Small Business Enterprise Support

You can donate to our micro loan fund here

Approximately 20% of contributions that are not designated for a specific use are used to help women start small businesses.

In areas not served by Kiva and Oikocredit, we will encourage women to form their own Lending Circles.  Groups of five to ten women will be encouraged to form such a group.  Each woman will contribute a small amount of financial capital in her Lending Circle.  The Unity Women’s Desk will then match their funds.  These funds can then be loaned to the women of the Lending Circle.

The women will submit their business plans to their Lending Circle; the women will vote on who will receive the first loan; when the loan is repaid, they will vote on who receives the next loan.  As the Lending Circle grows and loans are repaid, the UWD will continue to match their funds and help them to grow their businesses.

If you would like to provide support for Lending Circles, see the Making Donations page.

Micro Loans

Direct Loans: We provide micro-loans to groups of 3-5 Moravian women to start or expand businesses. For a group of 3-5 Moravian women, we can loan up to $2500. The loans are interest-free and should be repaid within 5 years. Once we have loaned $3000 in any one province, we cannot loan more money to women in that province until the first loan recipients repay their loans or are making regular payments.

Lending Circles: We encourage women in Moravian Congregations to form Lending Circles. Groups of five to ten women will be encouraged to form such a group. Each woman contributes a small amount of financial capital (usually at a weekly meeting) in her Lending Circle. The women write their own constitution with rules for lending. Typically, the women will submit their business plans to their Lending Circle; the women will vote on who will receive the first loan; when the loan is repaid, they will vote on who receives the next loan. The Unity Women’s Desk will then match the money they have collected.
As the Lending Circle grows and loans are repaid, the UWD will continue to match their funds and help them to grow their businesses.

Following are some examples of Lending Circles we have supported:
Sewing school in Lake Tanganyika Province
Fishing business in Zambia
Farming business in Zambia
Hammermill business in Zambia
Transportation business in Honduras