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Kiva.org empowers entrepreneurs in the first world to help lift fellow entrepreneurs out of poverty in the third world.
Who is Max Gladwell? The simple answer is that it’s an ideal. And that ideal is grounded in the principles of capitalism and entrepreneurism as primary forces in solving our most pressing social and environmental problems. Though NGOs and nonprofit organizations play key roles, there is nothing more powerful than the forces of innovation and profit motive when it comes to facilitating serious, disruptive change. This is why our Blog Action Day 2008 post is about Kiva.org.
But wait. Isn’t Kiva a nonprofit? Yes, it is. But what Kiva does is to facilitate a chain reaction of for-profit activities through its peer-to-peer, micro-lending platform. Entrepreneurs in the developing world, such as Hokima Rahimova, work with Kiva’s field partners to secure and repay their loans. These partners earn the interest. The entrepreneurs themselves are leveraging that capital for profit, which they earn by growing their businesses, and those financing the loans (that means you) earn a return in the form of feel-good karma. Profit is being generated across the board. But we can also take this a step further.
Kiva has partnered with Advanta on the Kiva B4B small business credit card, and Max Gladwell is a Kiva B4B card member. When we make loans through Kiva, Advanta matches them up to $200 per month. What Kiva and Advanta have essentially created is a cause marketing platform for small business owners. Think of it like the local sporting goods store that sponsors the Little League team. The online equivalent is the ability to put the Kiva B4B badge on your website, as pictured to the left, which shows your support for small-business owners in the developing world and your committment to the spirit of capitalism.
It’s a unique way of giving back that costs very little (next to nothing), but it can have a tremendous impact. And it’s consistent with your principles as an entrepreneur. As the saying goes, you can give a man a fish, and he’ll eat for a day. But if you teach him how to fish (or finance his fishing business), he’ll eat forever. Through Kiva, you have the tools to fund a portfolio of small companies, and with the Kiva B4B credit card you can leverage that capital by a factor of two. In many cases, you are providing the resources that will help a person to sustain themselves and their family because they are experiencing the fundamental principle of free markets. Ultimately, these entrepreneurs can achieve upward mobility. They can grow their businesses and potentially provide jobs for other members of their communities, which can pull them from poverty into the working class. Kiva loans are literally helping to build new economies that will have ripple effects throughout the world.
Our loan portfolio focuses on Asia. We originally sought to fund projects in Afghanistan, where we felt there was the greatest need for capital. Unfortunately, there were no projects to be found, so we ventured north into Tajikistan, where the average per capita income is somewhere between $578 and $1,842. Either way, it’s tragically below the poverty line.
Our portfolio of clients includes Bahodur Malikov. Mr. Malikov “is married with one daughter. He and his family live in Dushanbe. Bahodur is a private entrepreneur who sells sports footwear in the central city market.
Bahodur is very disciplined. One of his strong characteristics is his ability to listen and persuade, which helps him in his work with customers. Bahodur has been in the market for 10 years. He started as a little boy, helping his mother with her business. Bahodur‘s main goal is to provide his family with a decent life and a stable future.
We’ve also made a loan to Hokima Rahimova. Mrs. Rahimova “is 40 years old. She is a very wise and hard-working woman. She is married and has 3 children. The children attend the public school in the town. Hokima sells children’s clothing. Previous loans from IMON have helped her business grow over the past 3 years. Little by little, she has expanded her inventory, and thanks to the good service that she offers, her business is growing rapidly. With the income she earns from her business, she is able to provide education and food for her children.”
Who’s in your portfolio?
Disclosure: Kiva B4B is a Max Gladwell sponsor
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3 responses so far ↓
1 Allan // Oct 15, 2008 at 7:13 pm
My friend’s daughter who is still in high school has learned so much about the world, investing, and business through making loans on Kiva. What a great service to the world.
2 Raising Social Buzz About Poverty, 1 Blog At a Time | by Ari Herzog // Oct 22, 2008 at 8:12 pm
[...] things that people are doing in the name of social change and raising awareness. Special kudos to Max Gladwell, Beth Kanter, and other environmental and social change/nonprofit bloggers I’ve come to know [...]
3 cheritycall // Oct 27, 2008 at 1:19 am
hi, Do something to help those hungry people in Africa and India,
I made this blog about that subject:
in http://tinyurl.com/65dptv
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