MADISON, Wis.—In conjunction with International Credit Union Day today, the World Council of Credit Unions will begin participating in Facebook’s "America’s Giving Challenge," in which it will seek to win as much as $50,000 in donations to help the rural poor in Mexico. America's Giving Challenge is a 30-day national competition that encourages people to leverage their personal networks and online social media to help their favorite nonprofits win cash awards totaling $170,000.
The World Council, which earlier this year launched MatchSavings.org as a means of matching funds saved by Mexico’s rural poor in their credit uion, will compete on Facebook for daily and overall cash prizes based on the number of donations generated, rather than amount raised. Awards will be given to the nonprofit beneficiaries of the causes that garner the highest number of unique daily donations through Nov. 6. A total of $50,000 will be awarded to the cause with the highest total number of unique daily donations over the 30-day challenge, and US$25,000 will be awarded to the second-place winner.
MatchSavings.org recently completed its pilot phase, in which 117 rural savers became new members of Caja Yanga credit union in Mexico's Veracruz state. After making six set monthly deposits for a particular savings goal, each saver received a match to help cover the costs of housing, microbusiness, education or healthcare. Of the 120 participating savers, 83% had never before used formal financial services, 98% completed the program and 99% continue to save even after the program has ended, according to WOCCU.
With the pilot phase complete, a second phase has been launched. For info:
