OREANDA-NEWS. The Socio-Environmental Investment Exchange (BVSA) presents on August 20, 2014 eight new projects developed by Brazilian organizations with budgets ranging from BRL 30,000 to BRL 100,000. The projects have been selected strictly in accordance with the Eight Millennium Development Goals established by the UN.

The eight new projects are as follows:

Building Capacity in Grassroots Organizations, Centro Socioambiental CASA - nationwide

Oyster Farming: Income Generation for Artisanal Fishermen and Conservation of the Guaraqueçaba Environmental Protection Area, Associação dos Maricultores de Ilha Rasa, Guaraqueçaba, Paraná

Growing Up Project, Associação Beneficente O Pequeno Nazareno, Fortaleza, Ceará

Strengthening Management in Bahia's Social Web, Parceiros Voluntários, Bahia

Down with Sexual Exploitation! Mobilizing Adolescents and Youth to Create Activities and Campaigns Against Sexual Exploitation, Instituto Pró-Mundo, Rio de Janeiro

Knowledge Network Project, Redes de Desenvolvimento da Maré, Rio de Janeiro

Enchanting Lives Project, Projeto Arrastão, São Paulo

Project to Train Young Rural Entrepreneurs, Casa Familiar Rural, Tancredo Neves, Bahia.

Anyone can invest in a socio-environmental project simply by registering on the portal, choosing one or more projects to which to contribute - according to theme, beneficiaries or region - and build a portfolio of donations. Contributions start at BRL 20.00. Payment can be made by credit card or bank payment slip. Legal entities enjoy a tax concession: donations are deductible as operating expenses up to the equivalent of 2% of a firm's operating income (applicable only to firms that pay income tax according to the “actual profit” method).

The new listings bring to 13 the total number of projects by Brazilian organizations available for investment via BVSA. The Exchange enables these organizations, located in all parts of the country, to access funds securely and transparently: all donations are entirely transferred to the organizations concerned by Instituto BM&FBOVESPA without fees or deductions of any kind; the organizations, in turn, periodically publish on the portal detailed reports explaining how the money is spent, just like a publicly held corporation.

BVSA is a pioneering initiative by BM&FBOVESPA and its brokerage houses. Managed by Instituto BM&FBOVESPA and with Daniela Mercury as its patroness, it is supported by UNESCO and recognized by the United Nations as a case study. It has inspired other exchanges worldwide to develop similar initiatives. Since it was established in 2003, BVSA has raised more than BRL 13.4 million in donations to 116 projects throughout Brazil.