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Last updated 2:33AM ET
February 13, 2012
KPLU Local News
KPLU Local News
Local Non-Profit Innovating with Micro-lending Investment Funds
by KPLU business and labor reporter Bellamy Pailthorp (2010-06-08)
Attendees at the Global Partnerships Social Investor Forum in Bellevue. Photo by Bellamy Pailthorp
BELLEVUE, WA (KPLU) - We often think of philanthropy as donating to a worthy cause. A new model allows donors to invest in interest-bearing funds that improve the lives of the poor.

The Seattle non-profit Global Partnerships has been around for 16 years. The basic tool they use to leverage donations into economic success is micro-lending - in which impoverished populations pool their resources to guarantee small loans. That's nothing new. But the organization says they now have a way for donors to actually make money on philanthropy. The biggest clients are getting as much as 4% interest.


"And that reason that's important is because the profit provides an economic opportunity for that to be a sustainable intervention, to help a lot of people and to grow in scale," says Global Partnerships President and CEO Rick Beckett. He says they work with small financial institutions in developing countries that are already making a profit by offering loans to the needy -- and help those institutions lend to more vulnerable groups as well. He says this strategy has allowed them to grow, even over the past four years of economic downturn.

"We've tripled the number of partners that we're invested in from 9 to 27, doubled the geographic scope from 4 to 7 countries - we'll be at about 10 countries with this next fund - and the borrowers reached have grown by 150,000 to over 800,000 during that time period."

And as they grow, they're looking at more innovations - providing things such as social services, technical assistance in agriculture and health care along with loans. Since 2005, they've launched three microfinance funds. The minimum investment is $100,000. Their fourth fund becomes available within the next month.

More Information

Global Partnerships Web Page

Microcapital.org: Q and A with Global Partnerships President and CEO Rick Beckett



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