NEWS: Kiva.org - Be a Sugar Daddy to a Third World Friend.

CULTURE: Kiva.org - Be a Sugar Daddy to a Third World Friend.

I'm going to take a break from my usual whining and judging others to tell you about this really sweet website that has a unique charitable concept, Kiva.org. I learned about it from our old friend, Bill Clinton.

Kiva.org is based on the concept of micro-financing. (Microfinance is the supply of loans, savings, and other basic financial services to the poor.)

You can loan people money in the developing world to help get their small business growing. These people do not have money, collateral or a credit record making it difficult to open a bank account to secure a loan.

The cool part is that you don’t have to be rich to sponsor a business. Most people give just $25 to get the ball rolling. The default rate is not too shabby. With over two-million loans in action, the default rate is only 0.2%. But you can check out the Risk and Due Diligence page to get up to speed on the details. The best part about sacrificing $25 is that you will get your money back from the small-business owner. After that you can pocket your money or get back into the cycle and loan it to someone else.

I've convinced some people in my family that now that we're all adults we should go easy on the Christmas present thing this year and instead give to others. This is about all I can afford to do charity-wise but I think it's the best bang for your buck, especially when you can keep up with your sponsored business and actually see where you've made a difference.

Here is an example from the Journal Section on Kiva.org:

Sounds pretty interesting, I'm taking a look.
Thanks!

That's cool.

I have seen tv programs about it. and it is a brilliant idea.

Thanks for the info... this is one of the best ideas I've heard of in awhile. Definately gonna check this one out.

Great idea. Definitely something worth pouring some extra cash into.

I remember those guys, didn't they get so much response after catching some publicity recently that they ran out of microloan requests to fill?

I'm in the Facebook group and have lent a micro-loan myself. Its a pretty awesome system, to be honest.

I certainly like. Thank you for this.

here's an interview with the founders:



it's a great site. i have 3 loans out, and they're half repaid. as soon as they're repaid, i'm going to redirect that money to other projects. and as soon as i can, i'm going to loan more.

kiva rocks.

I heard about this, it seems like a great idea.

That's genius - I love it - Thanks!

just put out a couple loans. seems like an awesome site. i think i'm going to aim towards having a specific sum of money in circulation (like $500 or something) that just goes right back out once it's repaid

That's a really good idea.

I've had some bad luck with loans I made to West Bank businesses 2 years ago on Kiva. Probably not as bad as the luck that the business owners have had, though.

I still think the interest rates are too high, in spite of their explanation. I think that there are probably ways that you could organize things so that cost can be minimized. I also don't like when people start talking about the profits possible in the micro-lending game. In the case of the loans I made to West Bank businesses given what happened there since I made the loans, I wish I had the option to simply forgive them, but Kiva doesn't offer that.

Ultimately, though, I'm all for empowering people to better their own situations.

It sounds simple enough, and for such little money, it sounds like a good investment.

<Generic Nigerian "Entrepreneur" joke>

I don't disagree with the fact that there is a lot wrong here too. I also work locally to help but nothing interesting or globally relatable enough to write about that others could get involved with from afar.

Bump for the cause.

I like what Vandana Shiva has to say about microcredit:

Video. Transcript.

I mean, yeah, microcredit is one way to help people out who are at the bottom of this rotten system where they have to pay for things (like clean water and a decent education) that are basic human rights, things that we should all have equal claim to as a commons. I'm not going to begrudge people this way to help out, but "if we fought for justice there'd be no need for charity."

I like this quote from Utah Phillps' mom:

i agree with emi, its not that you cant make donations to local charities but seems like the ones that cater to overseas needs have a much more upfront, in your face approach. i mean you have to go looking for local charities. and by local i mean in this country. it takes a natural disaster or terrorist attack to get people to give here.
i think some peoples think of it as " i pay taxes and they collect welfare,food stamps,etc.. i dont need to do more than that". i say everyone should drive through the smokey mountains or anywhere in the appalachians. go off the beaten path and youd be very surprised. remember that movie "nell" with jodie foster. very stupid movie but in some areas that is not far from the truth. and that goes for probably every state in this country, there are some very poor people without education,internet,tv,newspaper,cars...some dont even know they can get help.
it irks me when i see the commercials that show starving kids overseas, with the bearded guy, showing the colseups of kids in need, and explaining how you can be that kids saviour. they could have made that commercial here and saved enough to feed a family here,for a year, with the travel costs it took to get them there.

my company is looking into collecting donatilons for them in the next year.