Kiva.org: Change A Life For $25.00

At Meetingmax we are constantly looking to align ourselves with other organizations that we feel hold the same values as us. One company that has been on our radar recently is Kiva.

Kiva is a non-profit organization with a mission to connect people through lending to alleviate poverty. Lenders provide borrowers micro loans (as little as $25.00) to help create opportunity around the world. Since founding in 2005 Kiva has provided $398,307,025 in loans to 67 countries.

Kiva has a simple set of instructions on their website (1) Choose a borrower (2) Make a loan (3) Get repaid (4) Repeat! It really is as simple as that. On the Kiva.org website you can view hundreds of borrowers from across the globe; from Mirna in Lebanon who is requesting a loan of $2,500 to open a tutoring centre, to Enkaiser in Kenya who is requesting a loan of $700 to buy wheat seed and fertilizer. Each lender provides $25.00 in as many increments to as many different borrowers as they wish to. Each borrower has a short story about how they will use their loan and a given repayment term. While Kiva does not guarantee repayment they do boast a 99.03% repayment rate! 

Meetingmax will partner with various Kiva borrowers to help fuel their success. As many of you know our CEO, Jeff Duncan, is currently President of the Vancouver Chapter of the Entrepreneurs Organization. Kiva struck a cord with him as he feels this is a wonderful opportunity to give back to other entrepreneurs across the globe. We’ll soon be deciding as a team on who we will grant our first loan too. If you are interested in contributing to anyone on Kiva please join our team!