Introducing The Microlending Fund to Businesses Engaged in Helping the Developing World

Portland, OR, May 31, 2012 --(PR.com)-- Social good is no longer a term synonymous with non-profit organizations and philanthropists, as it has grown to become a part of the business culture as well. More and more businesses today are realizing that aside for the goal of profitability, their communities and their customer base are demanding more than just bottom line numbers. People want to see the businesses that they support do their part in helping society.

There are many ways that businesses choose to give back to their communities. Some organize company retreats where employees can volunteer at a local shelter or kitchen. Some donate their services at low-costs or pro-bono to those in need. Some auction off their goods and services and donate the proceeds. Most commonly, businesses engage indirectly in social work by donating money directly to the non-profit of their choice.

The Microlending Fund (TMF) aims to provide another option for businesses to give back: microlending. Microlending is defined as “the extension of very small loans (microloans) to poor borrowers, designed to spur entrepreneurship, increase incomes, and alleviate poverty.” Microlending aims to give those in need a “hand up, not hand out” by lending capital to people who wish to help themselves through entrepreneurship and hard work.

Through microlending, businesses are able to lend directly to developing world entrepreneurs. This direct lending allows The Microlending Fund to provide their business clients with very specific and detailed progress on the direct good that their capital has created. They provide this data to businesses through personalized monthly newsletters, which can then distribute among customer employees and clients, to keep their efforts in front of the eyes of their community and customers. Furthermore, because the money is loaned to the poor, the businesses even receive your original loan amount back. The Microlending Fund was developed to answer the call of 21st century social responsibility.

The goal of The Microlending Fund is: To engage business owners in the world of microlending as a mode for your business to fulfill your social responsibility. Further, The Microlending Fund acts almost like a “charitable PR” firm in that they write newsletters on firms' behalf for distribution among their clients to showcase their work. TMF's current customers laud the ability to do social good, save bottom-line capital, and engage their entire client base, something they mentioned was difficult to do through traditional charitable donation.

The Microlending Fund was founded in 2010 and within a year, helped over 100 businesses loan over $150,000 to developing-world entrepreneurs.

The Microlending Fund’s founders are no strangers to building a growing and stable business. In 2003, they created and bootstrapped an accounting software called Emochila.com. Emochila was a website development and bookkeeping file-trading tool for the CPA and accounting industry. The founders were engaged in most every structural decision from its inception through late 2011, whence the company was acquired by the multi-billion dollar corporation, Thomson Reuters.

The Microlending Fund was originally founded as “Accountants for Social Good” during the final full year of Emochila’s operations, in 2010. The founders believed it was time to create a venue for accounting firms to engage in social lending and hopefully, create a trickle-down through the hundreds of millions of people who utilize CPAs and accountants each year. Though the name was different, the principal was identical, and The Microlending Fund has built a successful reputation of managing the social presence of hundreds of CPA firms. The Microlending Fund currently ranks in the Top Ten of “Total Amount Loaned” for all Businesses on the popular microlending website, Kiva.org. The Microlending Fund is a firm dedicated to introducing and engaging the business community through loans to the developing world.