Kiva.org - Supporting Projects that Make a Genuine Difference

"Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does." William James

I have been following Kiva.org since it was given considerable publicity by the Clinton Global Initiative in 2006. My personal experience with it has been successful. I loaned out a very small amount ($25) to a lady in Africa via Kiva.org and was notified recently that she has re-paid it in full. I can now lend these funds out to another entrepreneur with a budding project in some part of the world where small amounts go a long way.

Kiva is an organization that allows people to lend money via the Internet to small businesses in developing countries. It is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization headquartered in San Francisco, supported by donations from its users and through partnerships with businesses and other institutions.

Kiva allows microfinance institutions around the world, called "Field Partners", to post profiles of qualified local entrepreneurs on its website. Lenders browse and choose an entrepreneur they wish to fund. Kiva aggregates loan capital from individual lenders and transfers it to the appropriate Field Partners to disburse and administer. As the entrepreneurs repay their loans, the Field Partners remit funds back to Kiva. Once a loan is fully repaid, the Kiva lenders can withdraw their principal or re-loan it to another entrepreneur.

Lenders' funds are transferred to Kiva through PayPal, which does not collect its usual fees in this case. Field Partners generally charge interest from their borrowers, although Kiva claims to keep track of how much interest is charged and will not work with those charging unfair interest rates. Kiva lenders do not receive any interest because of US Government regulations.

Kiva claims that its borrowers have a historical repayment rate of about 99.7%.