Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth’s Sandy Fernandez shares in the Chronicle of Philanthropy that “To help these businesses succeed and build a more inclusive economy, philanthropy can make complementary investments in small-business training providers and community development financial institutions, CDFIs — nonprofit lenders that provide affordable capital to underserved communities. ”
Nonprofit services such as Next Street’s NYC Funds Finder help small businesses easily find coaches that can assist them with these tasks, while also linking them to responsible lenders. The service is integrated directly into the local government system so that entrepreneurs don’t have to bounce around to different agencies or resources.