Want to compete in the Gumball Challenge? Gumball Capital was started by Stanford students in 2007 in the Stanford Entrepreneurship Week Challenge. Gumball Capital won the grand prize, competing against 50 campus teams, and is now reaching out to other colleges and high schools to compete in their own Gumball Challenge in November, 2008.

Stanford, Yale, UC Berkeley, Sewanee and St. Olaf participated in the November 2007 competition, and others interesting in starting a program at their school can contact Gumball Capital for details.

The Gumball Challenge raises money for microfinance to needy people around the world. Local campus teams receive a $27 micro-loan, 27 gumballs and a guide book, and have one week to creatively use that $27 loan to raise as much money as possible for more micro-finance loans to the working poor in developing countries.

Gumball Capital raised over $4,000 in 3 days in their original fund-raising program at Stanford.

At the end of the week, you return the $27 loan and any revenue earned is given to a micro-finance cause. Your campus group may elect to award the funds raised to Gumball Capital, who in turn will choose microfinance recipients through Kiva’s organization. Kiva is well established as an international micro-loan nonprofit organization. Loans repaid by entrepreneurs will be re-invested in other entrepreneurs.

Or you may also choose to send your funds to other micro-finance organizations.

Ideas for raising money include printing post-its with pledges, lemonade stands, bake sales, sell pizza/burgers/ice cream in dorms, return books for lazy people, rent out Xbox 360 or PS3, bubble-blowing contests, juggling contest, gumball throwing contests, pocket change campaigns, cleaning rooms, and other creative ideas.

So far The Gumball Fund has loaned over $5,000 to 212 entrepreneurs.

Why Gumballs? “It’s a metaphor for change. By placing a small amount of money in a gumball machine you allow a gumball to roll out. That one released gumball shifts all the remaining gumballs, moving them one step closer to the exit tunnel. In a similar way, each developing-world entrepreneur lifted out of poverty through microfinance helps other members of his or her community by providing jobs, goods, and services.”