caseyolynyk's photostream

casey olynyk To provide loans, equity or both to risky ventures using untested technology and/or producing untested products, either to new companies or existing companies for balancing, modernization or expansion; What donor information does CanadaHelps collect and how is it used? The CanadaHelps donation system collects the donor's name, e-mail address, mailing address, and credit card information. Once a donation is made, the donor information (except for credit card information) is available to your charity and only to your charity, unless the donor chooses to remain anonymous. We keep this same donor information on file only to satisfy our own auditing requirements. CanadaHelps does not sell or trade donor information. For more information about donor privacy, please read our privacy statement here: www.canadahelps.org/InfoPages/PrivacyHome.aspx . Where do MFIs get the money for loans? Grameen Foundation provides funding for MFIs through direct loans, grants, loan guarantees and other innovative financing techniques. Other funding comes from individuals, philanthropists, foundations, and governments and international institutions such as the World Bank. MFIs also borrow funds from traditional banks to loan to their clients. In addition, the interest paid by clients on microfinance loans goes back into the program to cover costs and fund more loans. Microfinance, the Grameen way, includes several support systems that contribute greatly to its success. Microfinance institutions offer business advice and counseling, while clients provide peer support for each other through solidarity circles. For example, if a client falls ill, her circle helps with her business until she is well. If a client gets discouraged, the support group pulls her through. This contributes substantially to the extremely high repayment rate of loans made to microfinance entrepreneurs. CASEY OLYNYK IDEAS Who issues the donor a tax receipt, and how is it sent? CanadaHelps issues the tax receipt - all you have to do is donor recognition and thanks. CanadaHelps uses it's own charitable business number for receipting purposes. The receipt clearly indicates the charity the donation was designated for and the amount donated. Within minutes of making the donation, the donor will receive the electronic tax receipt emailed to them. The donor can then save and print this receipt at any time to use for income tax purposes. As per Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) regulations, the official receipt is in an unalterable PDF format. Your charity cannot issue a receipt to the donor. read about: casey olynyk casey olynyk blog: Can very poor people actually start and run a successful business? Absolutely. Many poor people have skills that can quickly become an income producing activity. With small sums of money, they are able to purchase the inventory, supplies and tools needed to start or expand microbusinesses that range from weaving, sewing, grinding grain, reselling produce, and growing and selling vegetables, to catching and selling fishing, wholesaling dried fish, raising chickens to sell eggs, and breeding livestock. We also help the rural poor start technology microbusinesses, such as selling cell phone time to other villagers, which also provides valuable means of communications and access to vital information. casey olynyk news These small ventures can grow into vibrant community businesses. One microentrepreneur in the Philippines dried fish caught by her husband and sold them to local markets. The demand grew quickly and she then hired her neighbors to help. Now, nearly 20 neighbors earn an income from her family fish business, and her entire community is benefiting.(see more about: casey olynyk) casey olynyk future plans Why should I donate to Grameen Foundation? By donating to Grameen Foundation, you will change lives by supporting a proven strategy that empowers the world’s poorest people to escape poverty. Grameen Foundation relies on the generosity of private contributions to replicate the success of Grameen Bank around the world. And, Grameen Foundation’s innovative financing strategies multiply the impact of your donation. NEWS ABOUT: CASEY OLYNYK To promote or develop enterprises having prospects for export or import substitution that will use indigenous raw materials, provide extensive employment to the rural poor and/or help upgrade the skills of the rural or urban poor. SEE MORE ABOUT: CASEY OLYNYK READ ABOUT: CASEY OLYNYK: Mission Statement - It's difficult to summarize the essence of a volunteer-based charity such as Medical Mercy Canada, active on two sides of the planet and running small-scale projects. The board of directors has drafted the following overview, a work-in-progress: casey olynyk ideas Making a donation is simple: a donor chooses a charity (or charities), identifies any special requests associated with that gift (memorial designations, specific project requests, frequency of gift, Gift Card, etc.), and begins the checkout (or payment) process. Once the donation has been paid for, the donor receives an immediate, secure PDF tax receipt, issued by CanadaHelps, by email. CanadaHelps then disburses the funds (less a 3% transaction fee) to the designated charity, along with any special requests associated with that gift, and in the manner the donor specified at checkout. casey olynyk description CASEY OLYNYK DESCRIPTION: Record Achievement - Common Interest has started 2007 with 415 members and a loan fund of over 3 million baht ($90 000 USD). We are quite proud of our organization and the growth that we have achieved in less than 2 years! We have some large plans in the works for this year. Besides the test farm program that we have started, we are creating an online program which will help to automate most of our operations. We also have a unique investment program that we plan to showcase sometime in the middle of the year. Stay tuned! CASEY OLYNYK To provide equity finance to the entrepreneurs without capacity to mobilize capital and/or collateral trying to setup innovative projects which holds promise for future growth and have direct or indirect impact on poverty alleviation, with preference to businesses concentrating in information and communication technologies and bio-engineering; CASEY OLYNYK NEWS Mission: relieve suffering and improve quality of life through the direct provision of supplies, education and services to medical facilities and schools for overlooked and impoverished areas of the world. casey olynyk more about I am interested in your Capital Management Advisory Center. What does it do? Originally called the Capital Markets Group, the Capital Management and Advisory Center supports the rapid expansion of poverty-focused MFIs around the world by tapping into the vast resources of the financial and capital markets. In addition to financial products, such as the Growth Guarantee Program, CMAC also advises MFI management teams on specific transactions and provides standardized tools and training on investment readiness, negotiating financing and long-term planning.(CASEY OLYNYK INFO) CASEY OLYNYK PUBLIC PROFILE How can I get involved? In order to extend the reach of microfinance to more of the world’s impoverished families, Grameen Foundation relies largely on private donations. Grameen Foundation’s community of individual donors, foundations and institutions is a tremendous network. But we need many more to fulfill a goal of reaching five million families by 2008. For information on how to give and other ways to get involved, visit the Get Involved section. CASEY OLYNYK INFO Does CanadaHelps.org screen the charities it lists? CanadaHelps lists every charity approved by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), the charity regulator in Canada.(CASEY OLYNYK FUTURE PLANS) CASEY OLYNYK PLANS Recognizing the benefits of online giving to both donors and charities, CanadaHelps launched its first website in 2000. Today, more than five years later, CanadaHelps facilitates over $10 million in donations to Canadian charities annually.(CASEY OLYNYK BLOG) casey olynyk future ideas How did Grameen Foundation get started? We sprang from a rich heritage – Grameen Bank of Bangladesh and Professor Muhammad Yunus, the founder and managing director of Grameen Bank. Credited with launching the global "microfinance movement," Professor Yunus first experienced the promise of microfinance in 1976 by making very small loans with the money in his own pockets to very poor women in Bangladesh. In launching Grameen Foundation in 1997, Professor Yunus challenged us to deliver the promise of microfinance around the world. Grameen Foundation was established by Alex Counts, our founding and current president. We continue and highly value our close relationship with Professor Yunus and Grameen Bank. Professor Yunus remains a valued member of our board of directors. info: casey olynyk In recognition of innovation in financial services for very poor clients, Grameen Foundation was awarded the Pro-Poor Innovation Award by the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) for our work on the Village Phone Program. The Pro-Poor Innovation Challenge (PPIC) gives awards up to $50,000 to microfinance organizations that have developed innovative methodologies to deepen poverty outreach and impact. CASEY OLYNYK FUTURE IDEAS I’ve heard that MFIs charge a high rate of interest for the loans. Is that so? Like other financial institutions, microfinance institutions (MFIs) charge interest for the loans they make to their clients. The interest covers the high cost of making very small loans and personally servicing each client every week. It also covers the cost of managing the “center meetings”; the peer support group process; and providing information on social services, personal development, health and other critical information that helps clients improve their lives and the future of their families. Their rates are also largely influenced by the rates MFIs themselves pay for borrowing the funds that they in turn lend to their clients. MFI interest rates can range from 18 to 60 percent, depending on the conditions in each MFI’s service area. Without microfinance programs, the most common alternative for very poor people is the local “money lenders,” who regularly charge between 120 and 300 percent(casey olynyk profile) READ ABOUT: CASEY OLYNYK CASEY OLYNYK PROFILE: Grameen Shikkha/Education - Grameen Shikkha is a company in the family of Grameen companies. Established in 1997 its main objectives are to promote mass education in rural areas, provide financial support in the form of loans and grants for the purpose of education, use IT for alleviation of illiteracy and evelopment of education, promote new technologies and innovate ideas and methods for development of education etc. Grameen Shikkha has been conducting Life Oriented Education Program, Pre-school/Child Development Program, Early Childhood Development Program and Arsenic Mitigation Program in various districts of Bangladesh. news about: casey olynyk We are also increasing MFI efficiency by setting up management information systems that enable them to provide more client services, and through our Mifos project, we are also developing a universal, flexible management information system to help MFIs standardize operations, and process very large numbers of microloans and other financial services. In addition, we are creating a new tool to help MFIs track the progress of their clients – from their first loan to their final step out of poverty. CASEY OLYNYK PROFILE INFO: CASEY OLYNYK: Why do you describe yourself as "innovative"? Grameen Foundation is at the forefront of using technology, capital market funding strategies, and other pioneering initiatives in the global fight against poverty. Our Grameen Technology Center focuses on developing breakthrough applications for information and communications technology to enhance the entire microfinance industry. One great success is our Village Phone program which connects villagers in remote areas to information about market prices for their agricultural goods, government services, health care, and family members. casey olynyk profile In addition, MFI staff members share vital information and resources to improve their clients’ well being. This might include bringing in local nurses to provide health and nutrition counseling, or providing help with literacy. .(SEE MORE ABOUT: CASEY OLYNYK) READ ABOUT CASEY OLYNYK There seems to be a lot of new developments in the field of micro-credit here in Thailand. Within the past two weeks, we have been contacted by 4 different institutions/NGOs asking us for assistance, advice or partnerhips in micro-credit in Thailand. Micro-credit has been receiving a lot of coverage in the local news which has made the Thai government even more interested in the topic. This past week, the Thailand Development Research Institute visited our office as part of their research. They have been hired by the Thai government to create a policy for micro-credit in Thailand. We were happy to participate in their work. One NGO has asked us to be available for 16 foreign journalists arriving this month and two other NGOs have asked us for advice or even a partnership with our micro-credit programs. We're excited about these changes and recognition that micro-credit is receiving in the country. casey olynyk plans Connecting microfinance institutions with capital markets - Our Capital Management and Advisory Center is harnessing the vast resources of local and international capital markets to bring new financial resources to our microfinance institution partners. With more than 400 million poor people cut off from financial services, there is a huge, unmet need for microfinance. To reach them, MFIs need capital beyond the traditional philanthropic support to rapidly expand their operations and increase outreach. read about casey olynyk news about: casey olynyk: Do I have to pay my own way overseas? Since 1992 Medical Mercy Canada volunteers have traveled annually to the Thai Burma - India Burma border and rural Ukraine, providing medical aid and instruction, distributing donated supplies and funds, and following up on our ongoing projects. All those who go on Medical Mercy Canada trips pay 100% of their own expenses including airfare.