Count Me In champions the cause for women's economic independence by providing access to business loans, consultation and education.

The first online microlender, Count Me In uses a unique women-friendly credit scoring system to make loans of $500 to $10,000 available to women across the United States who have nowhere to turn for that all-important first business loan. The organization provides access to networks that expand contacts, markets, skills and confidence.

Why Count Me In?

Count Me In is impartial, independent and understands the challenges facing women today.

• Women-owned businesses employ approximately 27 million people
• Women own 38% of all businesses in the United States -- that is 9.1 million businesses *
• Women business owners contribute more than $3.6 trillion to the marketplace each year, and women account for more than 70% of consumer spending *
• 55% of women provide half or more of their household's income, yet 48 million women -- that is 80% of all women in the workforce -- earn less than $25,000 a year

  (Facts from "The National Foundation for Women Business Owners")

• Women continue to have less access to financing for their businesses than male business owners, and women business owners of color face even greater difficulties in gaining access to capital.
• Access to credit and capital remains the number one issue raised by most self-employed and entrepreneurial women -- no matter what their economic circumstances. Although there are hundreds of micro-lending programs, most operate independently and have little national prominence.
• Many women fall in between the criteria for eligibility of many micro lending programs and the credit scoring systems used by conventional financial institutions. And, the smaller sums of money that women often look for are not attractive to traditional lenders.

• Count Me In will make women visible, valued and more powerful in the economy.
• Count Me In will address the systemic challenges that women face in traditional lending institutions that do not account for the realities of women's lives today.
• Count Me In will develop a more "woman appropriate" credit scoring technique that will measure a woman's economic life and business development potential.

• The need for increased economic opportunity for women cuts across racial, ethnic and language lines.
• Women need financial services including small loans and funds for training and technical assistance -- in addition to inspiration and practical information.
• Current criteria for gaining access to credit and capital does not fit the lives many women lead or the kinds of businesses millions of women start and own. Women tend to start smaller, service related businesses, do not have traditional forms of collateral, have no credit or messy credit histories due to divorce or other life circumstances, and want smaller amounts of money to start a business.