Grameen Foundation Launches New Online Campaign to Expand Support for the World’s Poorest

Ingenuity Fund Will Inspire Advocates to Engage Networks, Support Fight Against Global Poverty

October 27, 2009 - Grameen Foundation today launches a new online awareness campaign to activate supporters, raise awareness of pressing global poverty issues, and increase online donations by one million dollars in the next year.  The funds will help the world’s poorest, especially women, improve their lives and escape poverty through access to microfinance and technology.  The Ingenuity Fund is designed to create a village – or grameen – of online advocates and funders to spread the word that poverty is unnecessary and demonstrate that small amounts of money can truly transform lives.
 
“Grameen Foundation is excited to embark on this new campaign to emphasize that each of us has the power to make an impact on the global fight against poverty,” said Alex Counts, president and CEO of Grameen Foundation. “By inspiring new friends and existing supporters to take action, we will make measurable progress toward our mission to enable the poor to create a world without poverty.”

The Ingenuity Fund’s first initiative, “$27 on the 27th,” highlights the ingenious spirit and action of Grameen Bank founder and 2006 Nobel Peace Laureate Muhammad Yunus.  In 1976, Professor Yunus, who is also director emeritus of Grameen Foundation’s board of directors, made a microloan of $27 out of his own pocket to a group of 42 female Bangladeshi stoolmakers. This microloan changed the womens’ lives forever and helped to catalyze the global microfinance movement.  Beginning on October 27, Grameen Foundation is asking those who care about ending global poverty to consider the impact they could make with just $27. To increase the impact of the launch, a group of Grameen Foundation supporters have pledged a dollar-for-dollar match of all donations up to $200,000.

Additionally, Grameen Foundation today launched a new organizational Web site. The revamped site includes new features and compelling stories about the strides the foundation is making toward expanding economic opportunities for the world’s poorest. It also features a dynamic map of Grameen Foundation’s footprint in 38 countries around the world.

“Over the past seven years, Grameen Foundation has become a leader in delivering technology solutions that provide telecommunications access and vital information to poor people and help microfinance institutions serve more people even better,” said Peter Bladin, executive vice president, Grameen Foundation. “Our new Web site will help us to better share the resources we are developing for the microfinance and international development communities and provide information to those interested in supporting our work to end global poverty.”

To learn more about the Ingenuity Fund, please visit www.grameeenfoundation.org/ingenuity [1].

You can also join us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/StopPovertyNow [2] or follow us on Twitter @GrameenFdn.