FAQs Archive - ShareChange

Q: What if the loan isn't repaid?

Some individuals may not be able to repay their loans. Borrowers can run into unexpected challenges, such as health troubles, political instability, lack of demand for their products, or extreme weather and droughts. 👉 If the person you funded can't repay, you will not receive credits to fund someone else. 96% of loans are repaid on similar platforms.

Q: How much goes to the borrower?

ShareChange seeks to provide as much of the loan to the borrower as possible to make the most impact. To be able to further our mission, we require a 6.5% platform fee 🛠 to cover our administrative costs. While sometimes overhead costs are looked down upon when donating to charities, having a well-funded organization is important so we can make the most impact . Platform fees go to the ShareChange Opportunities Foundation, mainly to cover payment processing, 🌐 wire transfers, 📲 software fees, and employee compensation. A portion also goes to ShareChange Inc. to improve the product and and reach more people! Of course, it’s important that social enterprises are prudent and efficient with funds. Still, we believe it’s important to have adequate funding to attract talented, motivated individuals and technology to innovate, and ultimately, maximize our impact. 🦋

Q: How am I making an impact?

When you donate or lend money using your ShareChange app, we send it to one of our Impact Catalyst organization partners who then loans the money directly to borrowers who need it most. For example, the Impact Catalyst loans the money to an entrepreneur (who cannot access financing in another way) to start of grow her business and lift herself and her family out of poverty. As she grows her business, she pays back the loan to the Impact Catalyst and the money is recycled to fund another entrepreneur in need. That is why the amount you donate can cause 10x the impact over time, as it is used over and over again to grow businesses. You will see the impact of your donation or loan on the ShareChange app.