It is the lending of small loans and provision of financial services, including business training and support, to entrepreneurs who lack access to traditional banking institutions. Created as a sustainable solution for poverty alleviation, microfinance helps men and women with an entrepreneurial spirit move toward economic self-sufficiency as they are given access to capital. In the past, World Vision's microfinance initiatives have:

• Lent small loans to the impoverished since 1993
• Provided microfinance services in over 40 countries
• Impacted over 1 million jobs in the last year

Your tax-deductible donation is an investment in the community. You are not only helping someone become an entrepreneur, you are helping to create a sustainable community. For example, a single mother of two in Mexico can purchase all of her supplies to bake bread to sell. Not only does she earn enough money to support her family, she is also able repay the loan which can now be used to help someone else.

It empowers people. By increasing household incomes, building assets, and reducing vulnerability to humanitarian disasters, microfinance clients can overcome the cycle of poverty. As entrepreneurs, they are able to plan for their family's future, manage cash flow, and apply funds to household priorities. Microfinance helps equip people to make their own choices and work their way out of poverty.

It breaks the dependency on local moneylenders. Because the formal financial sector does not extend credit to impoverished entrepreneurs due to the small loan amounts required, the absence of any credit history, and the lack of collateral assets, a moneylender (i.e., "loan shark") will step in to make loans at high rates of interest. While this enables entrepreneurs to buy the supplies needed to produce a product, once they begin selling their wares, nearly all of their profits are applied to the payment of interest to the "loan shark," leaving them in a position of poverty.

A Microfinance Institution (MFI) is a local lending office within a community that is managed by local professionals. These offices ensure that funds are protected and widely invested.

Currently, World Vision has a network of 42 MFIs located in every region where we work. Forbes recognized two World Vision MFIs among their Top 50 List of MFIs, out of more than 12,000 currently in operation worldwide.

Micro currently features Mexico, Philippines, and Rwanda. Kenya will soon be added to the list!

World Vision currently offers microfinance loans to entrepreneurs in 42 countries.

Yes, all entrepreneurs pay interest to the MFIs; however, it is at a much lower interest rate than other lending programs offered by commercial banks, rural banks, etc. Rates are in line with non-profit industry standards, and in many cases, are much lower! Our average global rate is 25%, a full 10 percent lower than the average rate for other MFIs.

Moreover, providing loans to impoverished individuals in remote rural areas is expensive. A $300 loan requires the same manpower and resources as a $2,500 loan, which is why the formal financial sector does not traditionally provide microfinance loans.

Lastly, our interest rates do vary by country because of differing inflation rates and operating environments. Rates are affected by many factors, including varying labor costs, credit-risk, local market conditions, and more.

World Vision believes that at this time, a pre-disbursal of funds is necessary for the success of the model from both the donor and the MFI perspective. Donors expect World Vision to be efficient and effective with funding and we continually work to minimize costs that can create time delays. Transactions across the world are costly so World Vision bundles transactions and sends them to its MFIs on a monthly or bimonthly basis. This practice allows MFIs to be more efficient and better serve their clients. World Vision's MFIs work extremely hard to provide world-class service to borrowers. To ask an entrepreneur to develop a business plan, go through training, prepare for the startup of a business, and then wait unnecessarily for a loan would be bad customer service.

Providing micro loans to women enables them to access health care, buy nutritious food for their children, send their children to school, improve their living conditions, gain confidence, and promote gender equality.

Supplying capital empowers women to help financially support their families. Children can attend school when not forced to help support the family, thereby promoting education. Women can keep their families healthy with regular check-ups and the financial ability to purchase medicines. And they are able to purchase food to vary their diet and not rely strictly on what they grow.

Investing in women can lift an entire community out of poverty. Not only do they show a higher loan repayment rate, they also work two-thirds of the world's waking hours. Women are innovative, dedicated, and given the proper tools, industrious.

Statistics show that women, as the primary caregivers of children, consistently spend more of their income on their children and families. And they only earn 10% of the world's income and only 1% of the world's property.

A real connection between you and someone in need. With a single donation, a donor connects with an entrepreneur and learns their story – from their struggles to successes. Donors choose whether to support women entrepreneurs, invest in a country they love, or reach out to an individual whose story touches their heart. Moreover, after the donation is made, donors can share in the borrower's success throughout the repayment process. Our one-to-one approach allows donors to hear updates from their entrepreneur via mid-term loan updates and final reports, learn about their community, watch their business grow, and see how a single loan can touch several lives.

The gift that keeps on giving. It begins with a simple loan donation. A donor funds a loan to help an entrepreneur's business grow. Microfinance Institutions (MFI's) in the borrower's community help facilitate this transaction. Once the loan is repaid, the capital continues to recycle back into the community as other local entrepreneurs have the opportunity to use the loan. It sustains an entire community by providing a long-term impact.

Additionally, Micro's distinctive holistic model truly exhibits a commitment to long-term holistic investment in areas of development. Beyond microfinance loans, World Vision Micro provides business training, clean water, nutritious food, education, and basic health care to impoverished communities. Thus, not only do the businesses of entrepreneurs benefit from World Vision Micro, but all aspects of their lives benefit from the donation of a loan.

You are giving to a trusted organization. World Vision's six decades of humanitarian aid demonstrate the organization's commitment and devotion to the provision of a better quality of life for children in developing nations. Everything we do is motivated by a desire to reflect God's unconditional love for all people. Since 1993, World Vision has provided small business loans to entrepreneurs throughout the world. We believe that when parents are provided more opportunities, children are provided more opportunities.

Yes. In fact, our donation model is what makes us unique from other microfinance programs. You donate a loan to an entrepreneur. Once repaid to the local MFI, your gift recycles over and over again to help an ever-growing amount of entrepreneurs in the same country. Your donation of one loan could literally help dozens of people to begin supporting themselves and their families.

A donation model is sustainable. By providing a tax deductible donation to fund a loan for a borrower overseas, donors provide capital for funding not only the initial loan, but also for loans in the microfinance institution (MFI) in an ongoing way. Donor gifts keep revolving in the future helping even more borrowers in the community – we talk of the ripple effect of that loan in that community. Thus, our donation model allows capital to stay in the community for others to benefit.

Once repaid, the loan is recycled through the MFI. Your donated loan will remain in the country of your original entrepreneur. The next entrepreneur will be carefully selected – one who demonstrates an enterprising spirit, trustworthiness, a solid work ethic, and a sound business idea.

When World Vision has helped the community to become self-sufficient with access to clean water, nutritious food, education, basic healthcare, and microfinance opportunities, we can move on to another community in need and begin the transformation process all over again.

While we currently are not able to provide you with the tools to choose the next entrepreneur, you can, in fact, follow the impact of your loan. We guarantee that your funds will be reinvested into the community of your initial choosing. In order for your donation to have the maximum impact with the lowest overhead, your donated loan will remain in the country of your original entrepreneur. Microfinance credit officers in a World Vision community in that country will carefully select the next entrepreneur – one who demonstrates an enterprising spirit, trustworthiness, a solid work ethic, and a sound business idea. Furthermore, we hope to soon provide quarterly community updates that show the impact of the recycled funds into the ADP community.

Your donation of a loan ultimately helps foster World Vision's greater goal of community development – enabling impoverished people to discover their own abilities and unite to change the direction of their lives and their communities. We work to help impoverished communities gain access to clean water, nutritious food, education, basic healthcare, and microfinance opportunities. Once the community has become self-sufficient and taken ownership of these interventions, we are free to move on to another community in need, beginning the transformation process all over again.

The entrepreneur you choose on Micro is guaranteed to receive the loan you fund. The cash is advanced by the MFI on the belief that the loan will be funded by a donor. The MFI expects to recoup that money from the donors who want to fund that loan. The donor receives updates on their entrepreneur.s progress and a final report after the loan is repaid.

Micro is a lending platform through which World Vision conducts microfinance transactions, thereby allowing a donor to connect with an entrepreneur in another part of the world.

World Vision is a Christian humanitarian organization dedicated to working with children, families, and their communities worldwide to reach their full potential by tackling the causes of poverty and injustice. World Vision provides hope and assistance to approximately 100 million people in nearly 100 countries. Motivated by our faith in Jesus Christ, we serve alongside the poor and oppressed as a demonstration of God's unconditional love for all people. World Vision serves all people regardless of religion, race, ethnicity, or gender.

For more information, visit World Vision's home page.

VisionFund is the microfinance subsidiary of World Vision. In 1993, World Vision International (WVI) began to implement microfinance programming to benefit the economically active poor. In 2003, WVI recognized the importance and complexity of this ministry through its MFIs, and created VisionFund International (VFI) as a wholly-owned subsidiary of WVI. VFI is mandated by WVI to:

• Provide governance, risk management control, and specialty advice/support to all of its MFIs whether owned or controlled by VisionFund or WVI.
• Manage the funding of all MFIs, including donations and debt financing from VFI and third parties directly to the MFIs.

For more information, visit VisionFund's website.

While many entrepreneurs have sponsored children, it is not currently possible to request to sponsor a child of an entrepreneur. We hope to offer this in the future.

No, not at this time. Not every sponsored child has a parent who is an entrepreneur. It is our desire to provide this feature in the future.

No, unfortunately, Micro does not offer microfinance loans in the United States. World Vision, however, operates several US Programs that can be found on their Poverty in the United States page.

No, not at this time. Our field offices are currently not equipped to handle transactions of this type. If you'd like to support World Vision, please check out our Gift Catalog.

You may also purchase World Vision MFI products through Heavenly Treasures.

No, not at this time. Our field offices are not equipped to handle this. We hope that in the future we will be able to accommodate these requests.

Yes! World Vision Micro provides donors with Mid-term Updates and Final Reports on their entrepreneurs. Moreover, Micro will provide donors with updates and periodical reports on the ADP in which their entrepreneurs live.

Purchasing a gift card from World Vision Micro is just like purchasing a gift card from a retailer. You put a specific amount on the card. It can be emailed or printed. The recipient then goes online, sets up an account, and chooses an entrepreneur to support. It's that easy!

Group giving allows you to maximize your lending efforts by combining your loans with the loans of friends, family members, or coworkers. Whenever you fund a loan, you will have the option to count the amount donated toward the overall impact of your group. For more Group Giving information, visit the Group Giving page.

• Fund a loan yourself. It's easy. Choose an entrepreneur to support.
• Give a gift card and let someone else choose an entrepreneur to support.
• Share Micro with others. Tell your friends and colleagues.
• Join or start a group. Check out our new Group Giving feature.

For more internship information, please visit World Vision's Intern page.

For more information, or to contact us, please use our Contact Page.