Small Change Changes the World

If the turbulent economy has you ready to stuff your mattress with your savings, here’s how to get a better return for your money — while helping to alleviate global poverty to boot. MicroPlace (microplace.com), an eBay-owned business, connects the working poor to would-be lenders, allowing you to invest as little as $20 to get a one to three percent return on your investment — a better rate than offered by many savings accounts.

MicroPlace uses your money to fund organizations that make loans to people working to lift themselves out of poverty. Like the popular micro-lending site Kiva.org, MicroPlace lets you select investments that matter to you, narrowing the focus by country, gender or other factors. But unlike Kiva, MicroPlace investors get a return on their money, thanks to its broker-dealer license with the SEC. Plus, repayment rates for microfinance borrowers are high, averaging 97 percent historically.

And this holiday season, MicroPlace is offering Gifts for Change, a smart and socially conscious alternative to materialistic consumerism. Just make an investment in honor of someone you care about, and your honoree will get a hand-crafted Chilean artisan piggy bank — along with a note about the power of microfinance. In the New Year, your loved one can save up the change in the bank to make a new microloan, paying your gift forward.

— Siel


Source: commongroundmag.com