(MONEY Magazine) – Small loans are often the toughest to get, because lenders consider the potential profit not worth the paperwork. Therefore, if you need between $100 and $25,000, you might turn instead to nonprofit organizations participating in the SBA Microloan Project. Funded by the Small Business Administration, these loans are for terms of as long as six years. The individual organizations determine the interest rates, but they can't be higher than four percentage points above the prime, lately 6%. Last year the project lent an average of $10,000 to each of 330 business owners; so far this year, the Microloan Project has more than tripled its member organizations to 110. Alternatively, you might join a so-called loan circle run by nonprofit organizations with funding from government agencies or local banks. Typically, these groups consist of five to seven owners of businesses in the same community who have been brought together by the nonprofit outfit. The organization makes money available to the members, who decide among themselves how it should be parceled out, usually in amounts of $500 to $1,500 at around 12% interest, paid to the lender. Borrowers do not need collateral or a credit history, but they must convince others in the circle that they are trustworthy and can repay the loan from potential earnings. Rebekah Peterkin (pictured at right), 35, one of five women in a loan circle funded by the nonprofit Coalition for Women's Economic Development in Los Angeles, borrowed $1,500 last fall to buy a glass-etching machine for her suburban shop, the Gift Center (annual revenues of $80,000). After paying off the loan, Peterkin took out a second one for $5,000 to expand her line of merchandise. To find a Microloan Project organization or a loan circle near you, call your local SBA office.