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Creating opportunities for access to microfinance, services, and markets to improve the lives and communities of the working poor in Latin America.

WORKING CAPITAL FOR
COMMUNITY
NEEDS

Creating opportunities for access to microfinance and services to improve the lives and communities of the working poor in Latin America.

Our Mission

Impact Investing for Social Change

For over 35 years, Working Capital for Community Needs (WCCN) has created opportunities for access to microfinance and services to support low-income entrepreneurs in Latin America. As one of the first social impact funds in the United States, we have invested more than $160 million, reaching an average of approximately 25,000 end borrowers each year. 

WCCN supports individuals, families, and communities by sustaining partnerships with microfinance organizations and agricultural cooperatives in Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Peru.

As an investor or donor of WCCN, you can personally make this life changing work happen.

67%

OF BORROWERS ARE WOMEN

Our Impact

What We Do

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Impact Investing

WCCN supports small entrepreneurs in Latin America by providing microfinance loans to low-income entrepreneurs and small-scale farmers. As their businesses grow, they are able to create opportunities for others in their communities. 

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Elevating Women

Central to WCCN's initiatives is the belief that women have the right to determine their financial futures, obtain an education, own land, have access to adequate healthcare, and never face the threat of violence. Historically, more than two-thirds of our partner agencies' clients have been women.

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Advancing the SDGs

The United Nations' 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) provide WCCN with an important development framework that allows us to measure our impact in areas including gender equity, health and well-being, and education. 18 of our 19 partner organizations set targets related to 15 SDGs, contributing to environmental, social, and economic well-being.

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Financial Inclusion

WCCN lends to partners who work with female business owners, rural populations, and indigenous communities that have been historically excluded from the financial system. WCCN also provides financing to organizations that provide technical assistance to micro-finance borrowers and cooperative members.

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Fair Trade Coffee

WCCN supports small-scale coffee farmers in increasing their incomes and accessing the international fair trade coffee market by lending to coffee cooperatives. By providing loans at the time of harvest, WCCN can add to the 1.3 million farmers in 70 countries that are part of the fair trade movement, ensuring small-scale farmers receive a fair price for their coffee. 

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Access to Housing

WCCN works with partner agencies to provide improvements to housing for marginalized populations. Combining sweat equity, donated funds, and affordable loans, WCCN is able to assist in providing financing to unbanked and underbanked groups to further support these efforts.

Giving Feels Great

47%

OF BORROWERS LIVE IN RURAL AREAS

DONATE

When you give to WCCN, you join a movement of people who are using their resources to promote social change.

By donating today, you will:

  • Address one of the root causes of poverty and social injustice: lack of access to credit for the disenfranchised.

  • Support the working poor, women, indigenous populations, and those in rural areas.

  • Provide financing to around 25,000 microfinance borrowers and smallholder farmers every year.

$1,666

AVERAGE

LOAN SIZE

25,000

BORROWERS

SERVED EACH YEAR

WCCN News

WCCN Recognized by ImpactAssets 50 2022

WCCN has been selected for the ImpactAssets 50 2021 Emerging Impact Manager List, marking the second time that WCCN has appeared in this database from ImpactAssets.

WCCN 2021 Annual Report

2021 was an eventful year at WCCN. Click the button below to see what WCCN accomplished with the support of our community.

WCCN Increases Impact with Milestone $12 Million in Investor Liabilities

WCCN's Capital for Communities Fund has reached $12 million in investor liabilities, allowing the organization to support even more families with microfinance and social services during the pandemic.

WCCN Releases 2021 Impact Report

Through surveys and in-depth interviews, WCCN learned about the borrowers our partners directly served and how access to microfinance and social services impact them. 

contact

Address: 211 S Paterson Street, Suite 260, Madison WI 53703

Email: infoATwccn.org
Phone:  608.257.7230

Or feel free to contact us through the form below:

Thank you for your message. A representative from WCCN will respond to you shortly.

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CONTACT US

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