Kiva.org

by Cale
Some aspects of Kiva might feel familiar. It borrows a bit from ebay, flickr, Facebook, Blogger and even ‘sponsor a child’ but the result is completely different. Kiva’s business is allowing you to “connect with and loan money to unique small businesses in the developing world.”

Once you have selected and funded (or co-funded) an entrepreneur from the profiles available on their site you begin a loan relationship that usually lasts 6-12 months during which you can be provided with journal updates about the progress of their business via email.

The loans are managed by existing microfinance institutions on the ground who benefit from the very low interest capital that Kiva lenders provide. Entrepreneurs make strides towards economic independence and Kiva’s lenders are refunded their money upon completion of the loan term. Without the promise of a monetary return users have demonstrated that the experiential payback is more than enough. Kiva is finding that lenders generally follow up one loan with another, without their money ever leaving the Kiva system.

A design research project I did with Kiva and some of their East African partners investigated the appropriate use of technology to improve Kiva’s scale and efficiency for their partners. The results of the work can be found at http://www.intocontext.org.