You may have heard of Microfinance better known as the “type of banking service that is provided to unemployed or low-income individuals or groups who would otherwise have no other means of gaining financial services.” Perhaps you read about it in the newspaper, online or in a Finance publication, but wherever you may have heard about microfinance, it is giving qualified entrepreneurs a chance to create sustainable businesses.
Sloane Berrent could tell you a WHOLE lot more and she’s the author of a blog called “The Causemopolitan” which has an extensive history of working with non-profits, social media companies and a whole lot more. She’s also the recipient of the Kiva Fellowship to be held in the Philippines and will be working at the ASHI, the oldest replication of the Grameen Bank Approach (GBA) to credit delivery to the bottom poor in the Philippines.
Sloane, great to have you with us. So, tell us about how you got involved in helping others.
I’m born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I think being passionate about non-profits and causes is something I was born with out of my love for people and humanity. From as early as I can remember, my family and teachers told me I was “sensitive” to the hurt that others felt. Sometimes overly sensitive and when a natural disaster or tragedy struck and I would see it on TV, I would be deeply affected. But I’ve also always been an incredible optimist. I believe that one person can make a difference and I’ve always been searching for the way in which my life would make a difference and how I can leave this world better than I found it. The essence of wanting to help others comes from a phrase I say often, “Every day I strive to be inspired and help others.” It’s a give and take. For every good deed I do, I look for inspiration from others and its other people that fuel my desire to keep doing what I’m doing.
You’re inspiring. But most people, when we think of charities, we think of it as a one-way exchange to help others. Tell us how Microfinance allows those in need to help themselves. The biggest difference between the microfinance model and other nonprofits is that you are making a LOAN versus a DONATION. So with an organization like Kiva.org, you are making a loan to an entrepreneur in a developing country and over a specific period of time, they will repay that loan and you will receive that money back in your Kiva account to either reinvest in another entrepreneur or you can take it back.
There is a Chinese proverb: “Give a man a fish, you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish and you have fed him for a lifetime.” When I think of global poverty – and the fight to eradicate it – there are lots of ways a person can look at making a dent and accomplishing that. Each method has supporters based on our own individual ideas and beliefs around what causes poverty to begin with. I do still believe very strongly in the value of making straight donations. Many organizations and the people they serve are incredibly deserving of donations but this model of microfinance, microlending and peer-to-peer based lending is an incredibly exciting model that has been around for a long, long time – some might say since the beginning of time since we have always wanted to help out our fellow man. It’s incredibly exciting to see the momentum and knowledge about it build now throughout the United States.
That Proverb really sounds like Kiva. Can you tell us about Kiva.org and how you got involved? There is an incredible book called “Banker to the Poor” by Dr. Muhammad Yunos, the founder of the Grameen Bank who really brought the concept of microfinance to the modern age. I read that book a few years ago and was incredibly moved by what he wrote about the power of helping entrepreneurs in developing countries as a model to eradicate poverty.
And most recently, I was working at a startup that aimed to be a social network for people interested in a cause, a one-stop shop for philanthropy. With the fall of the economy, like so many others – especially in the tech sector – I was laid off. Upon leaving and saying goodbye to the nonprofits I had worked with, my contact at Kiva sent a link to the Kiva Fellows program and urged me to consider it. The Kiva Fellows program is highly competitive and the minimum time commitment is 12 weeks. I really loved the program but I wasn’t in the right frame of mind in that moment to really take it too seriously. But I kept it in mind.
Then I did something pretty crazy within two weeks of being laid off, I gave up my apartment, sold most of my belongings and put the rest in storage and bought a one-way ticket to South America. I had always said, given the chance, that I would love to take an extended trip and I thought, “What better time than now?” So off I went to Buenos Aires, Argentina, Colombia and Ecuador. One day in Ecuador, I was hiking by myself and thought of how I told people that I was “the best version of myself when I was on the road.” I had this “AHA” moment and decided I wanted to be the best version of me all the time. Later that week, I went to an Internet cafe and went to the Kiva website and saw that the deadline to be a Fellow was literally two days away. Being in South America, with no computer of my own, I literally had to craft my entire resume from scratch and type it all on a South American keyboard pecking at keys one at a time. It was arduous to say the least, but I really believed that my Web 2.0, social media and also fundraising experience made me a competitive and viable candidate.
Pretty amazing. So, I know traveling ain’t free. How close are you to raising the $7500 needed for your trip to the Philippines? I’m actually really excited to announce that I’ve reached my fundraising goal. And get ready for this – I did it almost entirely through social media in one month to the day. I used Chipln, a way to fundraise with donations going through PayPal and put the widget on my blog and then wrote posts about my fundraising and posted those on Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin and other social networks. I had two incentives, one online and one offline. The first, for a donation of any amount or for people helping to promote my cause, I made a custom mixtape that they could download and send people that link. Just as a thank you. Second, for any donation $100 or above, I will be sending those people a personalized postcard from the Philippines. It’s just something simple, but thoughtful and also set the bar at a donation amount that a lot of people gave.
Can you provide us with closing words on service and how we can get involved, even in these rough economic times? Start anywhere. Don’t judge yourself. I can’t tell you how many people say to me, “I’m sorry I could only give $10″ or “I’m sorry I could only give $100.” There is this guilt associated with giving back that I just don’t believe it. Never feel guilty for what you can do, even pressing the DONATE button is more than most people do. Same for volunteering. Don’t judge yourself for the hours you can give – if it’s a Saturday morning once a month, cool, do that. Same for in-kind. Can your company offer pro-bono services or free product for a non-profit or a cause? Find a way to incorporate causes into your day-to-day life so that it doesn’t have to feel like you’re going to so far above and beyond what you’re already doing.
One more piece of advice. From the day you get started, mark a day on your calendar one month out, six months, one year and check in with where you are. Reflect back and ask yourself, am I comfortable with my level of giving? Scale it back or step it up, giving back isn’t a static activity. It can fluctuate with where you are in your own life and if you think of it like that, as part of your life, then soon it will come naturally. And that’s the game-changer.
Thanks for taking the time, Sloane as you gear up for your trip. If you’d like to find out more about Sloane, check out her blog, the Causemopolitan as well as Kiva.org.
(Photo By: JdLasica)
