• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

Kiva anyone? (microfinance charity)

Status
Not open for further replies.
T

totalnoob

Golden Member
I just discovered Kiva.org and it seems like an awesome concept. Basically, it allows individuals to pool their resources to help entrepreneurs in poor countries get off the ground. You can make loans as small as $25 to someone who needs it. The cool thing is that once the loan is paid back, your account is credited and you can reloan the same funds to someone else, helping MANY people over time with the same initial investment (or you can withdraw the money via paypal if you really need it). The current repayment rate is over 98%, so these folks obviously know what they are doing. This just seemed like a great cause so I thought I'd spread the word here. If we get enough people, perhaps we could form an Anandtech group and get a little friendly competition going with the other groups on the site. 😉

http://www.kiva.org/about
 
Last edited:
microfinance in general seems cool, not sure what the return you get is, but they tend to charge high interest rates (more than CC rates) to the people they loan to, which isn't a bad thing in itself i suppose if everyone succeeds in the end. from a altruistic view i'd probably just donate, and most likely locally rather than internationally.
 
gophins72 said:
microfinance in general seems cool, not sure what the return you get is, but they tend to charge high interest rates (more than CC rates) to the people they loan to, which isn't a bad thing in itself i suppose if everyone succeeds in the end. from a altruistic view i'd probably just donate, and most likely locally rather than internationally.
Click to expand...

This is a charity so you don't actually get interest on your loans. 😉 You just control your principle..getting paid back the same amount you lent out. The interest goes into the expenses of running the various organizations that distribute loans. The rates are certainly high by our standards but given the risk factors in developing countries and the strong demand for loans, it's not too surprising. If you click on the "field partner" link on each loan page, it shows what the overall return on assets (profit margin) is for the field partners. The vast majority of them earn less than a 10% profit, and many are only in the 1-2% range, which is basically pure charity.
 
Stuff you should know (SYSK) podcast from HowStuffWorks.com has had a Keva team for many months (maybe over a year now). They've been really successful at attracting members.

I've thought of joining theirs, but would rather join an AT one.
 
I did a small Kiva loan for the first time a couple months ago to see how it goes. I've started getting paid back already, so that's cool.

Note that the process is abstracted behind the scenes a bit -- whether or not the money you donate literally goes to the person you pick on the website depends on your point of view. (It doesn't bother me, but some people apparently get pissed when they discover it after the fact.) You can do more research on their process if you want to know more.

I would join an AT Kiva group.
 
totalnoob said:
One loan? Psshh.. 😉 Come on fellas. Is that really all you can do? I've seen people on there with 900 loans..lol
Click to expand...

it was actually a gift i received for a $100 loan to distribute as i saw fit. i gave it all to one guy in south america to complete his loan so he could actually go about his business.
 
Member of team ATOT. Which reminds me, a lot of my loans have come back and I haven't sent the money back out yet. I should get on that.
 
oh cool, I didn't know either. well I joined it, but it looks like previous loans don't count, only ones going forward. so next time I do a loan I will add it to the ATOT group.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top