The Tuesday after Thanksgiving marks Giving Tuesday when nonprofit organizations encourage charitable donations that can enable their charitable work. Often overlooked are grass-roots economic development organizations such as nonprofit lenders and business resource programs that support entrepreneurship in our state. Nonprofit lenders like DreamSpring, WESST, and others rely on private and public money they make available to startups and small businesses in New Mexico.

Microlenders on a Mission

Nonprofit lenders in New Mexico — DreamSpring, LiftFund, The Loan Fund, RCAC, B:Side Fund, Homewise, and WESST — manage separate pools of private and public money, which they make available as loans and lines of credit to small businesses. Many of the businesses they help are located in chronically underserved communities and populations. These are businesses that are typically unable to access small-business loans from traditional banks.

Nonprofit lenders also support their clients’ success by offering other services, such as business counseling, training, and mentoring.

Paying it Forward

Thoughtful contributions — better known as social investments — to any one of these organizations have a way of living indefinitely into the future.

When loans are repaid, for example, the money becomes available to other entrepreneurs who want to start or expand a business. Better yet, clients who obtain a loan from one of these organizations get something more than temporary aid for an urgent need: They get the technical and financial resources and ongoing assistance to become financially independent by turning a talent or idea into a profitable venture.

And when that business buys supplies and services from local vendors and pays its employees it injects even more cash into the local community.

Because of this exponential effect, a relatively small social investment in a nonprofit lender can snowball into something significant. It can also attract other contributions, further magnifying the impact.

Anyone interested in making a social investment in New Mexico might consider organizations like these, which help strengthen local communities one business at a time.

How to Donate

Besides sending a check or making an online donation, taxpayers age 70 1/2 or older can make a qualified charitable distribution directly from their IRA, other than a SEP or SIMPLE IRA, to a qualified charitable organization. Talk with an accountant and consult IRS rules and guidelines.

There are many ways to donate this Giving Tuesday and plenty of worthy charitable organizations, some of which benefit local businesses and communities.