Check out Global Agents for Change

On May 31st, more than 20 people will ride their bikes 3,000km from Vancouver to Tijuana, Mexico to raise money and awareness for entrepreneurs in developing countries.

Agents of Change, a nonprofit registered charity, hopes to raise $1 million from the challenge to connect those living in poverty with microcredit – small, interest-free loans. The loans are to help entrepreneurs in developing countries by helping to get them out of poverty.

The organization is raising awareness about how microcredit can help families escape poverty, with help from its partner organization, Kiva. Kiva, a nonprofit organization based in San Francisco, provides loans to entrepreneurs in developing countries. Agents of Change, which has so far raised more than $8,000 for microcredit, is trying to raise the million dollar fund so people in developing countries can be provided with loans through Kiva.

Kiva’s website provides a platform for borrowers to post their stories, pictures, business goals and needs. Supporters can view the profiles and get a choice of who they would like to support, as well as receive information on the borrowers’ progress and how the money is being used.

Through Kiva, lenders receive their money back after the loan is repaid, but that money can also be used again to help another entrepreneur. The million dollar fund through Agents of Change, however, isn’t refundable as it’s being set up to be used as a constant source of funding for Kiva.

Through Kiva, the businesses are screened by recognized local microfinance partners. All of the funds go directly to the borrower. So far, Kiva’s repayment rate is estimated to be 97 per cent successful.

Dr. Muhammad Yunus, who won the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize and is the inspiration behind the cause, founded the microcredit bank, Grameen Bank of Bangladesh.

Global Giving

We connect people like you with great projects you might not otherwise find.

Much like eBay’s approach to online commerce, GlobalGiving is changing the way people give. We work with a network of well-run organizations and carefully research their projects – gathering detailed information on the project leaders, as well as the projects’ objectives and expected outcomes. Then, we make it simple for you to give to these projects and track the impact of your generosity.

• Vision

• Unleash the potential of people around the world to make positive change happen.
  Mission

Build an efficient, open, thriving marketplace that connects people who have community and world-changing ideas with people who can support them.

A quick overview of how GlobalGiving works:

We connect donors to projects via our website, www.globalgiving.com, as well as through custom giving services–helping corporations, foundations, affinity groups, and other institutions with their specific giving needs. All donations are tax-deductible through the GlobalGiving Foundation, a registered 501(c)3 organization. Learn more about how GlobalGiving works.

FINCA

• The mission of FINCA International
  is to provide financial services to the world’s lowest-income entrepreneurs so they can create jobs, build assets and improve their standard of living.

• The vision of FINCA International
  is to become the leading global microfinance institution by providing financial services to more than one million clients annually by 2010, while operating with the highest commercial principles of performance, transparency and sustainability.

• FINCA today reaches 700,000 clients in 21 countries.
  But the scope of global poverty compels us all to do more. At the beginning of the new century, the nations of the world agreed to work toward eight Millennium Development Goals that would eliminate extreme poverty and hunger by 2015.

Kiva

Loan to the Working Poor

Kiva’s mission is to connect people through lending for the sake of alleviating poverty.

Kiva is the world’s first person-to-person micro-lending website, empowering individuals to lend directly to unique entrepreneurs in the developing world.

The people you see on Kiva’s site are real individuals in need of funding – not marketing material. When you browse entrepreneurs’ profiles on the site, choose someone to lend to, and then make a loan, you are helping a real person make great strides towards economic independence and improve life for themselves, their family, and their community. Throughout the course of the loan (usually 6-12 months), you can receive email journal updates and track repayments. Then, when you get your loan money back, you can relend to someone else in need.

Kiva partners with existing expert microfinance institutions. In doing so, we gain access to outstanding entrepreneurs from impoverished communities world-wide. Our partners are experts in choosing qualified entrepreneurs. That said, they are usually short on funds. Through Kiva, our partners upload their entrepreneur profiles directly to the site so you can lend to them. When you do, not only do you get a unique experience connecting to a specific entreprenuer on the other side of the planet, but our microfinance partners can do more of what they do, more efficiently.