Our Partners
The World's Most Effective Development Programs Are Known but Underused — Our Mission is to Change This.
We know that Smart Buys—interventions like structured pedagogy, immunization programs, and improved seed varieties—have demonstrated exceptional cost-effectiveness through rigorous scientific evaluation. When properly contextualized, they can improve the lives of millions.
At the same time, development cooperation faces a perfect storm of shrinking budgets, competing priorities, and growing skepticism about effectiveness. While agencies are in need of strong justification for funding, creating high-quality evidence reviews of what works is resource-intensive, leading to costly duplication.
The Smart Buys Alliance addresses this by pooling resources across leading evidence organizations and bilateral donors to generate comprehensive, authoritative Smart Buys lists as a public good—while facilitating co-financing matches and providing implementation support to ensure adoption based on different contexts.
What the Smart Buys Alliance offers
COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE ON COST-EFFECTIVENESS
The SBA hosts a community of practice for state agency staff for peer-to-peer learning, fostering exchanges on and creating momentum for the adaptation of Smart Buys.
EVIDENCE CURATION
The SBA aims to establish new Smart Buys lists as public goods—either by updating and harmonizing existing yet unpublished lists or by developing entirely new lists on topics of shared interest. These comprehensive Smart Buy Lists serve as authoritative public resources for evidence-based decision-making.
IMPLEMENTATION
The Alliance facilitates strategic matches between development agencies, NGOs, multilaterals and philanthropies for co-financing Smart Buys.
The alliance also offers tailored implementation consultancies that help donor units integrate Smart Buys into their processes.
Our Partners