Problem

Community Development Grants give democratically-selected Community Management Committees and individual community members the opportunity to put the literacy, numeracy, and project management knowledge they gained during Tostan's Community Empowerment Program into practice. The grants provide a way for community members to participate in income-generating activities, allowing them to provide for their families and invest in their communities.

The Gift

Your support will help us to provide a community with a small grant, often used to establish a rotating microcredit fund, which helps community members, particularly women, with the investment they need to start small businesses, invest in agriculture, or take on other income-generating activities. The Community Management Committee (CMC) will operate the microcredit fund based on a group-lending, revolving-funds system, working together to set the interest rate and the length of the loans they will grant. Strong community ties help encourage a high repayment rate. The CMC then uses the income from the interest to expand the number of loans available, undertake community projects, or establish a solidarity fund for children’s educational expenses and emergency medical needs.