Feel Good Friday - Kiva

Believe it or not, this is the 80th Feel Good Friday post and we're going to celebrate by talking about Kiva! 

Kiva is a San Francisco organization with a worldwide impact. Their tag line is "Loans that Change Lives". Founded in October 2005 by Matt Flannery and Jessica Jackley, Kiva combines the concept of micro lending with the power of the internet so that people who have money to lend can support entrepreneurs around the world. The process is illustrated in this short video titled How Kiva Works.

To answer the question of what motivates the people of Kiva, we turn to their website. "We envision a world where all people - even in the most remote areas of the globe - hold the power to create opportunity for themselves and others. We believe providing safe, affordable access to capital to those in need helps people create better lives for themselves and their families."

In the last nine years over 1 million lenders have given almost six-hundred million dollars in loans to Kiva entrepreneurs with the very impressive repayment rate if 98.84%! If you every felt that you couldn't make a difference in the world, get your $25 out and see just how much you can do!

This post only scratches the surface of what Kiva does and the impact these loans have. If you want to learn more visit their website, watch a Ted Talk by Jessica Jackley or a 15 minute documentary from Frontline where the reporter goes to Uganda to visit Kiva entrepreneurs.

If you like what you've seen and want to get involved, lend some money to an entrepreneur, like their Facebook page and follow them on Twitter @kiva.