No-tie Charity Ball

You can join an elite group of individuals fundraising for a difference in the global community – all without leaving your seat. This month, FINCA is hosting our first-ever no-tie charity ball. And you’re invited!

We believe in supporting low-income entrepreneurs with life-changing loans, so much so that nearly 96 cents of every dollar donated directly support our programs. We don’t believe in pomp and circumstance; we believe in results, and making a lasting impact where it matters.

By “attending” FINCA’s first no-tie charity ball, you’re standing with an organization dedicated to empowering individuals and improving the quality of life across all communities.

Change a life today; you can do it all without leaving your seat.

Thank you for your generosity.

Sincerely,
Soledad Gompf
Vice President FINCA

What I Learned From Futbol

Watching the fútbol festivities over the past month has taught me much and more about the power of sport – its ability to unite nations toward a common cause, create hope for the future, and celebrate the victories of others as one’s own.

What if these same responses – unity, hope for the future, and celebration of success – also happened each and every time a poor entrepreneur pulled herself out of poverty?

In Honduras – a player in this summer’s games – FINCA reaches nearly 20,000 individuals, and we consider each success akin to a game-winning goal. For Ana Osorio, that goal was receiving a FINCA loan for her cheese business, allowing her to buy greater quantities of milk at better prices. Initially clearing just US$2 in profit per day, Ana has nearly quadrupled her earnings, allowing her to better provide for herself and her family.

Join FINCA as we celebrate the success of Ana and the over one million other microentrepreneurs in 22 countries who have benefitted from FINCA loans – and show your support today.

Thank you for your generosity.

Sincerely,

Soledad Gompf
Vice President
FINCA

The World Turns South

As the world prepares for the Brazilian World Cup, attention is turning to South America. However, we hope you’ll see more than soccer – we hope you’ll see the individuals who live there.

Think about the people of Central and South America – individuals in countries like Ecuador, El Salvador and Guatemala. Despite the fact that you are a continent away, you can be the one who changes a person’s life forever.

The region is made up of people just like you – people with dreams of growing a business, of creating something of their own. They dream of sending their children to school, and of giving them a brighter future. And yet, for too many, poverty is holding them back – and sometimes these dreams seem impossible.

When you give a FINCA client a microloan, you can help make her dreams come true. You give her the tools to succeed, to feed her family, and to achieve her independence. Maria Lucia Potosi Ramirez, just one of our many clients from Ecuador, had this to say about her FINCA experience: “I’m so grateful because FINCA trusted me. Now I can improve my life and the life of my family.”

Today, turn your eyes South – and see more than soccer. Support a microentrepreneur today.

Thank you for your generosity.

Sincerely,

Soledad Gompf
Vice President
FINCA

Don’t Look the Other Way

Stop for a moment and answer this question: What can you buy for $2.50? These days, not much. A bottle of water. A candy bar, perhaps. Maybe a bag of chips.

Now think about this: Right now, half of the world’s population—more than three billion people–is living on $2.50 a day or less. With no money left over to dig their way out of poverty.

You can look away as they struggle – or you can take action.

A small loan can be all an enterprising individual needs to begin down the path to success. Just $25 can provide a microentrepreneur with goods to sell at the local market. $50 or $100 can allow an individual to buy a sewing machine, or a refrigerator to keep food for resale from spoiling overnight. They’ll be the ones doing all of the hard work – all they need is a little help from you to get them started.

We reach more than one million clients in 22 countries – most of them women. Women in particular are using their businesses to provide for their families and to earn independence within their communities. While some 13 million worldwide have already benefited from microcredit, the need is still estimated to be 200 million people.

Around the world, our clients – and potential clients – are ready to work hard to get ahead. All they need is for you not to look the other way. You may take action and make a donation today.

Sincerely,

Soledad Gompf
Vice President
FINCA

Better Than Commerical Banks

Better Than Commercial Banks

We have always been proud of our FINCA (Foundation for International Community Assistance) clients and the success they achieve. After all, they have an astounding on-time loan repayment rate of over 98 percent – as good or better than many commercial banks expect.

But today, we’re writing to you with a very special message: Our client success is now the best we’ve ever seen!

When our over one million micro-entrepreneurs get the hand up they need, we never cease to be amazed at how far they go – entrepreneurs like Victoria Banda of Zambia. A 36-year-old woman who never finished primary school, she is now the main income earner for herself, her parents, and her two sisters. Starting with a loan of just $20, she now operates her own store and helps her younger sister through college.

That’s a lot to accomplish for someone who started with just $20!

We’re blown away by FINCA clients like Victoria – and hers is just one of many incredible success stories. They do the hard work to get ahead, but that first step towards success would never have been possible without people like you. When you provide an entrepreneur with a microloan, you are the turning point on their path to independence and opportunity.

Thank you for your generosity.

Sincerely,

Soledad Gompf
Vice President
FINCA

When Humor Is Not Humorous

When Humor About Gender is Not Humorous

In the United States, we may think we’re aware of gender imbalances – that men and women are often perceived and treated differently in the media, workplace, and home. We have serious discussions about it; we talk to our children about it; sometimes we even make jokes about it.

For many women around the world, it’s not so funny.

Today, around the world, women have limited access to education, land, and credit – an equation that often adds up to poverty. Across the globe, we’re witnessing an increase in woman heads-of-households and single mothers trying to support their children. With at least six million children dying each year from malnutrition, how do we help women, and subsequently their children, break out of the cycle of poverty?

By helping women help themselves.

Some 83 percent of our 284,000 FINCA clients across seven countries of Latin America are women. Members of Village Banks, many of whom are mothers, elect their own leaders, manage their own funds, and supervise their own loans – often in places where women wouldn’t otherwise be allowed to do any of these things. When you supply a woman entrepreneur with a FINCA microfinance loan, you’re setting her on the path to success.

When women are given the means to start or grow their own business, they don’t just earn a living. They feed their families. They empower themselves and experience independence. And it doesn’t take much.

A mere $25 can buy egg-laying chickens; $50 can pay for a bicycle to transport goods. $500 can enable a woman to open her own beauty salon. She’ll do the hard work – give her the tools to change her life.

Thank you for helping women help themselves!

Sincerely,

Soledad Gompf
Vice President
FINCA

When She Was 12

When we were 12, you and I probably spent August shopping for backpacks, notebooks, and markers to get ready for school.

When she was 12, Prossy Mukisa was married off for a dowry payment. For years, Prossy dreamed of bettering her future, and ensuring that her four children would be able to attend school. Saving her wages from working in a local bakery, she opened her own grocery store. Later that year, her husband walked out on her and their four children. When Prossy took him back, he infected her with HIV/AIDS. Ill and unable to rely on her husband’s support, Prossy could not expand her business.

But the next spring, Prossy’s life took a more hopeful turn. After a friend told her about FINCA Uganda’s Kazinga Village Bank, Prossy took out a loan of $50 and transformed her shop into a music store, buying instruments to rent out to musicians for local events. Prossy now also employs three musicians who play at parties and she was able to send her children back to school.

This school year, support hard-working women like Prossy – donate today, and stand with dedicated women and children around the world.

Sincerely,

Soledad Gompf
Vice President, FINCA

50,000 People

Dear Gabriel,

What do 140 Boeing 747s, Yankee Stadium, six square miles of Los Angeles, and FINCA Ecuador all have in common?

Each includes 50,000 people!

As we all know, innovation is the key to lasting, sustainable, and successful development. That’s why FINCA is pioneering an innovative health insurance plan in Ecuador, where over 50,000 FINCA clients and their families—some 200,000 people in all—are automatically provided with health insurance as part of their FINCA loan packages.

Their benefits include:

Access to a network of primary, private health care providers
Affordable generic medications provided through a network of 150 pharmacies
A 24/7 telephone service for health consultation – great for families with children
Hospitalization coverage with a daily cash benefit compensation in case of severe illness
During our Matching Gift Challenge, your generosity will be multiplied – impacting more clients, families, and communities.

Be part of this holistic approach of providing hardworking microentrepreneurs a hand up to a brighter future. Give today and make change happen for families struggling in poverty.

Sincerely,

Soledad Gompf
FINCA Vice President

Real Life Superwomen

Dear Gabriel,

This summer, we will ooh and aah over comic book heroes in the movies – supermen and superwomen who use their fantastical powers to affect the lives of others, for good or for evil.

While we know these superheroes are fictional characters, there are, in fact, heroes walking among us. Meet FINCA’s Superwomen, the next generation of superheroes.

Catarina Yolanda Yac de Leon (Guatemala) – Born without a right arm, Catarina was taunted by other children who called her “good for nothing.” As she grew older, Catarina began making beaded belts to help earn additional income for her family. With a FINCA loan, Catarina has learned from other entrepreneurs, been able to buy more materials, and has sold almost all the belts she has made to date!

Berna Naiga (Uganda) – Berna has been a rock of support for her family. Living with HIV/AIDS has not kept her from supporting 10 orphaned nieces and nephews, children of siblings who have died of AIDS. Thanks to a FINCA loan, Berna has maximized her many entrepreneurial talents, from raising cattle, to running small businesses, to managing rental properties. All while caring for her children!

While these women may argue that they’re “normal,” their strength of character and wills of iron in the face of adversity prove otherwise. FINCA is proud to stand with the next generation of superheroes – women around the world who are lifting themselves out of poverty.

However, no superhero is an island – everyone needs someone in his or her corner. Root for superwomen like Catarina and Berna today. Give a FINCA loan, and fly high with modern-day heroes.

Sincerely,

Soledad Gompf
Vice President
FINCA

Tailoring Tradition In Afghanistan

Tailoring Tradition to Create Opportunities
From FINCA

Cultivating a sense of community isn’t always easy, especially when you can’t freely move around your neighborhood without a man accompanying you, or when you’re faced with the possibility that explosions can happen anywhere, any time. But that doesn’t keep FINCA Afghanistan client Nafisa from sharing her tailoring expertise with 20 students, eager to learn her secrets for success, and building a thriving business, both at home and abroad, that’s opening new doors for her daughter.

Nafisa is 50 years old and has decades of experience designing and sewing traditional Afghani dresses. Her expertise and attention to detail are well known in Mandavi, where she lives with her husband, daughter and two sons. But her tailoring skills are known beyond the confines of her community, as she sells her creations to five shops in Kabul, as well as filling orders that come in from Canada and the US.

Today, Nafisa’s 20 students not only learn from her, they help her produce the orders that continue to increase her business. And while she takes great pride in their accomplishments, her greatest sense of pride comes from the fact that her 22-year-old daughter is in college, studying to be a nurse, opening up a whole new career path that wouldn’t be possible without the support she’s received through FINCA loans.

“Without FINCA’s loans,” Nafisa says, “my family, and especially my daughter, would not have the kind of life we have today. I am so grateful that we’re looking at a brighter future.”

Read more stories of FINCA clients >>