| HOPE International | |
| Native Name Lang: | en |
| Type: | nonprofit |
| Status: | 501(c)(3) |
| Tax Id: | 23-2836648 |
| Founder: | Jeff Rutt |
| Purpose: | Financial services |
| Headquarters: |
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| Leader Title: | President |
| Leader Name: | Peter K. Greer |
| Leader Title2: | Board chair |
| Leader Name2: | Jeff Rutt |
| Products: | |
| Assets: | $28,711,364 (Dec 31, 2019)[1] --> |
| Revenue: | $49,848,002[2] |
| Revenue Year: | 2023 |
| Expenses: | $47,058,629 |
| Expenses Year: | 2023 |
HOPE International is a Christian faith-based nonprofit organization based in Lancaster, Pennsylvania that equips individuals living in poverty with savings and microfinance services. HOPE International now operates in over 20 underserved countries and has assisted over 3 million people with small loans and savings services since it began operations in 1997.[3]
Following the fall of the Soviet Union in Ukraine in the early 1990s, Jeff Rutt, a Lancaster, Pennsylvania-based homebuilder, traveled to Ukraine numerous times with his church, transporting containers of food, clothing, and medical supplies to a community in Ukraine.
After several of these visits, a local pastor pulled Rutt aside and told him honestly that the shipments were not helping. Though people were accessing needed supplies, they had become dependent on them. Local businesses could not compete with the free handouts. The well-intentioned aid shipments were actually doing more harm than good by depressing local industry and initiative.
Upon looking into different forms of development aid, Rutt initiated a microfinance program to empower Ukrainians. The program was successful, and in 1997, Rutt established HOPE International.
After further work in Ukraine, the organization began looking for opportunities to expand its operations into other countries where a need for such services had been identified. In 2004, Peter K. Greer became HOPE's president after spending several years at various microfinance organizations and attending graduate school at Harvard University (Kennedy School of Government).[4]
Homes for HOPE, an affiliate program of HOPE International, was established in 1998 by Jeff Rutt.[5] Through Homes for HOPE, home builders and trade partners are able to build benefit homes on a pro bono basis.[6] To date, the organization has raised more than $10,000,000 in support of HOPE International, and has completed projects in 23 states in the United States, as well as in Alberta, Canada. In 2008, Jeff Rutt was awarded the Hearthstone Builder Humanitarian Award for his humanitarian efforts.[7]
The organization operates through one of two models.
The first model is the savings group program.[8] Savings groups are formed and run as ministries of local churches. Though each group creates its own rules and guidelines, they operate on rotating savings and credit association (ROSCA) or accumulating savings and credit association (ASCA) models. Most have 10 to 20 members, who meet regularly to make savings deposits into a common fund. Clients save money to stabilize household income, provide a safety net in emergencies, start or expand businesses, or pay for household expenses such as school fees or home improvement. Most groups also allow savers to take out loans as well as accumulate savings.
In addition to saving together, group members meet to connect, offer mutual support, and pray and worship together.
HOPE’s second model is microfinance institutions. This approach involves a group of 10-50 entrepreneurs who together receive loans from HOPE International or its local partner. Each loan recipient cross-guarantees the loans of other group members since there is no form of collateral to offer for the loan. Accountability to the group provides an incentive to make regular loan repayments.
In certain HOPE-network countries, entrepreneurs can qualify for individual loans, typically for higher loan amounts than those in the group model. Clients may graduate from receiving group loans once they have proven creditworthiness, or they may qualify from the start due to their financial situation, business success, or credit history.
HOPE tracks impact across four domains: material, personal, social, and spiritual. In 2014, they formed a Listening, Monitoring, and Evaluation (LM&E) team to better understand the impact of their services.
In a survey conducted in Malawi in 2019, where HOPE has worked since 2013, they learned that 81% of savings group members surveyed reported being able to meet a significant financial emergency need within one month, compared to 37% of the broader Malawian population as reported by the World Bank in The Global FINDEX Database 2017.[9]
In 2023, HOPE partnered with a third party, 60 Decibels, to measure the impact of Urwego Finance, HOPE's microfinance institution in Rwanda. Some findings from the 500 entrepreneurs who participated in the survey facilitated by 60 Decibels are as follows:
HOPE International’s work is funded through individual donors, churches, foundations, businesses, and Homes for HOPE. From 2017-2023, approximately 98% of loans in the HOPE network were repaid. HOPE-network loan recipients repay loans with interest, and investments remain in their local microfinance institution, stimulating the local economy and allowing for continued loan distribution.
Charity Navigator has awarded HOPE International its highest four-star rating for 17 consecutive years (2006-2023),[10] and as of July 2024, HOPE earned a score of 100% in accountability and transparency and an overall rating of 99%.[11]
HOPE International also has a philanthropic dividend policy. As HOPE-led microfinance institutions become sustainable, they are committed to giving away 10% of their profits to support local Christ-centered ministries serving children and youth.[12]
HOPE International has a 14-member board of trustees chaired by Jeff Rutt. Peter Greer was appointed as president of the organization in 2004 after working abroad with various microfinance organizations and graduating from Harvard Kennedy School. Greer heads HOPE International’s executive council. Program directors also oversee the organization’s work from within its countries of operation.[21]