About WILFund: How A Loan Works

The Cycle of a Loan

Loans Make Maximum Impact

WILFund's microloans typically range in size from $100 to $5,000. Recipients are women who have little chance of qualifying for traditional loans without credit history or collateral. Yet these women are an exceptional credit risk -- they repay their loans more than 97 percent of the time. And when each loan is repaid, the money is available to be loaned again to another woman, perhaps in a different country. A single loan of $100 repaid every 90 days can aid as many as 40 women in one year.

Women use their loans to start or expand their businesses. As their businesses grow, these women hire others in the community, thus passing on the benefits of the loan to more families in need.

According to the UN, investing in women is key to fighting poverty: "Promoting equal access for women to income-generating activities, land, water, credit and other resources is essential to poverty reduction."

A loan doesn’t just change one woman’s life, it has the potential to change an entire community. With increased financial security, a woman gains increased self-confidence, empowerment, and a renewed hope for the future of her children. She is better able to support and educate her children, and her children’s children -- breaking the cycle of poverty and providing long-term, multi-generational benefits to the community at-large.

The Loan at a Glance

More Than a Loan

WILFund provides women with much more than just a loan. They also equip loan recipients with the necessary tools to ensure their ventures are successful:

• Vital job training
• Enhanced business skills
• Valuable technical support

How Women Use Their Loans

WILFund loan recipients put their new capital and knowledge to work immediately in a variety of ways, all of which serve to increase their overall profits:

• Starting businesses
• Purchasing supplies and equipment
• Expanding operations
• Marketing their goods and services
• Hiring additional staff

A Dream Becomes Reality -- The Benefits of a Loan

With their profits, women business owners use their income to bring about much-needed change in the lives of their families and the communities around them. Their new income makes a vital difference as it allows them to:

• Improve their living conditions
• Receive better health care
• Buy nutritious food for their families
• Give their children an education
• Set an example for their children for the future
• Gain confidence in their abilities
• Become an empowered person.