Kiva Part 2

Setting up a Kiva account is really easy. Once you get to Kiva.org, there is a little bar in the top right hand corner that says, "Gifts. Register. My Basket". Click the register button. Then it will ask you for all of your personal information: Name, email, password, etc. From there, you'll have to put money into your account. Once you have an account with money in it, you can then lend your money to any of the borrowers listed.

I tend to choose my borrowers because of things I like to do, or that I'm interested in. Many of my recipients are women, and I have only lent to people who are trying to start businesses. Many of my loans have been to women trying to make salon businesses, because that's something I enjoy. You can also choose by country, which I have done as well. You will see that there are thousands of recipients to choose from, therefore making it hard to believe you will not find something you're interested in.

I really like Kiva because it's nice to know that I'm helping someone start, what will hopefully be, a long time business for them. I'm very glad that my dad told me to look into Kiva and helped get me started.

I definitely recommend that other people get Kiva accounts as well. It's very easy to use and it helps people that are less fortunate to get their starts.

Thanks for reading!
Check back soon,
Kendra <3

Kiva Part 1

My family has recently become involved with a company called Kiva.

Kiva is an online organization, headquartered in San Francisco, California, used to allow people to give loans over the internet. Since 2005, they have funded more than 1 million loans. These loans total about half a billion dollars. Raising about 1 million dollars every three days since November 2013, Kiva has brought in over 1 million lenders from around the world. Kiva posts personal stories of each person asking for a loan to help loaners connect with their recipients. Interest is not collected by either Kiva or loan recipients. Kiva is only supported by grants, loans, and donations from its users, corporations, and national institutions.

Microfinance institutions, social businesses, schools and non-profit organizations around the world are allowed to post profiles of qualified local entrepreneurs on Kiva's website. As a lender, you may look through all of Kiva's posts and choose which you would like to fund. To transfer your funds you may either use a PayPal or a credit card. Once Kiva receives a user's money, they collect loan capitol from individual lenders and transfer it to the appropriate Field Partner, who then distribute the loans to the entrepreneur chosen by each lender. Although Kiva does not charge interest on loans, many Field Partners can charge interest rates. Interest tends to be higher on loans from microfinance institutions than interest rates on larger loans due to the administrative cost of overseeing numerous tiny loans and the increased risk. When recipients repay their loans, the Field Partners return the money to Kiva. Once your loan is re-payed, you can either withdraw your money, or re-lend to other recipients.

Thanks for reading!
Check back soon,
Kendra <3