Money is fungible or, a dollar is a dollar. We know with near certainty that 1600 dollars will save one life if spent on the best mosquito bednet charity. It may be the case that Charter Cities can and will lift millions out of poverty. It seems a plausible idea. If it is true the faster it happens the better. I'm fairly confident they have much less money than they'd like so they can productively put any donation to work.

Really, it's a choice between the near certainty of saving a life and the possibility that one could save many more. It beats donating to the Society for Curing Rare Diseases in Cute Puppies.