Who funds Self-Help?

Self-Help funds its work through a variety of sources: Individuals 36.3%, Corporations 21.8%, Trustees 14.7%, Grants 11.3% and Churches 11.2% with the remainder from interest, dividends and miscellaneous sources. Individuals (36.3% + 14.7%) make up over half of our income!
What percentage of total funding received by Self-Help goes toward administrative expenses?

Administrative costs, including fundraising, are a small part of the overall expenses. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2008, Self-Help’s fundraising costs represented 14.9% of total expenses, with general and administrative costs of 8.5%, leaving over 76% of the budget for direct program expenses.

How can companies/individuals support or get involved with Self-Help?

There are many ways you can help Self-Help and support its mission. You can help make a sound investment in self-reliance by contributing financial support to Self-Help clients with loans. Self-Help holds events every year where businesses sponsor and donate items. You can also make a commitment to become an Ambassador, spreading the word about Self-Help. In addition, you can encourage your company, church or organization to make a donation. Many employers will match donations to Self-Help. Giving in honor of a loved one is a meaningful way to remember them. Some people wish to leave a legacy gift to Self-Help. If you are one of those big-hearted individuals, please contact Merry Fredrick.
 
What good can $50 or $100 do?
Because of the low-cost approach Self-Help employs, you can feed a child for an entire year for $55. That’s about 22 cents a meal.
To the lowest-income entrepreneurs in the developing world, $50 is a fortune. (70% of all Nicaraguans earn less than $725 a year.) They can invest that money to make their labor far more productive. They might buy a palm oil press so that they can process palm oil faster with less strain on their bodies, than by hand-pressing. They might invest in a used refrigerator to keep the produce they sell from going bad overnight. They might buy clay for making pots, at wholesale prices, so they make more on every item. Economist Milton Friedman once said that “the poor stay poor, not because they’re lazy, but because they have no access to capital.” Self-Help provides them with capital to help them break out of poverty.

What is QPM?
 
Quality Protein Maize is corn that…
  • Doubles the protein digestibility as traditional corn;
  • Has 90% digestible protein as compared to skim milk;
  • Increases crop yields as compared to traditional corn;
  • Reduces stunting (in weaning children especially) that is often caused by protein/calorie deficient diets;
  • Allows one-stomach animals to grow and gain weight faster.
 
Maize (corn) is a food staple found in many developing countries. In addition to supplying needed calories, maize is often the single largest source of protein intake for the poor. However, children weaned on normal maize receive protein with low levels of two nutritionally-vital amino acids, lysine and tryptophan.
 
Discovering this limitation led to 30 years of research. Scientists at Purdue University (USA) identified a maize strain with a gene that increased levels of these amino acids. Scientists at CIMMYT (Centro Internacional de Mejoramiento de Maiz y Trigo, Int.) in Mexico continued efforts to improve its viability. The new variety was named Quality Protein Maize (QPM).
 
Here’s what Dr. Norman Borlaug, Nobel Prize laureate and founder of the World Food Prize, says about Self-Help’s efforts in Ghana which include training local farmers to grow QPM:
 
“I endorse this project because it is a simple and practical solution to alleviating hunger. I recognize the benefits of QPM and barley malt to babies and young children in developing countries, such as Ghana, where corn porridge is the typical weaning supplement. In addition, the project trains Ghanaians to manage the feeding centers and includes affordable and available food source (QPM and barley malt) that allows project sustainability.”

Next >>>