Whole Planet Foundation

General Questions about the Whole Planet Foundation

What is the Whole Planet Foundation?

The Whole Planet Foundation is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to combating poverty in developing countries by improving the economic well-being of the poor through the use of microcredit and other innovative financial instruments.

Why did you create it?

The Whole Planet Foundation was born out of Whole Foods Market's desire to give something back to those who have helped us succeed in the marketplace while simultaneously addressing the persistent problem of world poverty and hunger. We are focusing our efforts on those villages and rural communities that supply our stores with products such as tropical fruit, vegetables, tea, and coffee. Giving the poor in these communities access to credit through microloans will enable them to escape the vicious cycle of poverty by allowing them to use their own energy and creativity to help themselves.

Do the borrowers have to supply a product to Whole Foods Market?

No. We are focusing our efforts on the villages from which we receive products in order to help the entire community. The borrower does not need to work for a vendor of Whole Foods Market products. Also, the self-employment project they choose to fund with their microloan is not expected to create a product for Whole Foods Market. Just as our stores have an impact on their communities to the benefit of all area residents (not just shoppers); we designed the Whole Planet Foundation to have an impact on the whole community.

Who actually runs your microlending programs?

Our microlending programs are run by our Implementing Partners which are usually Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) that receive grants from Whole Planet Foundation.

Where will your projects be located?

We began our work with a concentration on Central America implementing projects in countries including Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. Communities in these countries provide Whole Foods Market with bananas, pineapples and coffee. Planning and implementation have begun for our first project in Assam, India which provides Whole Foods Market with tea. Additional projects will follow as funding permits. WPF will expand to other parts of Latin America, Africa and Asia as funding permits.

Is the money being repaid to the Whole Planet Foundation?

No. Whole Planet Foundation provides grants to MFIs (Microfinance Institutions) who then manage the loan programs. All funds - principal and interest - remain in the borrower's community to generate additional microloans and further improve that community's economic health.

How is the Whole Planet Foundation funded?

All operating costs for the Foundation are funded by Whole Foods Market. Funding for microlending programs is funded through a variety of sources including the Empower Entrepreneurs Campaign, a network of corporate partners, and the Supplier Alliance for Microcredit, a network of WFM supplier partners. The Foundation is also supported through the Prosperity Campaign, Team Member Volunteer Program, Team Member Giving Program and the Endowment Fund.

How can I get involved in the Whole Planet Foundation?

Visit our Get Involved page.

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Questions about Microfinance

What are MFIs?

An MFI is a microfinance institution. See "What is a microfinance institution?"

What is a microfinance institution?

A microfinance institution (MFI) is an organization that provides financial services targeted to the poor. While every MFI is different, all share the common characteristic of providing financial services to a clientele poorer and more vulnerable than traditional bank clients.
Source: International Year of Microcredit 2005

What is a microlending program?

A microlending program is just way to summarize all the activities surrounding programs that focus on providing microloans to borrowers.

What are microloans?

Microloans are small loans - usually $200 or less - requiring no collateral or contract. They are offered to the poorest of the poor, with a focus on women, to finance self-employment projects that will generate income and allow them to escape poverty so that they can provide food and shelter for themselves and their families. Microcredit was developed by a number of pioneers, including Muhammad Yunus in Bangladesh and Accion International in Brazil.

What is a microentrepreneur?

A person who owns a small-scale business known as a microenterprise. These businesses usually employ less than 5 people and can be based out of the home. They can provide the sole source of family income or supplement other forms of income.
Source: International Year of Microcredit 2005

What kind of businesses are started by a microentrepreneur?

Typical microentrepreneur activities include retail kiosks, sewing workshops, carpentry shops and market stalls.
Source: International Year of Microcredit 2005

Why focus on women as borrowers?

For economies to grow and prosper, women must be included at every level. This is especially true in most developing countries where women make up the majority of the poor, the underemployed, and the economically and socially marginalized. Research has shown that women tend to invest the money they earn in their families, education, and homes which, over time, stabilizes and strengthens both the social and economic facets of their communities.

Are the borrowers able to repay their loans?

Based on 2007 data loan recovery rates usually range between 93% to 98% percent repayment rates. In addition to the borrowers' self-motivation, microcredit methodology ensures success by teaching problem solving in borrower support groups and by providing comprehensive client support services.

Why do the loans include interest?

The inclusion of interest is necessary to create a self-funding, sustainable, and viable loan program that will continue to generate more capital so more people can have access to credit. Interest is charged at lower rates than borrowers would typically receive from usurers or money lenders who charge exorbitant rates in lieu of collateral or to take advantage of the borrower's inability to obtain credit from traditional sources.

What is the Grameen Trust and how does it work?

While the Grameen Bank operates programs inside Bangladesh, the Grameen Trust is a division created to manage microcredit projects outside the borders of Bangladesh. Its sole purpose is to provide the poor with access to credit to generate self employment, otherwise called microenterprises. Unlike traditional bank loans, no collateral or legal contract is required. A borrower joins or enlists others in a group of five borrowers, which serves as a support system. Responsibility for repayment rests solely with the individual borrower. Repayment, including interest, is made easy through small payments.

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Questions from Donors, Supporters and Partners

How can shoppers contribute to the Whole Planet Foundation?

The Prosperity Campaign offers opportunities for shoppers to make personal contributions throughout the year in our stores. In 2007 and 2008 our U.S. stores will be holding prosperity campaigns with a goal of raising $1 million through $2, $5 and $10 donations to support the Foundation's mission.

What is the Prosperity Campaign?

A nationally-driven campaign that runs in Whole Foods Market stores providing our customers a way to donate to the mission of the Foundation through $2, $5 and $10 donations at the check-out.

What is the Team Member Giving Program?

Team Members give to the Foundation through a paycheck deduction program.

What is the WPF Leadership Network?

Whole Planet Foundation is developing a Leadership Network to cultivate, recognize and honor individual donors to the Foundation. More information on this program will be available in 2008.

What is the WPF Endowment Fund?

Is a fund set aside to help the Foundation gain financial security over time. Typically, the only funds spent from an endowment fund would be interest earned on principal.

What are your Implementing Partners?

Implementing Partners are usually Microfinance Institutions (MFI's) that receive grants from Whole Planet Foundation to establish and run micro lending programs. In some cases, Whole Planet Foundation funds or contributes to the loan pool of an existing MFI.

Who are your Implementing Partners?

Grameen Trust (GT), a sister organization to Grameen Bank, is a registered non-profit, NGO in Bangladesh, established in1989 by Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and father of microcredit, Professor Muhammad Yunus. GT was designed to promote the Grameen principles of extending collateral free microcredit to the poor to alleviate poverty. GT provides technical assistance, training, funding and other support to 138 partners in 37 countries, including directly implemented BOT projects in seven countries. Whole Planet Foundation is partnering with Grameen Trust in Costa Rica, Guatemala and India.

Fundación Adelante's mission is to improve the standard of living of extremely poor women living in Honduras. Since 1999, Adelante has provided small loans so these women can start and grow their own small business. Over time, the women use their profits to buy better food for their families, improve their homes, buy medicine when necessary, send their children to school, and to plan and save for the future. Whole Planet Foundation partners with Fundación Adelante in the departments of Choluteca, Colon and Atlántida in Honduras.

Pro Mujer was founded in 1996. Pro Mujer Nicaragua is the second organization developed by Pro Mujer, a microfinance network dedicated to empowering Latin American women to lift themselves out of poverty through access to microfinance and health services. With operations in Argentina, Bolivia, Mexico, Nicaragua and Peru, the network serves an estimated 150,000 women, and approximately 700,000 children and extended family members. In Nicaragua alone, Pro Mujer currently serves more than 16,000 clients. Whole Planet Foundation currently partners with Pro Mujer in the Esteli-Condega region of Nicaragua.

What are your Collaborating Partners?

Collaborating Partners are organizations that maximize our reach, intellectual capacity and effectiveness through technical support, fundraising support or communicating our mission with Whole Foods Market team members, customers and the general public.

Who are your Collaborating Partners?

Visit our Collaborating Partners page.

What is the Supplier Alliance for Microcredit?

The Supplier Alliance for Microcredit partners are partners who are currently vendors to Whole Foods Market and share a desire to change the world, one entrepreneur at a time. They are committed to supporting the mission of the Foundation. Whole Planet Foundation and our vendor partners are striving to increase education and awareness of global poverty through in-store promotions and other campaigns. It is our desire to align programmatic goals of vendor partners and Whole Planet Foundation for significant impact around the world.

Who are your Supplier Alliance for Microcredit partners?

We are excited to announce that Back to Nature, Balance Bar, Naked Juice, New Chapter and Stacy's have joined us as founding members in this alliance, catalyzing $450,000 in additional funding for microlending programs, over a period of three years. Several other companies are considering becoming allies in this collaborative alliance.

What is your Empower Entrepreneurs Campaign?

In 2008, Whole Planet Foundation will launch a fundraising strategy to catalyze new corporate resources towards the mission of microfinance and to empower entrepreneurs in the developing world. Whole Foods Market is inviting four companies to join us in a strategic alliance to Empower Entrepreneurs, with a goal of changing the economic future of over 2.5 million people.

We are seeking companies who share our values; a commitment to a global community of stakeholders; mutual dedication to ensuring employee happiness; commitment to the environment and demonstrating entrepreneurship and pro-business attitudes. With a small core of strong, strategic alliances we can collectively increase our impact in the microfinance arena

Who are your Empower Entrepreneurs Campaign Partners?

TBD

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Questions about the Team Member Volunteer Program

What is the Team Member Volunteer Program?

The Team Member Volunteer Program enables select Team Members to participate in a 30-day immersion program in either Costa Rica or Guatemala where the Whole Planet Foundation is currently working. Eventually, this program will be offered in all the countries where the Foundation works. The program, managed by Global Vision International, (http://www.gvi.co.uk/) immerses team members in local language, culture environmental conservation. While abroad, they will visit Whole Planet Foundation microentrepreneurs to learn about the businesses and experience the impact that small loans can have on the lives of people.

What's the purpose of this program?

Team Members volunteer for 30 days, including travel, in the communities where we are sourcing and microlending, learn language and culture, experience impact of microcredit, make a lasting contribution to community by fulfilling community volunteer wishes (teach children literacy skills, dig water trenches, build stoves, add solar panels to school, gather turtle data, etc.). Team Member returns to home location/facility and brings global knowledge to local environment, using their influence and knowledge to increase support for the Whole Planet Foundation and seeks to make a difference in their own localities.

Why did Whole Foods Market create this program?

To engage Team Members in our Core Values in action. The mission of the Whole Planet Foundation is to create economic partnerships with the poor in those developing-world communities that supply our stores with product. Through innovative assistance for entrepreneurship - including direct microcredit loans and tangible support for other community partnership projects - we seek to unleash the energy and creativity of every human being we work with in order to create wealth and prosperity in emerging economies. This program will connect Team Members directly to creating prosperity and our Core Values.

For More Information about the Team Member Volunteer Program, please see the Team Member Volunteer Program page.

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