A to Z of Web 2.0 for Social Change: K

From their Website:

Kiva.org (www.kiva.org) is the world’s first person-to-person micro-lending website, empowering individuals to lend directly to an entrepreneur in the developing world. Founded in 2005 by Matt and Jessica Flannery, Kiva.org’s mission is to connect people, through lending, to alleviate poverty. Kiva.org currently connects lenders in more than 70 countries with entrepreneurs in 42 developing countries, through 86 microfinance partners. Kiva.org is headquartered in San Francisco.

How Kiva Works: Choose an Entrepreneur, Lend, Get Repaid

1) Lenders like you browse profiles of entrepreneurs in need, and choose someone to lend to. When they lend, using PayPal or their credit cards, Kiva collects the funds and then passes them along to one of our microfinance partners worldwide.

2) Kiva’s microfinance partners distribute the loan funds to the selected entrepreneur. Often, our partners also provide training and other assistance to maximize the entrepreneur’s chances of success.

3) Over time, the entrepreneur repays their loan. Repayment and other updates are posted on Kiva and emailed to lenders who wish to receive them.

4) When lenders get their money back, they can re-lend to someone else in need, donate their funds to Kiva (to cover operational expenses), or withdraw their funds.

Kiva’s Impact:

$25 million has been loaned through Kiva.org (500% increase over 12 months, 36% increase over last quarter), according to their press release on the 2nd of April 2008.
A loan is made on Kiva.org every 37 seconds, and their latest statistics show that the total value of loans is $49 million dollars.

In Lebanon, Al-Majmoua raised 717000$ through Kiva in 12 months. Click the image below to see more:

If you are starting a small business, you can apply for a loan through one of their local field partners.