If you aren’t familiar with Kiva.org, you will be in just a few minutes. Kiva is a “non-profit organization with a mission to connect people through lending to alleviate poverty.” Kiva allows individuals to lend money to people (who work with Field Partners, who administer the loans for Kiva) without access to traditional banking systems.
It’s pretty cool. You lend money to someone who uses it to buy supplies or use it for their small business, and they pay back the loan once it pays for itself. An example is someone who needs to buy pasta, rice, and vegetables to sell to at their business.
The best part is that right now, using the link below, they’re giving $25 for you to make a loan for free! Trust me, it feels really good. So you just sign up, and you get to loan $25 to people to help them become self-sufficient
Here’s how it works:
1. Go to Kiva.org
2. Search through the hundreds of loans until you find one that speaks to you. You can filter by country, gender, sector, or attribute.
3. Checkout
4. Get repaid and find a new loan to fund!
Through Kiva, I’ve made $150 worth of loans, all for free. And all loans have been paid back on time.
Most free money offer have a catch. But this is truly $25 that you can lend for free, and better yet, you feel good while using it. There are plenty of reasons to give money to charity, and this is a free way to truly make an impact on others!
What are you waiting for? Start lending with Kiva!
That’s a great offer. I just signed up to help someone out no strings attached. The one thing it does say is that the sponsor will get the money back when it’s repaid, not me, but that is completely fine by me. It’s just nice to know the free money is being put to good use. Thanks for letting me know!
@Jake Erickson, Nope, just copied it from the landing page: “Step 3: Do it all again!
Any repayments are yours to keep, but we hope you’ll make another loan… or, like Daniel, invite someone to Kiva, perhaps with a Kiva Card.”
@Daniel Packer, That’s awesome. I guess I thought I read differently, but either way it’s still a great deal!
I have been using Kiva for years. I think it is pretty cool and I have always gotten my money back. Why not promote people that just need a break? Kiva is a life changer for many.
We’ve made several loans through Kiva and do recommend the organization. But I don’t consider it “giving” since the money is loaned. We put $50 in a few years ago and have cycled it several times to different people – it’s nice to know how much mileage the money has gotten!
@Emily @ evolvingPF, You’re right, it’s not example giving, but I feel better loaning money to people who are trying to make the most of it than to an organization, even if I support them wholeheartedly. Maybe it’s because there’s a connection and you know exactly where the funds are going?
I never heard of Kiva before. Thanks for writing this up.
Seems like a wonderful idea. I’d be interested to know exactly how the finances are managed and how they choose to give. Great post!
That is a really nice cause. It’s always self-fulfilling to help and do some random act of kindness to someone, no strings attached.
@KC @ genxfinance, Have you used Kiva? If not, why? It seems like such a no-brainer to me but for some reason people aren’t jumping on board fast enough!
I’ve heard a little about Kiva, but did not know exactly what it was that they do. It sounds like a great idea and one that I think we’ll be looking into. I like that it seems to meet immediate needs as opposed to just sending it to some organization.