Technology can be used for so much more than helping ourselves. Kiva is a non-profit organization that allows you to lend as little as $25 to a specific low-income entrepreneur in less fortunate areas of the globe. They are the world’s first person-to-person micro-lending website, empowering individuals to lend directly to unique entrepreneurs around the globe.
You choose who to lend to – whether a baker in Afghanistan, a goat herder in Uganda, a farmer in Peru, a restaurateur in Cambodia, or a tailor in Iraq – and as they repay their loan, you get your money back. It’s a powerful and sustainable way to empower someone right now to lift themselves out of poverty.
Here are some quick tips that I follow when deciding on who to lend my money to.
- Find a sector that you want to focus this particular loan on, such as Health or Food
- Get information on the Field Partner, I try to stick with Field Partners that have loaned more than a million dollars in total loans and have delinquency and default rates very close to 0%.
- Read the information about the loan, what it is to be used for.
As the entrepreneurs you have financed a micro-loan pay it back, the funds become available to you again. You can choose to relend it to someone else in need or withdraw it.
Make a Small Loan, Make a Big Difference – Check out Kiva.org to Learn How!
If you use Kiva, how do you like it?
