Microcredit is the extension of very small loans (microloans) to impoverished borrowers who typically lack collateral, steady employment, or a verifiable credit history. It is designed to support entrepreneurship and alleviate poverty. Many recipients are illiterate, and therefore unable to complete paperwork required to get conventional loans. As of 2009 an estimated 74 million people held microloans that totaled US$38 billion. Grameen Bank reports that repayment success rates are between 95 and 98 percent.
The Hunger Project (THP) is an organization committed to the sustainable end of world hunger. It has ongoing programs in Africa, Asia and Latin America, where it implements programs aimed at mobilizing rural grassroots communities to achieve sustainable progress in health, education, nutrition and family income. THP is a 501(c)(3) non-profit charitable organization incorporated in the state of California.
Freedom from Hunger is an international development organization working in nineteen different countries. Freedom from Hunger is a nonprofit, nongovernmental, nonsectarian organization classified by the IRS as a 501(c)(3) charity.
Kiva Microfunds is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that allows people to lend money via the Internet to low-income entrepreneurs and students in over 80 countries. Kiva's mission is "to connect people through lending to alleviate poverty."
RSF Social Finance, located in San Francisco, California, is one of very few orgs actively seeking to and investing towards, a transformation of how we view and use money.
Dustin Aaron Moskovitz is an American Internet entrepreneur who co-founded Facebook with Mark Zuckerberg, Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum and Chris Hughes. In 2008, he left Facebook to co-found Asana with Justin Rosenstein. In March 2011, Forbes reported Moskovitz to be the youngest self-made billionaire in history, on the basis of his 2.34% share in Facebook.
Malaria Consortium is an international non-profit organisation specialising in the comprehensive control of malaria and other communicable diseases – particularly those affecting children under five. Its headquarters are in the United Kingdom, with regional offices in Africa and Asia, and country offices in Cambodia, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nigeria, South Sudan, Thailand, and Uganda. Malaria Consortium has until recently also worked in Ghana, Senegal, and Zambia.
PossibleHealth is a non-governmental organization (NGO) that delivers healthcare through public-private partnership agreements with the Government of Nepal. The organization currently manages healthcare in Achham, a district in the Far Western region of Nepal in partnership with the Nepali government's Ministry of Health and Population. Since 2008, Possible has treated over 275,000 patients in rural Nepal through a durable healthcare system of government hospitals, clinics, and community health workers.
The Mulago Foundation is a private foundation focused on high impact philanthropy: investing in charities and philanthropic opportunities that have the highest impact. The foundation was originally envisioned by Rainer Arnhold, a San Francisco pediatrician and philanthropist, who taught at Mulago Hospital, Uganda. The foundation was officially created by his brother Henry Arnhold after Rainer Arnhold's death in 1993.
Living Goods is a non-profit organization operating in Uganda, Kenya, and Myanmar. Its goal is to build a sustainable distribution platform for products designed to fight poverty and disease in the developing world. Living Goods operates networks of independent entrepreneurs who make a living by selling medicines and products to poor people that can help improve their health, wealth, and productivity. Living Goods borrows from successful direct selling models like Avon Products, Amway and Tupperware. The project aims to be fully self-funded at scale.
The Peery Foundation is a private foundation based in Palo Alto, California, US, that focuses on high impact philanthropy. According to its website, it "primarily invests in early to mid-stage social entrepreneurs who are effectively addressing the issues of poverty." It funds local organizations in the Bay Area as well as organizations working to combat poverty and its ill-effects worldwide.
Unconditional cash transfer (UCT) programs aim to reduce poverty by providing welfare programs without any conditions upon the receivers' actions. This differentiates them from conditional cash transfers where the government only transfers the money to persons who meet certain criteria. Unconditional cash transfers have developed on the premise that giving cash to citizens allows them to have autonomy over their own lives.
The Deworm the World Initiative is a program led by the nonprofit Evidence Action that works to support governments in developing school-based deworming programs in Kenya, India, Ethiopia, and Vietnam.
Development Media International (DMI) is an non-governmental organization with both non-profit and for-profit arms that "use[s] scientific modelling combined with mass media campaigns in order to save the greatest number of lives in the most cost-effective way".
The Humane League (THL) is a nonprofit organization that works to reduce the suffering of farm animals through online advertising, Meatless Monday campaigns, and corporate outreach. It creates reports through the Humane League Labs, which evaluates advocacy presentation and methods and publishes them as reports. One of these reports includes a study showing how distributing leaflets at colleges affects diet change. It was founded in 2005 in Philadelphia.
The Albert Schweitzer Foundation for Our Contemporaries (ASF) is an animal protection organization focused on reducing the suffering of farmed animals. Its activities include campaigns to change corporate animal welfare policies and spreading information about vegetarianism and veganism.
