ICM’s Research

Research Papers on Poverty Alleviation in the Philippines and Beyond

Our world-class research team is a leading global voice on the measurement and evaluation of ultra-poverty intervention.

Commitment to Effectiveness Means Dedication to Data

We are committed to the rigorous measurement of our programs. Tracking everything that happens on the ground, our objective is to achieve the greatest impact for the least cost, to bring lasting change to the ultra-poor in the Philippines and beyond.

At ICM, we ask ourselves the hard questions by examining the countable, measurable impact of our work. A combination of pre-post surveys, randomized controlled trials, operational data, and qualitative surveys compound to inform a cycle of continuous innovation and improvement.

“ICM’s dedication to evidence and transparency means their work is not just helping the direct recipients in their programs, but ultra-poor people in other parts of the Philippines, other parts of Asia, and other parts of the world.”

Dean Karlan
Professor of Economics and Finance, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University and Co-Founder of Innovations for Poverty Action

“Few things cooler than visiting with micro faith driven entrepreneurs among the ultra-poor in Cebu. ICM’s commitment to working with the ultra-poor and doing so at scale is an amazing encouragement.”

Henry Kaestner
Sovereign’s Capital & Faith Driven Investor Founder

“Among the Christian development charities, ICM stands out for its unparalleled dedication to rigorous evidence and openness regarding its outcomes. We are pleased to designate ICM as the top ‘Christian standout’ charity tackling poverty today. Ultimately, ICM is an outstanding option for donors seeking confidence that their donations have a meaningful impact on those in extreme poverty. If I could only donate in 2024 to one Christian anti-poverty charity, ICM would be it.”

JD Bauman
Director, Effective Altruism for Christians

“I love the way everything is structured so well at ICM. And so now, to start to export that to other parts of the world and hopefully embed into those local communities also, makes me feel I want to do more, because I feel I’m able to touch multiple parts of the world.”

Jim Schumacher
Retired Partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers

In partnership with the Global Innovation Fund

Transform Innovation Lab

In partnership with the Global Innovation Fund, ICM is designing and undertaking an ambitious five-year research project to innovate, scale, and rigorously test new approaches to poverty alleviation. In this way, International Care Ministries can better understand how to provide better and more consistent and scalable outcomes for the ultra-poor communities we serve.

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Read our research about what life is like on less than 50 cents per day.

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Our Research

Research

Small Cash Transfers and Alumni Support Study (Working Paper)

11 September 2025
The development sector has utilized various approaches to address poverty, including microfinance and conditional and unconditional cash transfers (United Nations, 2009), yet these interventions often lack comprehensive scope.
Research

Accumulating Human Capital: The Role of Parents

26 September 2023
Results from a Randomized Evaluation of ICM’s Family Academy educational program show positive effects on children’s Math and Phonics for a relatively low-cost.
Research

MERL in the Time of COVID-19: Four Case Studies

15 July 2020
Accord Network organizations are facing many new challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This has required rapid adaptation in many areas, including in monitoring, evaluation, research, and learning (MERL).
Research

Exploring trust in religious leaders and institutions as a mechanism for improving retention in child malnutrition interventions in the Philippines: a retrospective cohort study

15 July 2020
In the context of persistent child malnutrition in the Philippines, the objective of this study was to examine how different dimensions of trust affected programme retention and physiological outcomes when a faith-based organisation (FBO) addressed moderate and severe acute malnutrition among children from households experiencing extreme poverty.

Join Our Team. Are you a researcher, PhD candidate, or analyst? We are looking for talented, dedicated people to join our team full-time or for academic research projects. And we are open-source; if you think our research could help you, get in touch.

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