Final Call for Women's Opportunity Microcredit Donations

In around 12 hours on June 30th I will be passing on your generous donations to Opportunity International Australia.

Last week I rang them and told them that around $5,000 was raised.

Today I sent them a note and told them it was now $7,000.

WOW - thank you!

Over the next 12 hours, will you help me to make it closer to AU$10,000 so that this Trust Group program in the Philippines can begin straight away? Each one of your donations counts. After all that's how we reached AU$7,000 :)



Your donations will help up to 30 Filipinos (mostly women) to get out of poverty through a 2 year program helping them to set up businesses. Women like Calma Arcala, an Opportunity International client who now sells mushrooms to bring a secure income in for her family. In fact since starting the program with Opportunity Australia she now owns a mushroom farm and employs 5 other people from her village!

Please make your donation prior to midday AEST.

A story about a fundraiser

Alphabet Stories

Fuze Tell A Story Contest
if you enjoyed these slides please add your vote before June 22nd, 11.59 PM PST.

Contribute to a Life Changing Microfinance Project in June

Over the last several months I have been inviting my online social network to be involved in creative projects to help raise funds and awareness for an Opportunity International Australia Trust Group project against poverty. This month of June is my last month to raise funds for a non profit project I really believe in.

I value the work Opportunity is doing because it helps people to get out of poverty using a long term, life changing solution. You may know what it feels like to start your own business and how you grow as you learn newfound confidence, skills and abilities. Microfinance is all about empowering the entrepreneurial poor currently living in poverty, by providing them business loans to start their own small businesses.

This $10,000 two year Trust Group program not only provides small business loans to a group of 15 - 30 Filipinos (mostly women) but also supports them with a Loan Officer who meets with them weekly to provide business training, build relationships and enable their community to break the poverty cycle and improve living conditions. As a result they can provide basic needs for their families, develop stronger communities and improve vital education and resources such as better sanitation in their villages. This is a life changing program!

Since September '08 over thirty generous individuals and companies around the world have made donations varying from $1 to $1000 on my fundraising Chipin site, which has so far raised $4,000 towards a AUD$10,000 (approx USD$7,500) two year program. Now that I only have a month left to raise funds, I am asking for your support to help me raise the remaining $6,000. All funds raised will go towards a Trust Group in the Philippines.

Will you be part of this global fundraising effort to help make a difference for a group of women in a small village, currently living on less than $2 a day? Together we can help to make a big change for those who need to find a way out of poverty.

Please donate by June 31st using paypal or credit card on my Chipin site, or email wonderwebby at gmail dot com if you would prefer to pay via direct deposit. Donations made by Australian residents or businesses are tax deductible.

I am really, really thankful and grateful for your support! On behalf of the families in the Philippines, thank you!

Tribute: how your blog post can raise $1000 for people living in poverty

I have some great news to share with you! Over the next week Melbourne based business Incentive House will be contributing up to $1000 towards an Opportunity International microfinance fundraiser by donating $100 for every blog post you write for a special project.

First a quick background about how this happened. Last week, out of the blue, I received a tweet from Incentive House asking to discuss my fundraising project and how they could contribute.You see, many years ago the owner had visited the Philippines and witnessed people living in a rubbish tip. The devastating image of poverty never left him.

Images originally uploaded by Simon Oosterman

Within days I met the directors of Incentive House for the first time and shared an idea for a blogging challenge I already had in mind, then we came up with this project! They are really supportive of this fundraising initiative for a group of entrepreneurial poor in the Philippines - which also reflects their business about rewarding success and "giving inspiration to those with aspirations". So let me tell you about this exciting project.

TRIBUTE - a creative fundraising challenge for Australian bloggers.

Between now and the end of March, the generous folks at Incentive House will donate AU$100 for each "Tribute" blog post (up to a total of $1,000) So if ten people can write a post each, you will generate a total of $1,000 towards a group microfinance project in the Philippines!

Here's how to do it:
1. Create a TRIBUTE blog post between now and the end of March 2009.
The entrepreneurial poor in the Philippines are an incredible bunch of individuals who are rising up out of poverty and circumstances to develop their small businesses. The small banks and organisations like Opportunity International Australia who provide them with the loans, training and programs are equally doing a wonderful thing by creating opportunities to end the poverty cycle and impact whole communities. So this is your opportunity to create a Tribute to the entrepreneurial poor. For instance, you may choose write about the benefit of microfinance projects, the women who take the initiative to start their businesses to help feed and clothe their families, or you could share a personal experience about reducing poverty in the Philippines. You could even pay tribute by simply writing a poem or sharing a photo to honour these women.

2. Please leave a comment on this blog post to let me know you have written something for the Tribute project.

3. It would be great if you could mention that I am raising funds for an Opportunity International Filipino Trust Bank on http://wonderwebby.chipin.com so that others can consider making a donation to this important cause between now and the end of June.

I will write a follow up post early April linking to the contributors and letting you know that your contribution has resulted in a donation by Incentive House :)

Stuck for words? Here are some links:

• The similarities and differences between Opportunity International and Kiva
• A YouTube clip explaining microfinance aka microlending
• Some slides I made to explain Trust Banks
• Some information about poverty in the Philippines

I am so excited about this initiative and look forward to reading your Tributes to help raise $1000 via the generous folks at Incentive House. And of course even once we reach the target of ten Australian blog posts to raise $1,000 you can still join in with this project just to help spread the word about making a difference with the entrepreneurial poor!

About Incentive House and the Reward Yourself Card. Incentive House is creating opportunities for business to motivate their staff, through their latest innovative corporate reward product, the multi-store Reward Yourself Card. The Reward Card operates like a debit card, through invited 'aspirational' retailers eftpos terminals. See www.rewardyourself.com.au for further information.

Hopeful

It's nearly three months into my Women's Opportunity Ambassadorship already. I have been learning about the way microfinance works, how trust banks work and how donations can be "recycled" once loans have been paid off.

I have discovered the incredible strength of these women in the Philippines, their ability to rise above their circumstances and desire to see a better life for themselves, their children, and their communities.

I consider it a real honour to be involved with this project, on behalf of these families in the Philippines. It's not easy either. I'm learning about fundraising, about using social media for fundraising and awareness and trying to find ways to get the word out.

I appreciate every bit of advice I get, from people like Gavin Heaton who gave me some timely social media marketing advice for the Slideshare project. I am amazed how, in the last three months, people from Scotland, USA, Australia, Sydney, Spain and the UK have contributed to be a voice for these women through their participation in creative projects on this site and even financially. It amazes me even more, because it has happened so easily despite my circumstance of being a busy part time working mum with young children in Australia, far away from many of you.

And now there are only two weeks left for people to create a simple response to the Beyond creative challenge. It's a busy time of year, and perhaps the topic is a little complicated for this intense time of year. Still, I'm hopeful that a few more interesting stories, thoughts, photos and even tweets will appear in the next two weeks :)

Please give these women the gift of five minutes. Set aside some time in your day, grab a hot cuppa and think about what it means to think "beyond". I'm sure you'll come up with some great examples, once you put aside a few minutes. You can read more details to get you thinking in the original post. It's a small thing you can do, to help create hope for people who are desperate to work their way out of poverty.

Getting to ten thousand

I haven't done much fundraising before. So, when I agreed to raise AU$10,000 for a Trust Bank in the Philippines, I faced the challenge of finding ways to raise so much money by the end of June next year. I still do!

Image originally uploaded by ModifiedEnzyme

Well so far a few contributions have amounted to US$200, which is around $300 Australian dollars. So I figure, all I need is um, around 600 people to donate US$10 (or 300 of you to donate US$20) and a whole community in the Philippines will be impacted!

The Group Slideshare project was a nice start to generate some awareness and raise a little bit of money. I'll be putting on my thinking cap - maybe auctioning a twenty year old edition of Warhol's Interview magazine on eBay. A blogging challenge. A reward. Stay tuned for the next creative fundraising challenge and more stories about women from previous projects in the Philippines.

A successful Trust Bank, the Dadda Group in the Philippines.
Image courtesy of Opportunity International

Oh - and please remember to donate (via Paypal or creditcard) or share this project with others. Donations of $2 or more are tax deductible (I will be arranging receipts quarterly)

Thank you!