3 replies to this topic

[Randy]

On Halloween of all days Kiva.org officially reached the $100 million in monies loaned through their service. This major milestone comes in only their 4th year of existence and really is a biggie, especially considering that it took over a year to reach 1/100th of this amount. This year alone they're on track to have $60 in new microloans. Hopefully by next year the $100M mark will become an annual event, or if things go really well in a few years one could hope it could be a monthly target.

Kiva's (rather short) announcement of the major accomplishment is here. TechCrunch also did a more robust write up here.

For those who have a few extra bucks laying around, I can attest that it's not only a good thing to get involved in, but is also quite fun. Though it's technically not a charity (eg I can't deduct donations from my tax bill) it's definitely become one of those causes I like to support. And have been for a few years now. Good karma aside, it's just fun!

Of course I'm a bit biased, having been one of the lenders in dozens of projects. Never had a single one default either.

[nethy]

It is very exciting to see such an innovative charity succeed. They really tick a lot of hard to tick boxes.
- They reach new donors.
- They enable a high level of emotional involvement
- They get money in to economic development for globaly poor areas. A very high ROI approach
- They get resources directly in to the hands of those they want to help, without creating too much dependency
- They have built in mechanisms for efficiency. Money goes in to a loan, the equivalent of going in to projects. Donations are seperate.
- They invest in an area identified as an effective area.

I am awaiting my first repayment on 2 loans. Exciting.

[nethy]

If people don't mind, I'm going to plug for another social enterprise I support.

Acumen Fund just started an online community. They are also in the business of funding beneficial businesses in the developing world. As Kiva are to loans, Acumen are to Investments. They also differ in that they are a fund and they make bigger investments. Also very exciting organization.

For those interested in getting involved or seing a young online community take root. I warmly recommend you check it out.
http://community.acumenfund.org

[Hans G.]

Thanks for posting the Kiva information, Randy. This is truly a great organization that is doing lots of good around the world. There's lots of good folks on this forum that would be happy to participate, and if this is replicated across other good forums, we'll have lots of good people doing lots of good around the world. Who said technology was evil?