Lendwithcare: Helping Entrepreneurs Work Their Way out of Poverty
Each year I ask my friends and followers to consider supporting the charity Lendwithcare. Run by one of the world’s leading aid and development organisations, Lendwithcare is a revolutionary way for you to help people in the developing world to transform their lives.
Lendwithcare brings together entrepreneurs in low-income countries with the people that have the power to help them – people like you. Run by CARE International UK, one of the world’s leading poverty-fighting organisations, Lendwithcare is a revolutionary way for you to help people work their way out of poverty with dignity.
Here’s how it works:
1. It starts with an idea.
From launching a scrap recycling business to diversifying crops and everything in between, entrepreneurs living in low-income countries are bursting with ideas. All they need is a helping hand to get started.
2. The entrepreneur requests a loan.
Entrepreneurs approach one of Lendwithcare’s local development partners for a loan. If their plans to invest in their business show promise, their loan is approved and they’ll have the go-ahead to get started.
3. You lend to an entrepreneur.
The local partner adds the entrepreneur’s profile to the Lendwithcare website, where they will join other entrepreneurs from different locations across the globe. You can browse all entrepreneurs available for funding and choose which promising business idea you’d like to support.
4. The entrepreneur’s business grows.
After an entrepreneur receives their Lendwithcare funding, they will get to work starting or growing their small business. We try to keep all entrepreneur profiles updated so you can see how their business is progressing.
5. Your loan is repaid.
Entrepreneurs pay back their loans in instalments to local partners, who transfer these repayments to CARE International. We then credit the repayment to your Lendwithcare account. It’s as simple as that!
6. You decide what happens next.
When a loan is repaid, the majority of lenders will choose to make more loans, helping more low-income entrepreneurs to turn their hopes for a better future into reality. You can withdraw the credit if you wish or make a donation to support Lendwithcare’s operating costs and other poverty-fighting initiatives from CARE International UK.
Help Make a Difference.
I have been supporting Lendwithcare since December 2011 and have increased the amount of lending each December. The website tells me that over that time I have made 212 loans to 528 people. This has helped 1,924 family members and created 735 jobs. Yet it has cost me nothing!
So, if you would like to make a difference to people who are trying hard to lift themselves and their families out of poverty by making an ethical loan, please consider lending or buying the Christmas gift of a loan here.
And remember – aid creates trade; trade builds friendship; friendship leads to world peace.
This video explains how Lendwithcare works.