Volunteers
How to get involved – ideas for volunteers
There are many ways of how you can get involved in and contribute to the activities of Braz.
You can for example support one of the projects by making a donation to a specific project or by making a general donation to Braz. Alternatively you can organize a fundraising event where you raise money for a project of your choice. You can also volunteer or offer Braz your pro bono services.
Your help is very welcome and will ultimately benefit the micro-entrepreneurs in developing countries! If you are not sure yet how you can or want to help, please fill out the contact form and we can explore the opportunities together.
Invest in one of the projects
Organize a fundraising event
You can involve your family, (social media) friends, neighbors, colleagues etc. in the projects of Braz by organizing a special fundraising event. You are free to choose the project you would like to raise funds for.Some ideas for a fundraising event can be found below but there are no limits to your creativity! Read also experience from people who have already organized fundraising event for Braz. Link with a summary and pictures of the event (e.g. the upcoming dinner)
- Organize a raffle with creative prizes (e.g. something where you will share your knowledge, or sponsor a prize etc.) whereby the money for the tickets will be invested in a Braz project.
- Organize a Braz dinner (e.g. with fair trade food & drinks) and ask your guests to pay a certain contribution that will be invested in a Braz project
- Is your birthday coming up and you don’t know what to ask for? Ask for a donation for one of the Braz projects of your choice.
- Are you planning to engage in some sports events such as running the marathon or participating in a bike race? You can ask your friends to sponsor you. You can give the money raised to one of the Braz projects.
- You could sell your old clothes, CDs, books etc. on e-bay and donate the money to Braz.
Other ways of getting involved
You could think about becoming active as a Braz volunteer, offering Braz your pro bono services or simply help us to spread the word.
Volunteering
Are you planning to go to Thailand or South-Africa shortly? Visit then one of the projects of Braz and:- Become a journalist and write an article on your experiences, interviews with entrepreneurs etc.
- Make a YouTube film on one of the entrepreneurs
- Prepare a picture series on one of the entrepreneurs that we can post on the Braz site.
Pro bono services
Since we are a start-up foundation we have very few financial resources at our disposal. Therefore we welcome all help we can get. Here are some ideas how you could assist us with your knowledge and expertise:- Are you a professional designer? You could help us by designing the Braz folders, flyers, posters and other communication material.
- Are you good at writing? You could get involved by writing/editing/translating articles for our website and our online newsletter.
- Are you an accountant or a tax advisor? Your experience and advice is highly appreciated.
- Offer us your pro bono printing services for our brochures etc.
- Share with us your ideas, tips how we could improve Braz.
Spread the word
- Create free publicity for Braz. In order to really make an impact in people’s lives we want to reach as many people as possible. You can help us by mentioning Braz on your website, facebook site, etc.
- You can also help us distribute the Braz brochure and other promotional material or place an article on the work of Braz in your newsletter, in your magazine, on your website etc.
- Give a presentation on microfinance and the activties of Braz to your colleagues, friends and family. See template presentation attached.
Websites and Organizations
- CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poorest) CGAP is a consortium of 33 public and private development agencies working together to expand access to financial services for the poor in developing countries.
- FINCA International FINCA International Founder John Hatch developed the village banking method, which uses the philosophy "Give poor communities the opportunity, and then get out of the way!" The village banking method is unique in the responsibility and autonomy given borrowers in running their banks and in its emphasis on community, as well as individual, development.
- Grameen Bank Grameen Bank started in 1976 when Prof. Muhammad Yunus loaned $27 to 42 women in a village in Bangladesh. Today Grameen Bank has 5.89 million borrowers and has disbursed over USD $5.4 billion with a 98% recovery rate. As Grameen Bank is now a formal bank it is often viewed as the ideal development of a microfinance institution. For an overview of Grameen Bank visit http://www.grameen-info.org/bank/GBGlance.htm. This site also includes a number of papers Prof. Yunus has written on microcredit and social entrepreneurism.
- The Microcredit Summit Campaign The Microcredit Summit Campaign is a project of RESULTS Educational Fund, and was launched to reach 100 million of the world's poorest families with credit for self-employment and other financial and business services by the year 2005.
- The Microfinance Gateway The Microfinance Gateway is managed by CGAP and is a comprehensive source of information for and about the microfinance industry including research and publications, discussion groups, specialized resource centers, organization and consultant profiles, and the latest news, events, and job opportunities in microfinance.
- The MIX (Microfinance Information eXchange) The MIX is a not-for-profit private organization supported by CGAP, the Citigroup Foundation, the Open Society Institute, the Rockdale Foundation, and other private foundations.
- UNCDF Microfinance The United Nations Capital Development Fund Microfinance website is a great resource for basic facts about microfinance, as well as learning what the UNCDF is doing in this area. It also offers an in-depth Microfinance Distance Learning Course for people new to microfinance.
- United Nations International Year of Microcredit 2005 The International Year of Microcredit 2005 called for building inclusive financial sectors and strengthening the powerful, but often untapped, entrepreneurial spirit existing in communities around the world.
CGAP is a resource center for the microfinance industry, where it incubates and supports new ideas, innovative products, cutting-edge technology, novel mechanisms for delivering financial services, and concrete solutions to the challenges of expanding microfinance.
CGAP publishes many papers on microfinance which are available for download at this site.
The Campaign publishes an annual report "The State of the Microcredit Summit Campaign" which documents their progress towards achieving this goal. You can download the latest report here. [PDF]
If you are new to microfinance and would like to get more involved in the industry, this is a great way to find events and organizations in your area.
The MIX intends to address one of the key challenges of the microfinance industry: the lack of reliable, comparable and publicly available information on the financial strength and performance of Microfinance Institutions (MFIs), which underpins the development of the market for microfinance services.
This is a great place to get more information about specific microfinance institutions.
Check out the official UN website for this event to see what you missed.