Time to speak up! Want to ask the Appropedia community for help, or help other users? Visit Appropedia:User requests. Has Appropedia been useful? Tell your story here
Kiva
From Appropedia
[edit] Introduction
Kiva's mission is to connect people through lending for the sake of alleviating poverty. 
Kiva is the world's first person-to-person micro-lending website, empowering individuals to lend directly to unique entrepreneurs in the developing world.
[edit] How it works
1) Lenders browse profiles of entrepreneurs in need, and choose someone to lend to. When they lend, using PayPal or their credit cards, Kiva collects the funds and then passes them along to one of our microfinance partners worldwide.
2) Kiva's microfinance partners distribute the loan funds to the selected entrepreneur. Often, the partners also provide training and other assistance to maximize the entrepreneur's chances of success.
3) Over time, the entrepreneur repays their loan. Repayment and other updates are posted on Kiva and emailed to lenders who wish to receive them.
4) When lenders get their money back, they can re-lend to someone else in need, donate their funds to Kiva (to cover operational expenses), or withdraw their funds.
For more information see: kiva.org
See also: socially responsible investing
