran from approximately November 2021 through May 2023 and was funded through private/philanthropic sources. It was evaluated by Professor Nik Theodore of the University of Illinois Chicago's Great Cities Institute, with a final evaluation report dated November 2023. EAT is a member of the Guaranteed Income Community of Practice (GICP) network and later launched a second, larger round of the Chicago Future Fund.

United States

The Chicago Future Fund (Round 2) is a guaranteed income pilot founded and administered by Equity and Transformation (EAT), a Chicago nonprofit built by and for Black system-impacted residents. Round 2 provided 100 formerly incarcerated residents of Chicago's West Garfield Park neighborhood with $500 monthly unconditional cash payments for 12 months (March 2023-February 2024), expanding on EAT's initial 2022 pilot of 30 participants. Fund for Guaranteed Income (F4GI) served as the payments/implementation partner, and the program's evaluation was led by Professor Ashley Baber of Augsburg University. The program is described as privately/philanthropically funded; EAT also publicized an intended corporate partnership with FTX US announced in May 2022, though it is unconfirmed whether that funding materialized in Round 2 following FTX's collapse later that year. EAT's stated mission is to use guaranteed income to humanize poverty, reduce recidivism, and build a stronger, safer Chicago.

United States

The Chicago Resilient Communities Pilot was a $31.5 million guaranteed income program run by the City of Chicago's Department of Family and Support Services, providing $500 per month for 12 months, with no restrictions on spending, to 5,000 low-income Chicago households disproportionately affected by COVID-19. It was funded through the federal American Rescue Plan Act and administered by the nonprofit GiveDirectly. Recipients were chosen by lottery from over 176,000 applicants, with priority for households in deep poverty and communities hit hardest by the pandemic. The University of Chicago's Inclusive Economy Lab ran an accompanying research study. Payments ran from mid-2022 through mid-2023, and the effort was later succeeded by an expanded program called the Chicago Empowerment Fund.

Global (decentralized; no fixed HQ)

Circles is a decentralized, blockchain-based currency and basic-income protocol on Gnosis Chain in which every verified human account continuously mints 1 CRC per hour, with value made fungible through a peer-to-peer web of trust rather than a central issuer. It began with a Berlin pilot (2020-2024) run by the now-dissolved Circles Cooperative, and a smaller Bali, Indonesia pilot that remains active. The original protocol (v1) relaunched as "Circles v2" on Gnosis Chain in May 2025, adding group currencies, 7% annual demurrage, and the Metri smart wallet. CRC is not pegged to any fiat currency and functions more like a mutual-credit community currency than a conventional cash-transfer UBI.

Saudi Arabia

The Citizen's Account Program (Hisab Al-Muwaten) is a Saudi government direct cash transfer program that compensates eligible Saudi households for the financial impact of energy price reforms, VAT, and other fiscal adjustments made under Vision 2030's Fiscal Sustainability Program. Launched in December 2017 and supervised by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development, it deposits targeted monthly payments directly into beneficiaries' bank accounts, with amounts calculated from household income, size, and dependents' ages. The program is fully government-funded and, as of January 2026, provides support to more than 9.8 million Saudi citizens (roughly half the population), with total disbursements since inception exceeding SAR 265 billion.

United States

The City of Rochester Guaranteed Basic Income (GBI) Pilot Program was a 12-month, city government-funded cash assistance pilot that gave $500 monthly payments (totaling $6,000) to 351 low-income residents living at or below 185% of the federal poverty level in qualifying city census tracts. It was funded primarily through $2.2 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) dollars plus a small private donation, and was administered/enrolled by the Rochester Black Community Focus Fund, with M&T Bank providing free banking access and Notre Dame's Wilson Sheehan Lab for Economic Opportunities (LEO) conducting a randomized evaluation. Recipients were selected by lottery from more than 11,500 eligible applicants (out of 16,123 total applications) after a one-week application window in June 2023. Payments to two cohorts began in September and December 2023 respectively, and the pilot has since concluded. Mayor Malik Evans launched the initiative as part of the national Mayors for a Guaranteed Income (MGI) network.