Lendwithcare is a microfinance lending website from CARE International UK.[1] Launched in September 2010, it allows individuals and groups to make small loans to entrepreneurs in low-income countries, helping them improve their lives through business.
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| Founded | April 2010 |
|---|---|
| Founder | CARE |
| Type | Non-profit organisation |
| Focus | Microfinance and microloans |
| Location |
|
Area served | Cambodia, Ecuador, Georgia, Malawi, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Pakistan, Palestine, Peru, Philippines, Rwanda, Senegal, Thailand, Togo, Vietnam and Zambia. |
| Website | www |
As of May 2024[update], Lendwithcare supports entrepreneurs in Cambodia, Ecuador, Georgia, Malawi, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Pakistan, Palestine, Peru, Philippines, Rwanda, Senegal, Thailand, Togo, Vietnam and Zambia.
To provide this support, Lendwithcare works with a range of local development partners, many of which are specialist microfinance institutions. While Lendwithcare does not charge interest to make this funding available, some local partners working with Lendwithcare do charge interest to borrowers to cover their operational costs.
As of January 2024[update], over 80,000 individual lenders had provided over £48m in loan funding to nearly 200,000 small business owners.
History
editLendwithcare was launched in September 2010.
In 2012, it launches a group lending feature, allowing individual lenders to lend as groups (such as churches or clubs) and track their impact together.
In 2021, Lendwithcare launches a grant funding feature, allowing users to make one-off grants in addition to loans. Unlike loans, these grants do not generate loan repayments. However, they do generate a positive impact on people's lives and reduce CO2 emissions.
The process
editLendwithcare works with a number of partner microfinance institutions in the countries in which it operates. If the microfinance institution is happy with an entrepreneur's idea or business plan, they approve the proposal and provide the initial loan requested. They also help the entrepreneur construct their profile for lendwithcare.org.
Lenders can browse the list of entrepreneurs on the website, read about their businesses, see the value of the loan they have requested, the percentage of the loan already provided by other lenders, and then choose an entrepreneur to lend to. Once the entrepreneur's loan is fully funded, the money is transferred to the microfinance institution to replace the initial loan already paid out to the entrepreneur. During this process lenders receive progress updates regarding the entrepreneur's progress. The entrepreneur gradually pays back their loan according to a repayment schedule. The microfinance institution transfers these repayments to CARE International who then credits the payment into lenders' lendwithcare.org accounts. Lenders can then either withdraw their money using a PayPal account or can use the credit to provide a loan to another entrepreneur.[2]
Partner microfinance institutions
editLendwithcare currently partners with 18 local development partners,[3] including:
- Akhuwat Foundation, Pakistan
- Borvor, Cambodia
- Cooperativa Santa Anita, Ecuador
- Deki, Togo
- Doselva, Nicaragua
- ElleSolaire, Senegal
- FairClimateFund, Rwanda and India
- First Consolidated Cooperative along Tañon Seaboards, Philippines
- Fundación de Apoyo Comunitario y Social del Ecuador, Ecuador
- Fundación Paraguaya de Cooperación y Desarrollo, Paraguay
- LAMAC, Philippines
- MicroLoan Foundation, Zambia
- MicroLoan Foundation, Malawi
- Modern Farming Technologies, Malawi
- Small Enterprise Development, Thailand
- SolarAid, Zambia and Malawi
- Thanh Hoa Microfinance Institution, Vietnam
- Umutanguha, Rwanda
Ambassadors
edit- Stacey Dooley travelled to Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2012.[4]
- Deborah Meaden travelled to Cambodia in 2011.[5]
- Alastair Stewart travelled to Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2011 to visit CARE's partner Zene za Zene. He met many entrepreneurs, including women widowed by Srebrenica massacre.[6]
References
edit- ^ Jones, Rupert (19 August 2011). "Lending small business a hand". The Guardian. Retrieved 31 October 2015.
- ^ Jones, Rupert (10 August 2013). "Lendwithcare offers helping hand to world's poorer entrepreneurs". The Guardian. Retrieved 31 October 2015.
- ^ "Microfinance from CARE International UK". lendwithcare.org. Retrieved 2024-08-09.
- ^ Dooley, Stacey (14 December 2012). "Lending Is the New Giving". The Huffington Post. Huffington Post Media Group. Retrieved 31 October 2015.
- ^ Meaden, Deborah. "Deborah travels to Cambodia to support entrepreneurs". Deborah Meaden. Retrieved 31 October 2015.
- ^ Stewart, Alastair (12 December 2011). "Lend with care: Alastair Stewart visits a Bosnian fundraising scheme". The Guardian. Retrieved 31 October 2015.