Seattle, WA -- (SBWIRE) -- 01/29/2010 -- In light of the earthquake, Haiti is in great need of financial assistance and guidance as the country recovers and rebuilds. While other organizations rush in, FINCA International reaches its 20-year anniversary in Haiti serving clients with their Village Banking method. Members of their offices were evacuated from Port-au-Prince and the good news is that all of FINCA's 180 staff are safe, and showed up for work the day after the quake to help their clients. They have been working to procure supplies like water and fuel, and will continue to do so, as long as there is this need. FINCA faces the upcoming challenges in Haiti with optimism and resolve. As relief efforts unfold, companies who contribute to FINCA's microfinance programs share that optimistic view and stand by FINCA and it's clients, anxious and hopeful that this disaster has not damaged Haiti's newly found entrepreneurial spirit.

Economic growth has been challenging in Haiti, years of civil unrest, government corruption, and natural disasters have taken a significant toll. “It has often been difficult to raise money for Haiti as the country is so poor. Ironically, the need is so, so great,” said Diane Jones, FINCA's Communications Manager. “In many ways, the world had turned it's back on Haiti until recently.” A slight increase in Haiti's GDP in the last few years is attributed to intervention from non-governmental organizations which aid in the stabilization of government. However, a majority of Haiti's population still exist in abject poverty made more desperate by the devastation caused in the 7.0 earthquake.

"The relief effort is intense right now, and we know that Haiti needs food, water and medicine immediately, but Haiti will also need foundational support for it's economy,"says Kat Fitzgerald, Director of Communications at Brown Paper Tickets, one of FINCA'S contributing companies. "Brown Paper Tickets has chosen microfinance as part of our corporate giving program because it brings about such a fundamental change, one that we hope makes a society more resilient even at times like these, but really it's a long term investment. We know it can never replace the critical humanitarian efforts to bring food, water, and shelter to a desperate people. In the long term, we believe microfinance will empower the Haitian people to grab opportunity, rebuild, and turn the rubble into a future for their children."

Microloans are not the same as the loans discussed on the news. Loans from large multinational banks, like the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, direct funds to governments for macroeconomic reasons and have been notoriously difficult for the Haitian government to pay off. On the other hand, microloans focus on small groups and lifting the individual out of poverty by providing needed investment capitol leading to business revenue. Microfinance organizations like FINCA empower communities with temporary credit, work together toward financial independence, then recycle the loan to other entrepreneurs in need.

Over the past two decades FINCA has worked tens of thousands of clients in Haiti through Village Banking. They are currently serving 12,000 Haitian clients. The banking practice distributes short term loans of small sums of money to groups of 10-30 low-income entrepreneurs, who act as a quasi-co-operative bank allowing for dramatic changes for individuals and communities. For example, FINCA's loans to the Famn Vayant (Valiant Women in Creole) of Haiti expanded their small home businesses, selling rice, beans, and sugar. This greatly improves their quality of life, empowers the women in their community, and bolsters the local marketplace.

Contributors choose to work with FINCA not only because they represent the best practices in the microfinance industry but also because they offer a great potential for real and resilient change in the areas they serve. More companies are recognizing microfinance as a good steward of their charitable giving and are involving customers with participation at the point-of-sale level. For example, Brown Paper Tickets which donates 5% of it's profits to charitable organizations and FINCA, allows customers to participate in the giving process at the end of each online transaction when ticket buyers select a charitable category. By selecting microfinance, a portion of those funds are directed to FINCA and similar organizations. "These monies won't stop after helping one group or even one city," says Fitzgerald. "As the loans are repaid they are re-loaned making a difference with the same dollar over and again. When a customer allocates 5% of a ticket sale's profit to microloans it may not seem like much, but when it stays in the microloan system, the pennies add up and it can help thousands of people climb out of poverty and then raise up their communities. That's the power village banking holds for Haiti."

Individuals can learn more about FINCA, read a statement from their Ambassador of Hope, Natalie Portman, and make a contribution to microfinance at http://www.villagebanking.org.

About FINCA
FINCA today reaches 700,000 clients in 21 countries. But the scope of global poverty compels them to do more. At the beginning of the new century, the nations of the world agreed to work toward eight Millennium Development Goals that would eliminate extreme poverty and hunger. FINCA takes that challenge seriously. That is why they launched the Village Banking Campaign. It will enable FINCA to double its impact: to use the power of microfinance to extend loans, microinsurance, and savings to one million poor families so they can effect their own development.

About Brown Paper Tickets:
Privately owned and founded in 2000, Brown Paper Tickets is a primary ticketing service working with event producers, artists and venues of all sizes across the US, Canada, the UK and Europe. Brown Paper Tickets launched by serving the small artists, producers and venues with a ground breaking price-sensitive model and by tearing down barriers such as service contracts and revenue minimums. The global company has three offices in the U.S. serving North American clients and one in Scotland for the UK and Europe, with a 24/7 call center in English, French and Spanish. Brown Paper Tickets is a “Not-Just-For-Profit” company - the goal isn't making the most money, but rather to fix the industry by offering more service for less.