By Mike Savage

Every day, nearly 700 million people worldwide live in extreme poverty, surviving on less than $2.15 per day. The scale of this crisis can feel overwhelming, leaving many of us wondering what difference one person can possibly make. 

Yet the truth is that ordinary citizens hold extraordinary power to create change. You don’t need vast wealth or political influence to help lift communities out of poverty—you need awareness, intention, and a willingness to act.

After years of working directly with impoverished communities like my Honduras Foundation, I’ve witnessed how individual actions, when multiplied across thousands of caring people, can transform lives and reshape futures. 

Here’s how you can become part of the solution.

Rethink Your Consumer Choices

Every purchase you make is a vote for the kind of world you want to live in. By choosing fair trade products—coffee, chocolate, clothing, handicrafts—you ensure that producers in developing countries receive fair wages and work in safe conditions. 

These small price premiums create ripples that extend far beyond the individual transaction, funding education for children, healthcare for families, and sustainable farming practices that break cycles of poverty.

Similarly, supporting social enterprises and businesses that employ marginalized communities directly channels your spending power toward economic empowerment. That handmade scarf or artisan soap isn’t just a purchase; it’s someone’s path to financial independence.

Give Strategically, Not Just Generously

Charitable giving remains one of the most direct ways to fight poverty, but impact matters as much as intention. Research organizations before donating. Look for charities with strong track records, transparent financials, and evidence-based approaches. 

Resources like GiveWell provide rigorous, independent analysis of nonprofit effectiveness, helping you identify organizations that deliver the most impact per dollar donated.

Organizations like GiveDirectly, which provides unconditional cash transfers to people in poverty, have demonstrated remarkable effectiveness by trusting recipients to know what they need most. Consider recurring monthly donations rather than one-time gifts. 

Predictable funding allows organizations to plan long-term programs and invest in sustainable solutions rather than emergency responses. Even modest monthly contributions—$10, $25, $50—become powerful tools for change when maintained consistently.

Share Your Skills and Knowledge

Your professional expertise is valuable currency in the fight against poverty. Many nonprofits desperately need pro bono assistance with marketing, legal work, accounting, web design, and strategic planning. 

Platforms like Catchafire and Taproot connect skilled volunteers with organizations that need them.

If you have experience in education, consider online tutoring or mentoring programs that connect you with students in underserved communities. Your guidance could help someone develop skills that open doors to economic opportunity.

Advocate and Amplify

Use your voice and your vote. Contact elected representatives about policies that affect global poverty: foreign aid budgets, fair trade agreements, immigration reform, and international development initiatives. Decision-makers respond to constituent pressure, and your advocacy helps ensure that poverty alleviation remains a policy priority.

On a personal level, help combat the stigma and misconceptions surrounding poverty. Challenge stereotypes when you encounter them. Share stories and statistics that humanize poverty and demonstrate that it results from systemic barriers, not personal failings. 

The World Bank’s Poverty and Shared Prosperity report offers comprehensive data and insights that can inform your conversations and advocacy efforts. Education creates empathy, and empathy drives action.

Invest in Education

Education is the most powerful weapon against intergenerational poverty. Organizations that build schools, provide scholarships, and supply educational materials create opportunities that echo through generations. 

When you sponsor a child’s education, you’re not just helping one student—you’re investing in a future teacher, healthcare worker, entrepreneur, or community leader who will lift others alongside them.

Online platforms now make it easy to fund specific educational projects: classroom libraries, science labs, teacher training programs. You can even connect directly with teachers and students, seeing exactly how your contribution makes a difference.

Support Microfinance and Economic Development

Microloans—small loans that help people start or expand businesses—have proven remarkably effective at creating economic opportunity. Platforms like Kiva allow you to lend as little as $25 to entrepreneurs in developing countries. As borrowers repay these loans (which they do at rates exceeding 95%), you can reinvest that money in another entrepreneur, creating a perpetual cycle of empowerment.

Practice Conscious Minimalism

Before buying something new, ask yourself if you truly need it. The resources you save by avoiding unnecessary consumption can be redirected toward causes that matter. 

This isn’t about deprivation; it’s about intentionality. When we distinguish between wants and needs in our own lives, we become more mindful about ensuring others’ needs are met.

Donate quality items you no longer use rather than discarding them. Clothing, furniture, books, and electronics can find new purpose while supporting organizations that employ and assist people experiencing poverty.

Build Relationships, Not Just Transactions

If possible, engage directly with communities facing poverty, whether locally or abroad through responsible volunteer tourism. Listen to people’s stories. Understand their challenges and aspirations. This personal connection transforms abstract statistics into human realities and often reveals how we can help most effectively.

Locally, this might mean volunteering at a food bank, homeless shelter, or literacy program. These experiences not only provide immediate assistance but also deepen your understanding of poverty’s complexities and inform how you can contribute more meaningfully.

Stay Informed About Global Progress

Understanding where we stand in the fight against poverty helps maintain momentum and identify where help is needed most. The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals provide a comprehensive framework for tracking global progress on poverty reduction and related challenges. Goal 1 specifically addresses ending poverty in all its forms everywhere, offering data, targets, and actionable strategies that can guide your own efforts.

Remember: Perfect Isn’t the Goal, Progress Is

You don’t need to do everything on this list. Even choosing one or two actions and committing to them consistently creates meaningful impact. The fight against poverty isn’t won by heroes making grand gestures; it’s won by millions of ordinary people making thoughtful choices, day after day.

We each have different resources—time, money, skills, networks—and the most important thing is to offer what you can. Some seasons of life allow for greater giving; others require us to focus on our own stability. That’s okay. Sustainable advocacy requires balance, not burnout.

The most devastating thing about poverty isn’t that it exists—it’s that we have the collective resources to end it but haven’t yet found the collective will. 

Every action you take strengthens that will. Every conversation you start changes someone’s perspective. Every dollar you direct toward effective solutions brings us closer to a world where everyone has genuine opportunity.

Your contribution matters. Your voice matters. You matter in this fight.

The question isn’t whether you can make a difference. It’s simply: what will your difference be?

ABOUT MIKE SAVAGE 

Michael Savage of New Canaan, CT is the Founder of 1-800Accountant that helps businesses with their accounting services and needs through cutting-edge technology and customer support.