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Corporate Social 2.0 - Social Responsibility and Microfinance
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With more and more corporates going for going for social responsibility, even the online space is yearning for more. We had earlier blogged on how Google has donated 3.5 million dollars on eradicating polio. I have seen so many individuals who have been interested in giving back to the society in some way or the other. Have you never thought that the beggar at the traffic signal who asks you for a penny could be benefited in such a way that she becomes self-dependent in future?
It could be through:
1.Giving her some money(may be 10000 bucks) ,so that she could buy may be a buffalo of her own and she then supplying milk in the neighbourhood.
2. A Self Help Group (SHG) consisting of some rural women taking an initiative to supply handbags in the adjoining areas( I have known of such a project Saksham started by some mates at College)
3. Training some unemployed staff in the rural areas or tier 4 cities to do data entry, form processing and even medical transcriptions (outsourcing this to tier 2/3 cities is becoming unfeasible for BPO’s and one of the alumni at my College who runs sourcepilani has successfully put through this model.)
Concept of microfinance become popular in 1990’s with Grameen bank coming out with a useful model in Bangladesh and Mohammd Yunus winning the Nobel prize for it. Even an Indian firm SKS microfinance came into the news after it got 11.5 Million from Sequoia capital.
Its time for microfinance to go online with startups like Dhanax and Pie Microfinance enabling general users to make their little contribution and help those who need it . And its no non-profit stuff, all these are pure profit making firms. To quote from the dhanax website “Your money deposited in the savings account of a bank may fetch you anything between 2% to 3% in interest. A fixed deposit may earn you an interest of close to 8%. On the other hand, small entrepreneurs in need of micro credit pay anything between 24% to 60% as annual interest on loans to money lenders and loan sharks.”
And their concept is simple, they partner with reputed MFI’s.and NGO’s, that look at the economic needs of the poor, analyse the local situation and bring out such profit making models which could be mutually beneficial for the investor(you ) and the poor economically. As the dhanx website says “When you assume the role of a lender, your money transforms into capital which, apart from empowering individuals from the lower economic stratum, also earns you a greater return on investment.”
For all those who have always wanted to give back to the society , these firms now give you that platform which is not only is profitable but comes out as an overall gratifying experience for you as a lender.
In my second year of college even we had devised a business model addressing the school dropout rate in India( 91% currently) using microfinance as a model( we even were finalists at IIM Ahemadabad). I must tell you from personal experience that the feeling that your model or your effort has the potential to change so many lives altogether is really satisfying but the challenge will always be to go out there in the field, implement it and be the change maker.
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your article on CSR& MF is very live. We have been witnessing widening gap between rich and poor. Poverty not only in term of lack of money, but denial of basic right to live. In view of globalization many poor loosing their lands and livelihoods. MF may look at only financial aspect, but social aspects are much needed. CSR is not creating or giving money to the people. Eg a chemical factory dumping their waste into open place is not CSR.
However your article states your efforts towards CSR hope you would continue your efforts all the best
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