Micro-Loans 2.0
Bangladeshi economist Muhammad Yunus won the Nobel Peace Prize for his Grameen Bank for pioneering a new category of banking known as micro-credit, which grants small loans to poor people who have no collateral and who do not qualify for conventional bank loans.
The program has enabled millions of Bangladeshis, almost all women, to buy everything from cows to cell phones in order to start and run their own businesses. Similar micro-credit projects have helped millions around the world lift themselves out of poverty.
Based on that principle Kiva.org, a social lending site, lets you connect with and loan money to unique small businesses in the developing world. By choosing a business on Kiva.org, you can “sponsor a business” and help the world’s working poor make great strides towards economic independence. Throughout the course of the loan (usually 6-12 months), you can receive email journal updates from the business you’ve sponsored. As loans are repaid, you get your loan money back.
Kiva is using the Internet to facilitate one-to-one connections that were previously prohibitively expensive. Child sponsorship has always been a high overhead business. Kiva creates a similar interpersonal connection at much lower costs due to the instant, inexpensive nature of Internet delivery. The individuals featured on our website are real people who need a loan and waiting for socially-minded individuals like you to lend them money.
Kiva partners with microfinance institutions across the globe who are on the ground vetting loan applications and working with entrepreneurs to ensure the best chance at their business succeeding. Our partners are a critical link in the chain that reaches from your computer to an African goatherder or a Cambodian lunch cook. Their knowledge of the local population and presence in the area ensure a smooth loan process in a responsible and sustainable way.
Kiva.org also offers the ability to post the loan request on your blog or website with a widget - once the loan is fully funded another will randomly be displayed.
