Empower women. Eliminate poverty.

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2020 Achievements

 

  • Served 29,294 clients and disbursed more than $14 million in new loans during 2020.
  • When the 1st case of COVID-19 was reported, we immediately implemented a phone strategy to educate our more than 22,000 clients about the virus and provide emotional support and small business solutions. See the 2020 Timeline
  • Identified that an estimated 30% of clients lost their business activity during the lock-down. Many clients showed incredible resilience and pivoted to a different activity with the help of our instructional videos and encouragement from our staff.
  • Gave all clients a two-month grace period in April and May so they would not have to choose between their loan payment and buying food for their families.
  • Executed an Emergency Food Relief Program, resulting in: $65,000+ in donations raised; Coordination of food purchasing and packaging; Disbursement of 3,300 food kits to clients and their families in rural areas of Guatemala; Effectively feeding more than 15,000 people facing severe hunger.
  • Pivoted our Health for Life program to telehealth services so that clients could access health services with our nurses, even during the lockdowns.
  • Served more than 9,900 clients with telehealth services.
  • Qualified for the 3rd year in a row for the Citi Bank Award. Friendship Bridge artisan client Jacinta Xon Cali won 2nd place in the category of Entrepreneurs in Microcredit! Watch the Video
  • Obtained outstanding results for client satisfaction and loyalty from our Client Survey conducted in the 4th quarter. 
  • Provided technical assistance to 81.8% of our agriculture clients supporting the improvement of their crop productivity and income, including identifying agricultural risk with the use of fertilizers and pesticides.
  • Implemented 2 tomato field schools, which combines theoretical training and actual implementation in demonstration plots. With this technique, clients learn best agricultural practices in order to replicate them in their own crops.
  • Handmade by Friendship Bridge sold more than $80,500 products created by 33 artisan clients and their families and employees. $65,000 went directly to our clients and 129 people were employed by them.
  • Sold more than $10,500 worth of face masks, sourced from our own artisan clients and their families.
  • Raised donations for an additional 442 handmade face masks for field staff in Guatemala.
  • Sold nearly 5,000 Handmade by Friendship Bridge items through our online store.
  • With the help of a generous donor, provided 24 clients with new sewing machines to support the growth of their businesses.
  • Non-Formal Education continued through the year despite the pandemic, both through automated and direct calls from staff, despite not being able to meet physically in much of the country.
  • Implemented a pilot of virtual Advanced Training sessions to teach clients how to develop new products through Facebook with much success. We plan to expand this in 2021.

  • Ensured all staff had the tools they needed to work from home during the pandemic and implemented home office and COVID protocols successfully.
  • Purchased and shipped throughout Guatemala more than $25,000 of COVID-19 protective and sanitizing equipment for all our offices. As an essential business in the country, we continued to staff all offices following the initial 2-month lock-down.
  • Launched Mi Puente, an internal online communications system serving as the main means of collaboration for all employees, critical to sharing information during the pandemic.
  • Initiated a new online learning platform to provide staff with training and professional development tools from our internal Friendship University. Achieved nearly 13,000 hours of employee training during the year.

 

  • Even during this crisis, our portfolio quality continues to be one of the best in the Microfinance industry with full-year write-offs of less than 3%, client retention rate of 76.8%, and PAR>30 of 2.03%.
  • Nearly 95% of our clients were making their loan repayments by the end of 2020, exceeding our expectations and allowing us to plan for the future with a clear path forward.
  • Secured sufficient liquidity during the year to ensure operations would not be interrupted by raising nearly $800,000 in new capital and rolling over our $1.6 million Private Placement investment.
  • Automated a variety of manual processes with the digital transformation of 5 major internal operating processes, originally planned over 3 years.
  • Obtained the Great Place to Work certification for the 2nd year, positioning ourselves as one of the best companies to work for in Central America
  • Hosted 3 Virtual Insight Trips from Guatemala, allowing our U.S. supporters to virtually “visit” with our clients and staff, stay connected, and see the impact of our products and services.
  • Published our 1st digital Annual Report in English and Spanish.
  • Raised over $1 million in charitable contributions including donations, fundraising events, insight trips, and grants.
  • Raised $154,500 with the support of 36 crowdfunders during our 6th Annual Health for Life Campaign.
  • Raised $72,600 during our virtual Building Bridges Stay-at-Home Gala: Resiliency in the Face of Adversity.
  • Achieved GuideStar’s Gold Seal of Transparency and the top rating of 4 Stars on Charity Navigator.
  •  Circles Volunteers placed $8,800 in orders at our online store, Handmade by Friendship Bridge.