Posts Tagged ‘supporter’

We support Kiva, a U.S. 501(c)3 non-profit organization whose slogan is “loans that change lives” with a mission to connect people, through lending, for the sake of alleviating poverty.

Imagine the idea of random acts of kindness and helping someone realize the dream of a better life for their family by offering funds in the form of microloan support through Kiva. If you are an active customer for my design services then a portion of your fee for custom cms web design or matching artwork may have already helped a Kiva entrepreneur.

The Kiva community allows a person to invest a nominal amount towards microloans to entrepreneurs mostly in poorer countries who would not otherwise qualify for a traditional loan. You get to choose a specific entrepreneur by trade and geography after reading their bio and history.

As of November 2009, Kiva had facilitated over $100 million in loans in their first 4 years since incorporating in 2005. Understand that lending to the working poor through Kiva involves risk of principal loss, yet you can place as little as $25 towards helping prequalified persons attempting to make a better life for their families.

Kiva does not guarantee repayment. Kiva does not offer any financial return on your loan. However, the principal repayment rate is greater than 98% to date, so helping ease poverty and seeing that success rate is very gratifying. Once repaid you may withdraw the funds from your account, loan it again to another needy person, or donate it all to Kiva.

Note: A 15% donation added at checkout to funds the first time you lend is voluntary and may be declined, yet helps defray Kiva operating costs. You have other Kiva donation options on future microfinance loan purchases from 0-20%, also. The donation portion for USA lenders is tax deductible.

Visit their website to learn more about helping people help themselves with microloan support through Kiva. While there, visit my microloan lender page to see profiles of entrepreneurs I helped.