The Scripps College Economics Society (SCES) is teaming up with Kiva to invest in entrepreneurs in the developing world and needs your support! This project, launched in fall 2011, seeks to use our economics training to help alleviate global poverty. Please help us by donating to our micro-loan portfolio project, which focuses on financing business ventures of women around the world.
The Micro-lending Portfolio Project:
The Scripps College Economics Society (SCES) is proud to introduce our fundraising project, initiated fall 2011. The Society is collecting donations from students, faculty, staff and affiliates of the Claremont Colleges to be distributed as micro-loans to entrepreneurs in need in developing countries. Loans are distributed through Kiva, a micro-loan host organization, and the Society is responsible for the portfolio of loans and funds provided to them. These micro-loans allow entrepreneurs in developing countries to fund new projects to lessen the pressures of poverty while simultaneously forging a direct link between donors and borrowers. When the entrepreneur’s project reaches a state of financial stability, the borrower repays the loan to the Society.
The Scripps College Economics Society proposes this micro-lending portfolio project to:
- make the lending process easier for Claremont Colleges affiliates by acting as the middle-man in the investment process,
- increase the size of loans so as to have a more tangible and beneficial impact,
- teach students about the return on investment of various business projects,
- make students responsible for a portfolio of investment funds, and
- use our economics education to give back to those in need.
When loans have been repaid by the borrower the Society relends those funds to support another project, creating a cycle of lending and borrowing which aims to alleviate poverty by helping business owners worldwide. This will ensure that the project has both immediate and long-term impacts and will allow multiple generations of Scripps women to learn and give back via the investment process.
With each batch of investments, the Society’s Board Members choose entrepreneurs to host based on their project description and perceived return on investment. SCES then publishes information about where the investments are distributed geographically, which projects they are funding and the size of the portfolio on the website so donors may follow where their donations are moving and who they are helping. The project will thus also increase the interaction of the Scripps women with their donors and affiliates, as both groups strive to help those in need.
Donations to the micro-loan portfolio can be made in two ways:
1) Cash Donation
Cash donations may be sent or delivered to Scripps Mailbox #503 at the address:
1030 Columbia Ave. #503
Claremont, CA 91711
2) Credit or Debit Card Donation Online
Donations may be made online via Kiva by purchasing a “Kiva Card”. This will act as a gift card which may then be forwarded via email to the Society, and the funds will be added to the Society’s portfolio from which to make investments.
Kiva Cards can be purchased via credit or debit card online at the following link: http://www.kiva.org/gifts/kiva-cards#/email
Kiva Cards should be emailed to the Society at scripps.economics@gmail.com
We ask that donors please include their name, 5C affiliation (parent, alum, student, etc) and email address with their donation unless they prefer to remain anonymous. This will enable us to keep in contact about the progress of our portfolio and where the funds are being invested.
For further questions about the micro-loan portfolio project, the Society, or ways to donate, please contact us at scripps.economics@gmail.com and visit our website at http://community.scrippscollege.edu/econ/.
About Kiva
Kiva is a non-profit organization with “a mission to connect people through lending to alleviate poverty. Leveraging the internet and a worldwide network of microfinance institutions, Kiva lets individuals lend as little as $25 to help create opportunity around the world.”
For more information about how the micro-lending process works or Kiva’s success statistics please visit their website at: http://www.kiva.org/
