One Day, One Job » microfinance

People Capital

Willy Franzen — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 14:49:13 +0000

I was lucky enough to graduate from college without having had to take out any student loans, but even if I had needed to take out a loan, at least it would have been before the “credit crunch.” These days it’s a lot harder for students to finance their educations than it was just a couple of years ago. Credit in general is extremely tight right now, and beyond that, lenders are being very picky about whom they lend to. For students with no credit history, getting a loan can be a big pain in the butt. People Capital is a New York City based startup that is aiming to change that through what they call a “peer-to-peer lending platform.” They’ve developed a Human Capital Score “to assess the creditworthiness of those just starting their credit histories,” and they’re now building out a network of borrowers and lenders to bring the idea to life. It’s kind of like Kiva for education, but with a for-profit incentive keeping things efficient.

Add Your Human Capital to People Capital

When People Capital’s idea catches on, it has the potential to completely change the lending industry—not just the student loan industry. We used to trust banks to make smart financial decisions, but those days are over. Now we can micro-manage our lending and borrowing through peer-to-peer lending. Borrowers can get lower rates based on information that goes beyond the traditional credit score, and lenders can make a profit while financing the educations of promising students. It’s hard to say whether people are ready for this kind of a business model yet, but if they are, People Capital is going to be growing at insane rate pretty soon (if they aren’t already).

If People Capital sounds like the kind of place that you want to start your career, then you should check out their job listings on Startuply. Right now they’re looking to hire people to help them with Business Development in Philanthropic/Endowment/Affinity Channels and in Capital Markets. You can apply for these positions online right now, and keep your eyes peeled for more new jobs as peer-to-peer education lending becomes all the rage in the world of microfinance.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you think about People Capital’s concept of peer-to-peer lending?

Kiva

Willy Franzen — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 14:54:38 +0000

The world of non-profits is built on fundraising. Organizations big and small take money from donors and put it to use how they see fit. The system works, but it leaves a lot to be desired. What if you want to know where your money is going and whom it is helping? What if you want to decide where your money goes? You often can’t. With San Francisco based Kiva you can. You can loan money directly to the working poor. And if you make a wise investment and the person you loan money to succeeds, you’ll get your money back and get to loan it again. You can lend money to a man who runs a food market in Togo or a woman who sells traditional coats in Tajikistan. The choice is yours. Kiva is all about “connect[ing] people through lending for the sake of alleviating poverty.” It’s a really simple idea that couldn’t have taken hold before the Internet. Now it’s changing the way that we think about giving through microfinance and microfunding.

Good Things Come in Small Packages

I often talk about growing businesses here, but I don’t often use the same terminology for non-profits. Because of the way that charitable organizations work, they don’t often take off and blow up (in a good way) that tech startups do. I would say that Kiva is an exception. As of this morning, $68,700,035 in loans have been granted by 478,852 Kiva lenders in the form of 98,392 loans with a repayment rate of 98.17%. That’s all since 2005! If you want to see more stats from Kiva, you can check them out here. Right now, Kiva is the place to be in the non-profit world, which is why you should get excited about the potential of landing a job with them. Their Jobs page currently has 3 openings listed, and only one that is geared towards new grads – Software Engineer. If you have the necessary skills, then you can apply to jobs@kiva.org with a cover letter and resume. If you’re not a Software Developer, then you should probably keep your eyes peeled to see when they post a job that fits you well. There’s a lot of competition for their jobs, and they don’t seem all that interested in hearing from cold callers (but that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t try). When Kiva does post some new jobs (and they will because they appear to be growing quickly), you want to be able to jump on them as quickly as you can.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you lent money through Kiva?

Trickle Up

Willy Franzen — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 15:41:19 +0000

I’m not going to start an Economics debate on a Saturday morning, but I’m tempted. Trickle Up is a non-profit organization that was named as a slap in the face to the theory of trickle-down economics. Regardless of their economic philosophy, they appear to be doing great work by empowering “people living on less than $1 a day to take the first steps out of poverty, providing them with resources to build microenterprises for a better quality of life.” Trickle Up is based out of New York City, and they believe strongly in microfinance, micropreneurship, and microenterprises as being the solution to worldwide poverty. Their website does a great job of telling their story, so I recommend that you check it out to get a full feel for whom Trickle Up helps and how they do it.

Trickling Up

Trickle Up’s Jobs page is extremely simple and doesn’t include many details about what it’s like working for them, but it does include job postings with in-depth descriptions. There’s a Development Associate – Individual Giving position that doesn’t appear to require very much experience. It’s not explicitly entry leve, but if you have any fundraising/development experience, then it’s certainly worth a look. The deadline for applying is January 19th, and you can apply by sending a cover letter, resume and one writing sample to jesseg@trickleup.org with “Development Associate” in the subject line. There’s also a Program Associate for Africa job available (although the deadline was yesterday, 1/9/09). It looks like a really cool opportunity, so it might be worth trying to sneak in a late application by sending a resume and cover letter to africa@trickleup.org with “Program Associate” in the heading. It appears that the Development job is located in New York City, and the Program Associate job is in Africa. Trickle Up also has headquarters in India, Mali, Uganda, and Guatemala and projects in even more countries, but there don’t appear to be any other jobs available.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Trickle Up or Trickle Down? Both?

Freedom from Hunger

Willy Franzen — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 12:30:19 +0000

With all the hubbub about the ridiculous price of gasoline, another, more pressing price increase has been overlooked by many people. World food prices have skyrocketed as of late. On average only 14% of an American’s spending is on food, which means that we aren’t typically price sensitive when it comes to how many calories we consume (how we consume those calories is much more price sensitive). Now imagine living in a nation where the average person spends the majority of his or her income on food. If food prices go up, you must eat less. Not a good situation to be in. Freedom from Hunger is a non-profit organization that “brings innovative and sustainable self-help solutions to the fight against chronic hunger and poverty” and will hopefully be able to help people across the world cope with the increasing price of food.

Innovating Hunger Away

Freedom from Hunger began under another name, Meals for Millions. They developed a high-protein powdered food supplement that made it much easier to meet the nutritional needs of people living in poverty. Now Freedom from Hunger has shifted their focus to a program called Credit with Education, which uses a combination of microfinancing and education to serve “over 754,000 families in some of the poorest countries on earth.” Freedom from Hunger works in 17 countries, but is based out of Davis, CA.

Do You Have a Hunger for Helping People?

If you want to be a part of an organization that is at the forefront of hunger relief, then Freedom from Hunger is perfect for you. They have 3 entry-level job openings, all in very different disciplines. These jobs appear to be tailored to new college grads, and little relevant experience is needed to be successful in these positions. Freedom from Hunger is currently looking for an Online Content Manager, a Development Research Analyst, and a Human Resources Assistant. The job descriptions are well written and very detailed, so they should answer any questions that you have about the specific positions. Be sure to check out the Freedom from Hunger Jobs page as well, since it tells you how to apply.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Know of a non-profit that is hiring new grads? Leave a comment and tell us about them.

Calvert Foundation

Willy Franzen — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 13:00:58 +0000

If you’re a college Senior, it’s time to get your life together. You need to find a job, start managing your personal finances, and think about giving back to society. The Calvert Foundation can help you accomplish all three of these goals. They offer investment opportunities. All Calvert investments are focused on community improvement. And most importantly, Calvert is hiring.

The Calvert Foundation, a 3 time winner of the social capitalist award from Fast Company, is a non-profit organization located in Bethedsa, MD that offers financial products and services that channel flexible, affordable capital to underserved communities. That means that they take money from investors to help other non-profits fund community investments with a focus on Affordable Housing, Community Facilities, Microcredit, Small Business, and Social Innovations.

For instance, you could purchase a Calvert Community Investment Note with your choice of an interest rate between 0% and 3%. This is a rate that is substantially lower than something like a Money Market Account, but the payoff goes far beyond the interest earned on your investment. You can use Calvert’s Social Return on Investment Calculator to see what the full impact of an investment could be. Beyond their calculator, you can take a look at real life stories from people who have benefited from Calvert investments by searching through their investment profiles. Jobs are added, houses are built, organizations are founded, and businesses are started because of individuals who invest through the Calvert Foundation.

Now that you understand what Calvert does, let’s talk about their entry-level jobs. Calvert is currently hiring for two positions that we think have great potential for recent college graduates. The first is a Business Development Officer, which is basically a sales position. Calvert is looking for someone who is knowledgeable about financial products and services and has excellent telephone sales skills and experience. The second position is a Portfolio Servicing Associate, who is responsible for being the main point of contact between current borrowers and the foundation. This person should be a Microsoft Office whiz, a great communicator, and preferably have had a background in business, finance, or accounting. There isn’t a lot of information about working at Calvert on the web, but you might want to send them an e-mail and ask some questions. The e-mail address listed for applications is jobs@calvertfoundation.org.

Microfinance is growing rapidly as a part of our economy. The Calvert Foundation is offering great opportunities at the entry-level to be a part of an organization that is taking a free market approach to making the world a better place.

Note: On April 26th we revisited entry-level jobs at the Calvert Foundation.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Even if you’re broke this holiday season, you won’t need a microfinance loan to buy someone special (or yourself) a gift. That’s because we’re giving away a Nintendo Wii!