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What E4C Provides

Magnetize Entrepreneurs

Education for Social Entrepreneurs

Access to Funding and Capital

Enterpreneurs4Change operates a two-tier access to capital initiative under the banner of its Lending4Change program.

Tier-One – Neighbor-to-Neighbor Guarantee Loans

Approved Social Entrepreneurs, Veterans, and social businesses can arrange to receive loans guaranteed through our Neighbor-to-Neighbor program. In this instance, Friends, family or investors can make a deposit into a share-based escrow account within one of our local Lending4Change Network Community Credit Unions and receive a local market rate loan that is wholly guaranteed by the aggregated deposit. Applicants for these loans can place their business plans and needs on the Lending4Change website and community members can then deposit their guarantees accordingly. Guarantors receive simple interest on their escrowed guarantees, but understand their deposit is at risk. It is for this reason that the neighbor-to- neighbor program connects and encourages guarantors and social entrepreneurs to work together to create a successful and fully-supported enterprise.

In addition, Entrepreneurs4Change is proud to announce a pilot funding program in California with Kiva.Org – the original and premier peer-to-peer lending program in the world.

Tier-Two – Foundational Impact Investment Pool Loan-Guarantee Program

Eligible social and veteran businesses are connected to local Lending4Change Network Community Credit Unions and are pre-approved to enter this tier of access to capital and potentially receive a loan at local market rates to further their business development. These loans can range from $5,000 to $50,000 or more and are based on a set of criteria not necessarily tied to credit history or personal collateral. Those social and veteran entrepreneurs who have not been pre-approved through our Tier-one Igniter program can still obtain an FIIP loan, but must pass through a more detailed set of criteria established by our Credit Union partners and their loan application process. While note pre-approved, these loans are still far more attractive than conventional business loans.

On-Going Nurturing and Support

Every business concern requires community support to sell their goods and services and to operate successfully. At Entrepreneurs4Change that support comes through a variety of different avenues.

• Within our neighbor-to-neighbor loan guarantee program, all loan-guarantors are encouraged to work directly with the social businesses they have helped fund.
• We use volunteer student support from our local university partners as well as business-related professors and local business leaders who volunteer to teach portions of our training curriculum. These individuals often stay with and continue to help the entrepreneurs they are originally assigned to beyond the business development phase.
• Entrepreneurs4Change utilizes both volunteer and reduced-cost paid consultants who wish to make their services available to social entrepreneurs.
• We also connect local small business owners together with start-up social businesses to help these social entrepreneurs create their own customer community. In do so, these local business owners build a stronger local economy which in turn improves all local businesses.