Next City
21 May 2020
Text / 1500-3000 Words
Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States
An American nonprofit called the Community Reinvestment Fund expands access to small business loans by partnering with almost two dozen groups across the country to set up and scale up their community development lending. Founded in 1988, the group essentially takes on the risk of a SBA license so that others could benefit from their license. They created an online platform called Spark that redesigned the user interface of the existing loan processor platform to better facilitate the exchange of money. They have now supported loans for 1,000 communities across 49 states.
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/10/the-avon-ladies-of-africa
Tina Rosenberg
The New York Times
10 October 2012
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A successful program in Uganda trains village women to sell medicines, fortified foods and other important goods using the Avon model, aiming to create a self-sustaining system for delivering essential health products.
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/03/06/crowd-funding-clean-energy
David Bornstein
The New York Times
6 March 2013
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In Oakland, a company created an online crowdfunding platform that allows users to earn interest by financing clean energy projects and gives people with good social intentions a direct line of action. Across the world, there is a growing movement toward people-powered clean energy.
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/09/25/escaping-the-cycle-of-scarcity
Tina Rosenberg
The New York Times
25 September 2013
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Poor people are less likely to make smart financial decisions; however, new research in the U.S. says this is not about intelligence but rather about a brain being overwhelmed with issues related to poverty. To combat that barrier of stress, organizations around the world are making financial decisions easier for people experiencing poverty by making borrowing easier and automating future financial planning, like 401(k) contributions.
https://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/10/25/filling-the-gap-between-farm-and-fair-trade
David Bornstein
The New York Times
25 October 2010
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The non-profit RootCaptital created a lending initiative in Mexico which helps mid-size rural farmers gain access to capital, skills, and consumer markets from which they would otherwise be excluded.
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/27/fixes
David Bornstein
The New York Times
27 June 2012
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Funding with too many strings attached makes it hard for non-profits to grow and be impactful. An American organization, Nonprofit Finance Fund (N.F.F.) Capital Partners division, is finding ways to finance non-profits likes companies and has already shown great success in pilot situations.
http://www.npr.org/2013/04/04/176121367/new-mortgage-program-helps-cambodias-poor-find-better-homes
Daniel Zwerdling
NPR
4 April 2013
Radio / 5-15 Minutes
An innovative program by an unusual bank allows low-income people in Cambodia to take out a 15-year fixed mortgage with little or no documentation - contradicting traditional loan assumptions and creating means for some of the country's poorest people to completely change their lives. The bank and its investors are now making a profit, and more than 700 mortgages and building loans have been provided.
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/08/outsourcing-is-not-always-evil
David Bornstein
The New York Times
8 December 2011
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The United States can outsource certain kinds of "microwork," such as accurately digitizing large swaths of information, to developing countries without taking jobs from Americans ― if it’s done carefully, and ethically, as some organizations are working to do. As the author Robert Wright has argued, we no longer live in a zero-sum world, where one person’s, or one country’s gain, must be another’s loss.
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/01/15/playing-the-odds-on-saving
Tina Rosenberg
The New York Times
15 January 2014
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Lotteries aren’t usually considered part of the solution to a savings crisis experienced across America, particularly by the nation's poor, but with more hopefuls purchasing lottery tickets than setting aside rainy day funds, one organization, Doorways to Dreams, is working to change federal and state laws to allow banks to offer prize-linked savings. In Michigan, the programs have seen some success.
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/19/green-strategies-for-the-poorest
Tina Rosenberg
The New York Times
19 November 2010
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The company that manufactures Lifestraw, a water purification device, has found a way to distribute their product to impoverished Kenyan families for free, while still making a profit. In the global carbon credit market, businesses receive carbon credits for projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions. These credits can then be sold to companies who need to offset their carbon emissions, allowing green companies to make a profit off of their small ecological footprint.
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/15/clean-water-at-no-cost-just-add-carbon-credits
Tina Rosenberg
The New York Times
15 November 2010
Text / 1500-3000 Words
The company that manufactures Lifestraw, a water purification device, has found a way to distribute their product to impoverished Kenyan families for free, while still making a profit. In the global carbon credit market, businesses receive carbon credits for projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions. These credits can then be sold to companies who need to offset their carbon emissions, allowing green companies to make a profit off of their small ecological footprint.
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