Spirit in Action

Small Business Fund Micro-Grants

Our $150 Small Business Fund grants help families in Sub-Saharan Africa (see focus areas below) to start a new business or expand their small enterprise, giving them the means to improve their lives.

Local volunteer coordinators train grant recipients in business skills, including record keeping and marketing. The Coordinators then continue to mentor the groups for one full year.

Spirit in Action works with people and in areas that are often ignored by micro-finance institutions.

Sharing the Gift

We ask grant recipients to “pay it forward” - helping another in their community - rather than pay us back. Our Sharing the Gift initiative gives each grant a second chance to spread hope and opportunity.

Sharing the Gift takes many different forms:

• Tithing a percentage of profits toward future groups.
• Contributing a piglet or chick for others to begin raising. In 2016, 45 piglets were distributed to vulnerable families as part of the Manyamula COMSIP Cooperative’s Sharing the Gift efforts!
• Sharing seeds for others to use in their garden.
• Training others in new skills.

 

Community Grants

Our Community Grants help grassroots organizations and community groups improve their areas through local self- help projects.

These groups are rooted in the community and use local knowledge to enrich the lives of all community members.

Our grants help groups:

• address food security. Agriculture or animal husbandry projects.
• foster financial independence. Savings and loans groups, women’s saving circles, income generating activities. 
• provide training opportunities. Sustainable gardening, business training, solar cooker construction.

Current Focus Areas:

• Kenya
• Malawi
• Uganda