According to Coinstar, the American household has an average of $99 in spare change lying around the house. People tend to forget about these coins, which accumulate in places like seat cushions and change jars. For about the same amount, however, a $100 loan is all it takes for a poor person to work her way out of poverty. Small change can drive big change.

On June 1st, MicroPlace.com, the online brokerage specializing in socially responsible investments that address poverty and a key collaborator with Calvert Foundation, launched Small change, Big change, a nationwide campaign that offers people a tangible, easy way to invest in the world’s working poor. The goal is to build awareness about the transformative power of microfinance, a proven solution to global poverty that involves providing small loans to the world’s working poor, and to give people the tools to make a difference.

As the key issuer on MicroPlace, Calvert Foundation is a major supporter of the campaign. Small change, Big change aims to engage everyday investors, as well as their friends and family, to make a tangible difference in reducing global poverty. The more people invest, the more funds are available to lend to more poor entrepreneurs. To encourage investors, MicroPlace will give away artisan piggy banks handcrafted by a local artist from Chile. Investors earn this gift by collecting their small change and making an investment – or encouraging their friends and family to invest – a total of $500 or more. Investors can track their impact and the impact of their friends on the campaign website, www.smallchange-bigchange.com. They can read stories about the people receiving loans and can watch their small change make big change as it empowers the poor to lift themselves out of poverty.

Investors participating in Small change, Big change have the opportunity to make a direct impact on the working poor while honoring their dignity and hardworking nature, something that charity cannot do. Investors also earn a return on their investment, which they can use to invest again and again, perpetuating a virtuous cycle that ends poverty one person at a time. As an investor, you become part of a community of socially conscious people who want to address global poverty – and have fun along the way.

When people invest through this campaign, they are participating in a fun, easy way to invest in microfinance, join forces with friends and family to get involved, and address a major social issue.

Look for Calvert Foundation offerings on MicroPlace, including options such as:

• Domestic microfinance (such as ACCION USA and ACCION Texas)
• Microfinance in Africa (such as Kenya Women Finance Trust and PRIDE-Tanzania)
• Microfinance organizations focusing on women (such as Adhikar in India and Bereke in Kazakhstan)
• And dozens more options!

> Join the Small Change, Big Change campaign

The Financial Times and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, held the FT Sustainable Banking Conference and Awards in London on June 3. Calvert Foundation was one of five finalists for the Sustainable Investor of the Year Award, which honored “ground-breaking achievement in the area of sustainable investment, recognizing specific investments, or overall investment programs with outstanding triple bottom-line results.” Congratulations to Calvert Foundation borrower E+Co for taking first place in this category. Other award categories and winners are available online.

> Read the Financial Times' Special Report on Sustainable Banking (PDF)

Calvert Foundation partners with many organizations nationwide and an ever increasing number internationally. But there are a few organizations in our portfolio, such as the OpenDoor Housing Fund, which conduct their operations right in our backyard! OpenDoor was created when two notable loan funds, the Washington Area Housing Trust Fund (WAHTF) and the Unitarian Universalist Affordable Housing Corporation (UUAHC), merged into one organization in 2007.

WAHTF and UUAHC possessed similar loan products and overall vision, thus the merger was an exceptional fit. The merger has allowed the two organizations to better access and provide for the lending needs of the Washington metropolitan affordable housing market. With the merger came a new management team, which has broadened and enhanced their vision for OpenDoor. Already the organization possesses over $17 million in lending capital and has immediately begun its lending operations, providing loans to DC area groups such as Manna in 2007. Their combined efforts have greatly benefited affordable housing organizations in this area and we are looking forward to a successful investing future.

> Learn more about OpenDoor Housing Fund

“The Critical Importance of Microfinance Investors” Featuring special guest Elizabeth Littlefield, CEO of CGAP, World Bank official and renowned expert on microfinance

TODAY, June 17th 2 pm EST/11 am PST

It’s not too late to join us for an insider conference call for Calvert Foundation investors and supporters on the current state of the microfinance industry and the growing importance of investors to its success.

Receive dial-in information by registering online or by emailing Elizabeth Sessler.

> Register online for the microfinance conference call.

It has been another great year for community investing! Thank you for your investment and support, which is so critical to connecting communities with the resources they desperately need to thrive and grow. Without you, we could have never accomplished all that we have in the last 12 years, creating more than 251,000 jobs, providing over 11,000 affordable homes, and financing over 14,500 community facilities. As part of a community of more than 3,000 investors and supporters, you have helped us bring our Community Investment Portfolio to more than $123 million invested in communities around the world.

As we approach the upcoming year, we are focusing on a survey of Calvert Foundation’s portfolio, which indicates $4 billion in need over the next five years – and this is just from the groups we have worked with. There are over 3,500 community loan funds, development corporations, and microfinance institutions, not to mention thousands of nonprofits and social enterprises ready to use this type of flexible capital. Overall, the demand for our loan capital is very high, as many of these organizations are not yet able to access formal sources of credit, although we consider them to be extremely bankable and primed for growth. There is a real opportunity here for you to help these organizations strengthen their capitalization to support further growth and impact.

Be a part of the solution! Consider purchasing or increasing your Community Investment Note. By working together, we have the opportunity to protect families living in low-income communities. Your support will get us closer to this year’s $20 million goal, needed to create 500 affordable homes, 500 community facilities and social enterprises, 5,650 small businesses and microenterprises, and 8,500 jobs.

> Download Calvert Foundation's 2007 Annual Report (PDF)
> Invest in the Community Investment Note

Perhaps the better question is whether or not microfinance is ready for individual investors! Private capital is an important source of financing for microfinance and is likely to eclipse the role currently played by development agencies. Institutional investors can and will play an important role in building out that market, investing in transactions of significant scale.

Presently, however, there are several avenues for individual investors to channel their capital in safe, reliable investment vehicles that generate modest returns. Such returns are called for when considering the costs associated with aggregating and managing retail investments and vetting and supervising global microfinance institution (MFI) portfolios. The good news is that there are a growing number of more mature MFIs that offer investors consistent financial performance.

There are already several channels available through which the general public can invest in microfinance. Dating back to 1990, the Calvert Family of Funds began investing anywhere from 1 to 3 percent of mutual fund assets into high social impact investments – including international microfinance. This went so well that in 1995, Calvert teamed up with major national foundations in the U.S. to launch Calvert Foundation as a separate nonprofit dedicated to popularizing community investment.

Calvert Foundation is the issuer of the Community Investment Note, which allows the investor to target the full value of their investment to MFIs or other U.S. community development efforts. To date, Calvert Foundation has issued more than $140 million in Community Investment Notes, with roughly a third sourced from Calvert mutual funds. The bulk of capital raised is now coming directly from more than 3,000 retail investors. The Note, which has a $1,000 minimum, is sold by broker-dealers and other financial professionals, and pays a maximum 3 percent return guaranteed by Calvert Foundation. Today, nearly 40 percent of our Note portfolio is invested in microfinance. Investing in microfinance can also now be done online (see story above about MicroPlace).

I encourage you to learn more about the critical role of individual investors in supporting microfinance. Consider joining our Insider Conference Call this afternoon. We will be welcoming guest speaker and microfinance expert Elizabeth Littlefield, who will speak about this very important issue.

> Ask Shari a question.