Step 1: Learn the facts. Learn the facts. Health problems are major impediments to development; each year, complications during pregnancy and childbirth kill 300,000 mothers in developing countries, for example, and malaria infects hundreds of millions of people. But even small donations can make a big impact — roughly $10 buys a mosquito net that protects a sleeping site for 5 years, while $35 supports a midwife for a week in sub-Saharan Africa, allowing women to receive vital medical care.

Another crucial challenge to reducing poverty is to increase food production while protecting and rehabilitating the environment. Make a contribution to further this goal: just $20 can plant 10 seedlings in a community, while $30 can help to purchase fertilizer for smallholder farming.

Education and gender equality are critical to ending poverty, but over 100 million children lack a primary school education and 3/4 of the world’s 800 million illiterate adults are women. Help reduce these statistics: $40 can cover a student’s secondary school education for a month in sub-Saharan Africa, and $50 provides a child’s school meals for a year, helping to promote school attendance.

Enhanced infrastructure — better roads, cleaner water, improved sanitation, and expanded access to electrical grids and information and communication technologies — also fosters development. Get involved and help improve the life of family — as little as $20 can purchase an energy-efficient cookstove, and $40 can provide a lantern for a home that does not have electrical lighting.