Over the weekend there was an article in the Star Tribune about Kiva. Kiva was recognized as one of TIME’s 50 Best Websites of 2008, and as The Only Nonprofit That Matters by Fortune.
Kiva is “the first person-to-person micro-lending website” that allows individuals to make loans to entrepreneurs in developing countries. Lenders can browse the website and choose an entrepreneur they wish to fund and the money is then distributed by Kiva’s microfinance partners to the entrepreneur. When the duration of the loan has expired, the entreperneur then returns the funds to the lender. The lender can then re-lend the money, donate it to Kiva to cover expenses or withdraw the funds.
In the story in the Strib, they illustrated an example of a Kiva convert, Todd Andersen. Andersen described his previous brushes with philanthropy as “disciplined but not overly generous.” His wife turned him onto the site, and after his initial skepticism he has made loans totaling $1,350 in a little over a month.
Join the conversation: In 2005 (the most recent year for which data is available) individuals in Minnesota gave $4.1 billion to charity, according to MCF’s Giving in Minnesota, 2007 Edition. What impact will sites like Kiva have on philanthropy in the state? Will more people make loans through Kiva and other similar sites rather than donating to causes in their own communities? Or will traditional philanthropy hold the place in society that it always has? Are there lessons to be learned from Kiva about how to support entrepreneurs in our own communities?
- Megan Sullivan, MCF’s communications associate
