Kiva borrowers located in the United States go through a "private" fundraising period before their loan is published on the website for lenders to contribute. In this period, they'll reach out to their community of customers, friends and family to contribute to their loan as a form of "social underwriting."
This can seem intimidating at first, but most borrowers are surprised at how willing people are to support them! CEO of Fresh to Def Collective and Kiva borrower Hope Lehman talks about her experience with the private fundraising period. She’s a borrower who felt...
Channing first witnessed the ability of entrepreneurship to empower people while studying Spanish in Guatemala. Throughout college, she became interested in microfinance while working in business development in the Netherlands and studying the effects of tourism on Caribbean economies. After graduating from Principia College in 2018 with degrees in Political Science and Business, she began work for a Santa Barbara-based nonprofit and later found Kiva. She's passionate about communicating and sharing the work done at Kiva and elsewhere in the international development space.
Kiva Blog Updates
Apr 21, 2020
Kiva HQ
Kiva HQ
Mar 6, 2020
Kiva HQ
Kiva HQ
At Kiva, we don't need a special holiday to uplift women—that's our business as usual. But we are celebrating by MATCHING loans to women on March 8 and March 9! Double your impact for women today!
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Dec 21, 2019
Kiva HQ
Kiva HQ
Jeremy Jue is our Kiva Media Fellow based in Africa. He takes us on his journey through the continent meeting Kiva borrowers and gives us a front row seat to Kiva's impact in the field. It's well worth a watch. Thanks, Jeremy!
Want to contribute to the impactful work Jeremy and other Kiva fellows and employees do every day across the...
Nov 21, 2019
Kiva HQ
Kiva HQ
It's been quite a year, and here at Kiva we're taking a moment to reflect on the impact we've made together.
The impact Kiva has around the world is entirely because of you, and that’s pretty incredible. Your support has enabled us to take what was once a “hopeful corner of the internet” and turn it into a global movement for financial inclusion.
You have proven that it’s possible to harness the goodwill of the crowd to lift up our neighbors across the globe - and they’re grateful for you, too!
... Continue Reading >>
The impact Kiva has around the world is entirely because of you, and that’s pretty incredible. Your support has enabled us to take what was once a “hopeful corner of the internet” and turn it into a global movement for financial inclusion.
You have proven that it’s possible to harness the goodwill of the crowd to lift up our neighbors across the globe - and they’re grateful for you, too!
... Continue Reading >>
Oct 16, 2019
Kiva HQ
Kiva HQ
Many years ago, Levan’s grandparents started their own hostel business in Tbilisi, Georgia. His grandmother designed the building herself and Levan is certain that his interest in architecture comes from her.
When Levan decided to pursue a university degree in architecture, he needed to get a loan. Instead of borrowing money from his family to pay a higher interest loan, Levan received a $375 loan from Kiva. This enabled him to be more independent, cover his own finances and relieve the financial burden on his family.
He’s now in... Continue Reading >>
When Levan decided to pursue a university degree in architecture, he needed to get a loan. Instead of borrowing money from his family to pay a higher interest loan, Levan received a $375 loan from Kiva. This enabled him to be more independent, cover his own finances and relieve the financial burden on his family.
He’s now in... Continue Reading >>
Oct 9, 2019
Kiva HQ
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Kiva HQ
In October 2019, Kiva crossed the $1 BILLION dollar mark in loans to women around the world. That’s huge. That’s $1,000,000,000 deployed to almost 3 million women in 94 countries. But we couldn’t do it alone - this progress is all thanks to YOU, our incredible community. It takes a village to raise $1 billion. The Kiva village is diverse and powerful - lenders, volunteers, Field Partners, employees and corporate partners all came together to make this impact happen.
7th and 8th grade...
Aug 22, 2019
Kiva HQ
Kiva HQ
You may have noticed - Kiva's been evolving a lot lately. We're making some big moves, from recent product launches on Kiva.org to the announcement of our cooperation with the UN and the government of Sierra Leone to develop new block-chain based decentralized identification systems in Africa.
Kiva's 10+ years of experience in microfinance has given us unique expertise with and a deep understanding of obstacles to global financial inclusion. We often tell you about the exciting future of Kiva, but it's impossible to share all our experience in a single social media...
Aug 11, 2019
Kiva HQ
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Kiva HQ
How much money do you spend on monthly subscriptions? Think about music, movies and TV, but also fitness, news and even shaving materials. A recent survey showed that American adults spend an average of $237.33 a month on subscription services.
That’s a ton! Before you think about canceling some of your subscriptions, think about how impactful it would be to lend just $25 each month to Kiva borrowers.
Even this good boy can make a difference in the world from his couch. Photo by Paolo...
Aug 6, 2019
Kiva HQ
Kiva HQ
Kiva loan applications are often not originally in English or are posted in countries where English is not the primary language. A team of volunteers with the Review and Translation Program (RTP) edit, translate, and review our loans from around the world. More than 400 volunteers from Munich to Nova Scotia dedicate their time to contribute to Kiva's work. In the past 3 months, our volunteers have reviewed more than 37,187 loans.
This quarter we are celebrating three of our incredible volunteers: JoEllen, Joann, Dara and Susan! All our volunteers are motivated by the...
Jul 31, 2019
Kiva HQ
Kiva HQ
With your support, Kiva has built one of the most impactful investment portfolios on the planet! To date we have deployed $1.3 billion in loans to 2.6 million people globally. This funding has changed the lives of individuals, their families and the communities in which they live in ways they never thought possible. It has enabled single parents to build their businesses, women to achieve higher education, refugees to rebuild their lives in new communities, smallholder farmers to invest in their crops, and so much more.
Facilitating finance in communities that need...