MICROCAPITAL STORY: Gates Foundation Matches Rotary and Caster Foundation to Donate $600,000 to Opportunity International

USD 600,000 was raised by a cooperation between Opportunity International, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Caster Foundation, and Rotary Clubs throughout the USA and Canada. The fundraising effort was initiated with an offer by the Gates Foundation to match and double funds raised for Opportunity International, up to a total donation of USD 400,000 by the Foundation. Thirty-six Rotary Clubs in and around San Diego, as well as clubs in Calgary, Canada and The Caster Foundation, joined this initiative to raise a total of USD 600,000 for Opportunity International, a network of partners and institutions that facilitate microfinance, microinsurance and microsavings globally. Bink Cook, co-chair of San Diego Rotary’s Microcredit Committee spoke of Rotary’s motivation to get involved saying that this was, “an ideal opportunity to collaborate in a major program with global impact“. The funds will be distributed by Opportunity International as microloans through their lending facilities in Ghana, where they have 117 thousand active clients and have already loaned USD 98.8 million. Opportunity International currently operates in ten African countries.

Opportunity International has received grants and loans from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in the past, including a USD 24.2 million grant in February 2008 to its MicroInsurance subsidiary, and prior to that they received a USD 5.4 million grant and USD 10 million loan to fund the start up and expansion of microfinance banks throughout five African countries. The loan will be repaid over ten years at one percent interest. The Gates Foundation has also provided microfinance grants to MicroSave India (USD 6.3 million), a research and market-led microfinance organization based in India, as well as MercyCorps (USD 19.4 million), an international non-governmental organization that works in the area of poverty and development.

The Rotary Club, a philanthropic “service club”, began in 1905 and initially began fundraising for microfinance in 2004 for an initiative in India. In December 2007 Rotary International President Wilfred Wilkinson said that the Rotary Club “would be glad” to provide matching and 3H Grants to its clubs that would are willing to start their own microcredit groups. 3H grants are “Health, Hunger and Humanity Grants” and are awarded to fund large, long-term international projects geared towards grassroots and self-help initiatives. In the 2006/2007 fiscal year, the net assets and liabilities of Rotary International totalled USD 159.7 million, with their unrestricted net assets totalling USD 130.9 million.

Opportunity International was created in 1974 and began as an entrepreneurial initiative in Asia and Latin America. They expanded into small loan programs and in 2000 began to form formal financial institutions and serve over 1 million people globally. They report to the MIX Market as Market Facilitators and their financial statements are not reported.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation was founded in 1999 after changing its name from the William H. Gates Foundation which was created in 1994 to address two main initiatives: Global Health and community needs in the Pacific Northwest. The scope of work expanded to include Global Development in 2006. In 2007 the liabilities and assets of the Gates Foundation and the Gates Foundation Trust totalled USD 38.9 billion.

By Lori Curtis, Research Assistant

Additional Sources

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation: Home

Business Wire: “San Diego Rotary Clubs Join with Gates Foundation and Others to Generate $600,000 for Small Loans to Help Women in Ghana”

The Hindu: “Rotary willing to promote microcredit groups”

Opportunity International: Home

Rotary Club International: Home