United Parcel Service (UPS), a global package delivery service founded in 1907, has created a Centennial Grants Fund in honor of UPS’s 100 year anniversary. UPS’s fund has issued USD 1 million to three microfinance organizations that support micro-entrepreneurs across the globe. ACCION International will receive USD 400,000, Opportunity International will receive USD 390,000 and FINCA International will receive USD 210,000. The creation of the Centennial Grants Fund is the first time UPS has dedicated such a large portion of its corporate philanthropy to microfinance and micro-lending.
ACCION International, a private, non-profit organization, will receive USD 400,000 and will use the funds to advance its mission to give people the tools they need to work their way out of poverty. ACCION International partners with microfinance institutions (MFIs) around the world to provide micro-enterprise loans, business training and other financial services to the poor. The grant will allow ACCION to expand financial services to more people in its existing regions of operation and will also help ACCION to enter new regions such as China and India and to start US-based loan programs geared toward low- to moderate-income individuals in Florida, Georgia and Massachusetts.
Opportunity International provides opportunities for poverty-stricken individuals to transform their lives. Opportunity International works with local partner organizations that provide micro business loans and training to create jobs, stimulate micro-business activity, and strengthen communities among the poor. The organization will receive USD 390,000 and will use the funds to make loans to new clients in 15 countries, including China, India, Indonesia, The Philippines, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Nicaragua and Peru. The initial grant is expected to help nearly 5,000 poor entrepreneurs and is expected to impact more than 37,000 lives.
FINCA International is a network of community-focused credit and savings associations that provides financial services to the world’s poorest families in an effort to create jobs, raise household incomes, and improve standards of living. The USD 210,000 grant from UPS will help support FINCA International’s Village Banking Campaign and will ensure that an estimated 1,400 microentrepreneurs in 21 countries receive their first loans. FINCA International targets poor women living in the Americas, sub-Saharan Africa and Eurasia including Central Asia, the Caucuses and the Newly Independent States. FINCA International’s methodologies will recycle the UPS grant at least three times each year and is estimated to multiply into millions of dollars of assistance for the poor over the years to come.
UPS chose the three organizations for their track records of success and their ability to measure the impact of their respective programs. Additionally, each organization is well-recognized for the business training that accompanies their loans which ensure micro-businesses have a better chance at being successful.
Additional Resources:
UPS Press Release:
http://www.ups.com/pressroom/us/press_releases/press_release/0,0,4947,00.html
ACCION International: http://www.accion.org/
Opportunity International: http://www.opportunity.org/
FINCA International: http://www.villagebanking.org/
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