Article contributed by Fiona Powell.
Kiva is the world’s first person-to-person micro-lending website.
If you’re wondering how you can ‘make a difference’ in the world by actively helping another entrepreneur in a developing country – have a look at www.kiva.org.
Kiva is a brilliant initiative – from the website you can read about various entrepreneurs, choose an entrepreneur and make a loan from $25 – you get updates and get repaid when the business succeeds. These entrepreneurs from Pakistan to Afghanistan only need small loans; to buy a cow or for more inventory for their shop.
As the website says: ” The people you see on Kiva’s site are real individuals in need of funding – not marketing material. When you browse entrepreneurs’ profiles on the site, choose someone to lend to, and then make a loan, you are helping a real person make great strides towards economic independence and improve life for themselves, their family, and their community. Throughout the course of the loan (usually 6-12 months), you can receive email journal updates and track repayments. Then, when you get your loan money back, you can relend to someone else in need.”
You can also purchase gift certificates to give to a friend to redeem by lending the funds from the certificate to an entrepreneur of their choice. These gift certificates would make a great BNI meeting door prize!
