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Help Poor Entrepreneurs Through Kiva

Help Poor Entrepreneurs Through Kiva

Last updated on: May 9, 2012 at 8:00 am by Darren

Help Poor Entrepreneurs Through Kiva 2012-05-09T08:00:59-05:00 Darren

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Do you think you can change the world? You can, and it doesn’t take millions of dollars. It’s as simple as making a small loan that costs less than a tank of gas.

Who is Kiva?

Kiva is a non-profit organization that aims to alleviate poverty using the power of the internet and microfinance institutions. Their vision is to have a world where all people – even those in the most remote areas of the world – have the power to create opportunity for themselves and others. kiva microlending

What does Kiva Do?

They work with microfinance institutions all around the world to provide loans to people without access to traditional banking systems. The great part about this is that one hundred percent of your loan is sent to these microfinance institutions, which are known as Field Partners, who administer the loans. Kiva does not take a cut, nor do they charge interest to the Field Partners.

How Does Kiva Work?

Here’s how the loan process works, including how you can easily get involved.

The entrepreneur/borrower meets with the Field Partner and requests a loan.
The Field Partner disburses the loan.
The Field Partner uploads the loan request to Kiva, it’s reviewed by a team of volunteers, and then published on Kiva.org.
Kiva lenders (you) fund the loan request, and Kiva sends the funds to the Field Partner.
The borrower makes repayments. The Field Partner sends funds owed to Kiva. Kiva repays lenders.
The lenders can make another loan, donate to Kiva, or withdraw the money to their PayPal account. Seventy percent of all lenders choose to make another loan!

My Experience with Kiva

I’ve had a pleasant experience with Kiva. As a member since 2010, I’ve funded 61 loans. Of those 61, thirty have already been paid back in full. The other 31 are in the process of paying back, and just 3 of those 31 are delinquent.

I’ve loaned a total of $500. But since I’ve had a good experience with Kiva, I’ve continued to lend the money that’s been repaid to me. Thus far, I’ve lent a total of $1,525, and $1,081.65 of that money has been repaid. Overall, Kiva loans have a strong 98.93 percent repayment rate.

Kiva Christians

There’s even a Kiva lending team that rallies around our faith in Christ! Kiva Christians is group of believers in Jesus Christ, brought together through a common purpose: to help those in need around the world.

Their theme verse, which explains why they loan, is James 1:27, which reads:

“Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.”

Within the Kiva Christians lending team, there are 22 Christian Field Partners that provide loans to people throughout the world. Your loan can help people in:

Philippines
Rwanda
Ecuador
Ghana
Cambodia
Dominican Republic
Kenya
Congo
Ukraine
Liberia
Indonesia
Burundi

Field Partners focus on various areas of social performance, including:

Anti-poverty. The work of most microfinance institutions helps to combat poverty, but these Field Partners do even more.
Vulnerable group. These Field Partners provide financial services to people from especially vulnerable and socially marginalized populations and groups.
Client voice. These Field Partners use feedback from the people they serve and adapt their business practices and product offerings to meet their needs.
Family and community invovlement. These Field Partners offer support services that address the needs of their clients’ families: their health, education, and/or well-being.
Entrepreneurial support. These Field Partners offer training and support to help people start, manage and grow their businesses.
Facilitation of savings. These Field Partners specifically promote savings as a practice to the people they serve.
Innovation. These Field Partners embrace technology and innovation to better address the needs of the people they serve.

A Limited Time Offer

Here’s the best part. For a limited time, you can experience Kiva by giving a loan for FREE.

These free trials will be financed by friends of Kiva, allowing a new lender to make one $25 loan free of charge. These free trial loans are disbursed to borrowers in the same way other loans are disbursed on Kiva. However, since the sponsor is funding the free trial loan, any repayment funds from the free trial loan will go back to the sponsor, not to the free trial lender.

Free trials are limited to one per new user, and will be made available while supplies last. So if you’d like to try out Kiva, click here.

Take advantage of this offer and help change the world!

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