Social enterprises exist to make a positive difference—to do business in a way that supports everyone involved. Jump Finance’s mission is to make higher education more accessible for qualified students, with as little red tape as possible. At the same time, we want to be respectful, accountable, and transparent with our customers and partners—which takes work and patience.
How can a social enterprise like Jump Finance grow, experiment, and take risks while remaining true to our mission? That’s a big question, and one we’ll never stop wrestling with.
We wanted to take some time to share a recent example of a business obstacle we turned into a success, not despite but because our goals are bigger than just making money.
The Problem
Back in September, our first student borrower successfully passed our multi-step application. While our pitch competition winnings enabled us to initiate a payment, we were still finalizing a bank partnership. We needed a temporary solution. How could we lend to this student in a responsible way?
With the fall semester fast approaching, it seemed like we had two unsatisfactory options:
Try to rush the partnership through, potentially damaging relationships we’re building.
Delay the student’s funding—and education—for at least another semester.
Our Solution
With a lot of brainstorming a more unconventional option emerged. We decided to transfer the funds to the University of The Gambia, allowing the student to continue his studies without interruption. The student agreed to repay the loan on similar terms to future loans—with one significant difference. Instead of paying a bank or Jump Finance, the student would make payments in the form of donations to the University of the Gambia’s nonprofit Student Service Learning Association (SSLA).
This setup was a win-win.
The customer gained access to critical financial support to keep studying, under transparent terms and a flexible schedule like the ones we’ll offer future borrowers.
Jump Finance forged ahead with our pilot program, getting invaluable real-world feedback on our product, credit model, and repayment plan.
The Student Service Learning Association received support to pursue their mission of helping students give back to their communities.
The potential partner institution was able to see our business model and commitment to working in The Gambia firsthand.
Instead of making a quick decision, we made a creative one, and in the end found a nimble, scrappy way forward that worked for us, our customers, and a local nonprofit.
And that’s the story of Jump Finance’s very first loan. Read our next blog, where we introduce you to the other side of this story: Albert, our first student borrower!