Fed up with just paying your Oxfam subscription and never seeing where it goes? Help is at hand! Kiva.org uses partnerships with micro-credit lenders all over the world to allow you to browse specific micro-loan applications, and choose which ones you want to lend money to.
Every credit applicant has submitted a photo and a business plan, and you can lend direct from your credit card. Then, during the life of the loan (usually 6-12 months) you get email updates on how the business is faring. And when your funds are returned to you, you can either withdraw them or re-loan them. Neat, huh?
But the site also sends an important message to people in the aid industry: proof of aid effectiveness is increasingly going to shift from a ‘trust us’ to a ‘show me’ model. Kiva’s key selling point, after all, is its transparency – it’s no accident that one of the strap lines is “we show you where your money goes”.
