Call to Action: Survey for Microbusiness Data

We Advocate for Microbusiness. Your Data Can, Too.

The Inclusive Economy Blog

We live in an increasingly data-driven world. At CFED, where we’ve been working for more than 35 years to advocate for the value of business ownership as a path to economic opportunity, we have witnessed first-hand the growing demand for data. Funders and policymakers want to understand whether and how microbusiness ownership can help address issues including job creation, job quality, financial exclusion, rising inequality and the racial wealth gap.

When CFED needs data to describe the value of microbusiness, we turn to data from microTracker and the U.S. Microenterprise Census—the nation’s leading source of data on the microenterprise industry. The census, created by FIELD at the Aspen Institute, is vital to CFED’s entrepreneurship work. It allows us to answer questions asked by donors and policymakers as they seek to understand the effectiveness—and cost-effectiveness—of microenterprise in an environment of tight budgets and growing challenges. The census data enable us to make the case for entrepreneurship by demonstrating that microbusiness programs:

Serve high percentages of people of color, and therefore are effective in targeting communities that face the highest levels of income and wealth inequality. In FY2013, 74% of clients served were non-white.

Have significantly expanded the number of loans made over the past several years in response to the decline in bank lending to small businesses since the Great Recession. Between 2012 and 2013, the number of loans disbursed increased by 61%, and the dollar volume of loans disbursed grew by 36%.

Have a median cost per individual served of $1,480, and are therefore cost-effective relative to many other economic development strategies.

Have successfully managed portfolio risk with a net loan loss rate of 4% in 2013.

The U.S. Microenterprise Census is the most comprehensive source of information on the microenterprise field. Its ability to provide the robust data needed by CFED— and all those who work in and advocate for the field—depends on the willingness of organizations in the field to participate by sharing their data.

The annual census campaign will conclude on September 11. If your organization offers microenterprise training and technical assistance, IDAs for microenterprise or microloans, and you have not yet submitted your data, please take the survey! Even if these pieces are only one part of your work, your data are valuable.

If you are a funder, policymaker or supporter of the field, encourage programs you work with to report their data here.

Together we can support business ownership as a pathway to financial security for many more Americans.