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The Carolina Microfinance Initiative

The Carolina Microfinance Initiative Exploring the Power of Microfinance at UNC-Chapel Hill and Around the World. What is Microcredit? . In its most basic form, microcredit is the act of providing small-dollar loans to the working poor to fund their own entrepreneurial projects .

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The Carolina Microfinance Initiative

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  1. The Carolina Microfinance Initiative Exploring the Power of Microfinance at UNC-Chapel Hill and Around the World

  2. What is Microcredit? In its most basic form, microcredit is the act of providing small-dollar loans to the working poor to fund their own entrepreneurial projects • Loans range from as small as $15 to larger sums in the thousands; Microcredit programs have a 98% return on investment! • Studies have shown that after 12 to 14 loan cycles, people living below the poverty line are either approaching it or surpassing it • Microcredit is a part of microfinance, which is the provision of a wider range of financial services to the very poor (e.g. health or home insurance) Dr. Muhammad Yunus

  3. The Carolina Microfinance Initiative CMI is a student-run organization at UNC-Chapel Hill, that strives to catalyze interest and facilitate action in microfinance on campus and in the surrounding community • CMI was founded in 2007 and is currently an active member of the Campus Y • CMI plans events and offers workshops that culminate in microfinance certification • Kenan-Flagler Business School offers a microfinance course every spring semester, taught by Dr. Lisa Jones-Christensen (BUSI 515 Social Entrepreneurship Through Microfinance)

  4. Engaging in Scholarship The Problem: As microfinance grows in popularity and donor dollars flow to MFIs, the need for skilled human capital is expanding as well CMI currently has two international partners in Africa and spent a summer working for an MFI in Peru CMI’s ultimate goal is to provide internships every summer with MFIs around the world CMI lacks a PR team to help reach out to professional MFIs and expressed a need for help in this area

  5. Our Rationale for Getting Involved • We thought these international internships would be both popular at UNC and contribute to the global education of the student body • Working with professional MFIs will provide CMI with experience in the field, and also sets a goal for members to work towards throughout the year • This project was compatible with our skill sets and provided us with the opportunity to gain experience for a good cause

  6. Delivering the Goods Our ultimate goal was to create an informative press kit that CMI could send to professional MFIs to initiate dialogue about potential future partnerships • Our Project consists of the following: • 1.) An Annotated Bibliography • This helped us to determine an effective communications strategy that CMI could implement • 2.) A Press Kit • This provides a wealth of knowledge about CMI and is ready to be sent to MFIs, preferably in an online format • E.g. Press release, backgrounder, fact sheet, committee bios, pitch letter

  7. Stakeholder Analysis We also chose to create a Stakeholder Analysis in order to give CMI a better understanding of the various target publics to whom they are responsible and must always consider

  8. The Evolution of Engaged Scholarship Expanded our focus to study CMI’s stakeholders and how to effectively reach them through informational/promotional materials Reached out to CMI and their needs seemed feasible and achievable Started out examining CMI’s website and how we could improve it to help promote the group Our final product includes: an annotated bibliography with suggestions for their website, stakeholder analysis and a press kit Started out planning to work with an MFI

  9. “When it is dark, you can see the stars” • The Primary Challenges we faced included: • What actually constituted Engaged Scholarship • Where our skills could best be put to use to help CMI • What exactly we needed to include in order to fulfill the assignment • Time constraints and working this project in around our already busy schedules

  10. Engaged Scholarship & the Future Our project involves a combination of academic research and community driven activism • All of our suggestions are founded upon scholarly sources, drawn from academic communications and public relations journals • With this foundation, we were able to analyze and determine what strategies CMI should implement to achieve its goals • We aligned the academic and social components of engaged scholarship by utilizing our research to create an informative press kit • By helping CMI to increase their professional partnerships, we hope that this progressive student organization will in turn assist the larger community in growing the microfinance industry around the world

  11. Thank You Any Questions?

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