Case #1354.0

Where Latin America Meets Brooklyn: ACCION International’s Effort to Import Microlending to the United States

Publication Date: January 01, 1996
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Abstract:
ACCION International, well-known for its successful "microlending" to small entrepreneurs in Latin America, sets out to replicate its success among the poor in the United States. But when the major international non-profit organization sets up shop in Brooklyn, it finds it difficult to find customers. That difficulty does not appear to reflect a lack of interest in entrepreneurship. Illegal loan sharks, among others, are doing a brisk business among the populations which ACCION has targeted.

Learning Objective:
This case focuses on marketing issues faced by non-profit managers, including the assessment of competition, attitudes of potential customers, and the challenges of replicating successful programs in new venues.

Other Details

Case Author:
John Buntin
Faculty Lead:
Christine Letts and Peter Zimmerman
Pages (incl. exhibits):
18
Setting:
United States
Language:
English