The Carolina Microfinance InitiativeExploring the Power of Microfinance at UNC-Chapel Hill and Around the World

•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)

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

Dr. Muhammad Yunus

The Carolina Microfinance InitiativeCMI 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)

Engaging in ScholarshipThe 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

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

Delivering the GoodsOur 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

Individuals and Organizations with a Stake in the Project

Participation Required for Success

Participation Could Assist with Success

Support/Approval Required for Success

Support/Approval Could Assist with Success

Kiva X X

Executive Board Members

X X

Campus Y X X

Faculty Advisors X X

Other Professional Microfinance Organizations

X X

UNC Campus X X

DTH Newspaper X X

Donors X X

CMI members X X

Stakeholder AnalysisWe 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

The Evolution of Engaged Scholarship

Reached out to CMI and their needs seemed

feasible and achievable

Started out planning to work

with an MFI

Expanded our focus to study CMI’s stakeholders and how to effectively reach them through

informational/promotional materials

Our final product includes: an annotated

bibliography with suggestions for their website, stakeholder

analysis and a press kit

Started out examining CMI’s website and how we could improve it to

help promote the group

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

“When it is dark, you can see the stars”

Engaged Scholarship & the Future

• 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

Our project involves a combination of academic research and community driven activism

Thank YouAny Questions?