Equal Exchange Certificate of Deposit

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= innovative funding mechanism practiced by the Fair Trade organisation 'Equal Exchange]


Description

"Equal Exchange has been growing at over 20% a year for the past 5 years to reach $34 million today - and benefiting thousands of farmers and their families. But buying ever more coffee, tea and chocolate each year requires financing. Many of our supporters have asked how they can help, and this is our answer.

Here's how it works: the minimum purchase is just $500, there's no maximum, and the term is 3 years. The CD program is managed by Eastern Bank, an organization which has been serving Massachusetts consumers and businesses for nearly 200 years. All the money from the CDs is pooled together and made available to Equal Exchange as a low cost loan. Your CDs guarantee that loan. That means that there is a higher risk than with a normal CD; if we default on the loan it's possible to lose some of the principal. See What Risks am I Taking?

In return for that risk, your money can be used for tremendous good. For example $2000 can buy, at Fair Trade prices, the complete coffee harvest of a typical family farm. That 5-acre farm, perhaps high in a remote Peruvian valley, might support 6-8 people. So with a $2000 CD you can help keep a family on their land, providing hope that they can improve life for their children. You earn a competitive interest rate, too." (http://www.equalexchange.coop/eecd)