Flyertalk Cares! - FlyerTalker Lending Team on Kiva.org!

Some time ago, I posted here (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/10138802-post3.html)about Kiva.org, the not-for-profit microlending organization that networks people willing to lend to small entrepreneurs in developing nations using available technology and international networking / collaboration, and how Kiva.org had become an approved FlyerTalk charity thanks to Talk Board's approval June 29, 2008 <link (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/town-hall-official-talkboard-voting-decisions/839904-motion-passed-charity-request-kiva.html#post9958210)> It is listed on the FlyerTalk Cares page.

"Kiva is a grassroots project started by a team with a big idea: one-to-one, real-time lending to the poor via the Internet. Currently, we take no cut of the loan you make through our site -- 100% goes to the entrepreneur. We suggest a 10% donation, in addition to your loan, to help us cover our costs. Kiva is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and your donation is tax-deductible for US taxpayers." (Suggested donations for administrative overhead, low though that is, are not required - you may lend 100% if you so choose.)

Since that time, a FlyerTalker Lending Team (http://www.kiva.org/team/flyertalkers) has formed on Kiva.org, and there were ten of us with 55 loans worth $1,375.00 as of Feb 27, 2009. But...
As of Dec 01 2012 it's 337 FlyerTalk Lending Team members, with 8,739 loans made totaling $305,025!

This is tangible evidence Flyertalk Cares! I am sure there are other FlyerTalkers on Kiva who have not joined - if you are one of them, do so now to show your and FT's support and involvement. If you haven't loaned yet, check it out - you may want to join up. For the low-income entrepreneurs on five continents who are requesting loans, it is significant - and it takes a lot of drops to fill the bucket. (Read on to see updates!)

Kiva allows us a great privilege, in my opinion. Many of us have travelled extensively, and have seen the poor and working poor: the weaver in Cambodia, the farmer in Perú, the mechanic in Egypt, the small duka owner in Kenya. We have wondered how we can help, how we can assure some of our travel money trickles down to help others less fortunate than we are, and we can not only get it back but lend it again!

At the same time, we are sometimes set upon by those who may not be so worthy - cons and grift artists are out there (and here in the developed world too, from the news headlines!) with great stories, but how are we to know if they are real? Or, we are asked to give to organizations that we do not have the resources to research to see if they are in fact doing a good job on the ground, or merely wasting our money in perpetual "gievaway" charity drives and high overhead expenses.

Now, we can see this sophisticated network link resources from those who can lend (no interest, sorry!) with those who are needy, worthy and screened by local NGOs and have a need to start / expand their small business to enhance their and their families' survival. And, using PayPal and your FFP/FFG linked card or account, you can earn miles or points with many loans!

FlyerTalkers are lending, and fulfilling one of FT's seminal values, that of "paying it forward."

Read more about (http://www.kiva.org/about)Kiva.org, who supports and enables it (http://www.kiva.org/about/supporters/) (Intel, Google, Paypal, Intuit and many others,) and see if you have $25.00 (or more) you can lend someone deserving in a land you have visited and enjoyed (or not.)

This is how it works:

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_v5CtQ6ItQls/TBhFmDTbwoI/AAAAAAAAAPk/sf6mBEMicH4/s400/kivacycle-complex.png

Add your experiences here, or if you haven't joined... won't you consider joining the FlyerTalker Lending Team (http://www.kiva.org/team/flyertalkers)?

You can see who the latest FT borrowers are (some still possibly needing loans) here (http://www.kiva.org/team/flyertalkers/loans)

For ease, you can click here: Subscribe to FlyerTalker Lending Team on Kiva.org (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/subscription.php?do=addsubscription&t=926538)

We were members of Kiva.org before finding this thread. I just added to my lending total and glad to be part of the Flyertalk team and effort.

Ingy

Great! Glad you are onboard (both.) Now we are twelve at the end of the day.

(12 FlyerTalkers, 57 loans! ^)

I just saw this thread and looked at the web site , Im gonna look into joining .

Also want to add another plug for Kiva.org; they have gift certificates! You can send electronically to the recipient who can select who to loan to, and yes, join a team.

I've been thinking about doing this for a year or two and for no good reason (too busy?) never got around to it. Well, now's the time. Consider me in. Will join up this week.^

i'm joining this worthwhile charity.

Wow - overnight, new stats:

14 members, 62 loans, $1,550 out in microloans!

fireworks boy and braefoot, welcome to the team! ^

Wow, I wasn't even aware Kiva had this kind of set-up! And I call myself a supporter?! :eek: Awesome to work with fellow FTers in this great initiative! ^

JDiver I joined the team and just made a loan. Thanks for setting up our FT team.

I joined and set up my first loan .

I am going to go make a loan. This is somewhat similar to prosper.com but with a different focus.

Way to go fellow FT Team!^

Welcome aboard the microlending express! ;)

FlyerTalkers Lending Team is up to 20 members, 71 loans and $2,225.00 loaned by FlyerTalkers!

Update 1:31 PM March 1, 2009:

Statistic Name FlyerTalkers
Number of Team Members 23
Number of Loans 80
Number of Loans per Member 3.48
Total Amount Loaned $2,450.00 ^

Whether you donate to Kiva itself is up to you - but the microloans are fee-free and you do get it back (though I like this so much I have re-loaned every buck I have put into microlending - the banks should have such a good repayment rate!)

I've been meaning to do some microloans for years and just never got around to it.

Thanks jdiver! for making it so easy.

Have made a small loan to a woman running an internet cafe/grocery store. She wants to do maintenance on the computers, and I'm all for that!

I joined also team FT and Kiva today and set up two loans. ^

Joined yesterday and made two loans.

I also joined today and made two loans - unfortunately the first one didn't count toward the FT total because I made it before I joined the team.

It's not possible to credit that loan retroactively, so if anyone else signs up, make sure you join the team first and then make your loans! ;)

Anyone else sense a KivaDoo in their future?:)

Hey all,

Have been lending on KIVA for a while, but joined the team today. My future loans will certainly count for the team!

Cheers,

GenevaFlyer

Sure enough! Welcome all - I only wish my 42 loans prior to joining the team could count as well!

FlyerTalkers Lending Team
Number of Team Members: 24
Number of Loans: 83
Number of Loans per Member: 3.46
Total Amount Loaned: $2,525.00

Glad to see this in TalkMail!

I have been with Kiva since April 2007, and have half a dozen friends participating now.

I joined this group, and my next loans will go through here! :cool:

Thanks for setting this up JDiver! I will be sure to make some loans as part of the FT team!

I'm in! Thanks for organizing, JDiver!

Great site! I've never heard of anything like this before. Signed up and made my first loan today. ^

Another who joined in april 2007.A great idea.I have just resigned from Australia and officially become a part of the FT team.A great pity our previous loans dont count but all future loans will.

I'll be joining in a couple months and making some loans when I have a little more disposable income :D (getting things paid off now)

I'm in (and just made my first loan to someone far, far away).

Thanks for setting this up! :)

In, great idea.

Stats as of today:
Number of Team Members 36
Number of Loans 93
Number of Loans per Member 2.58
Total Amount Loaned $2,875.00

Welcome! I'll have to add something to the stats, as I just got an e-mail another loan is paid and I have credit. No interest, gotta lend it out again... :D

Number of Team Members 36
Number of Loans 94
Number of Loans per Member 2.61
Total Amount Loaned $2,900.00

And approaching $3,000!

I feel like Citi... er, no, MUCH better than that! My e-mail today says:

Below is the repayment update on your Kiva Portfolio:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Cookery Sellers Group in Makeni, Sierra Leone (Activity: Cafe)
You loaned $50.00
Newly Repaid: Still Raising Funds
Total Repaid So Far: 0% of $50.00 (Still Raising Funds)
View Group Profile at:
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=95406
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sam Chhorn in Cambodia (Activity: Cereals)
You Loaned: $25.00
Newly Repaid: $1.39
Total Repaid So Far: $20.83 (83.32% of your loan)
View loan profile at:
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=23786&_te=ru
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Donald Agustín Betanco Portillo in Nicaragua (Activity: Machine Shop)
You Loaned: $50.00
Newly Repaid: $2.08
Total Repaid So Far: $16.67 (33.34% of your loan)
View loan profile at:
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=44848&_te=ru
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ham Phoin in Cambodia (Activity: Construction)
You Loaned: $50.00
Newly Repaid: $2.78
Total Repaid So Far: $25.00 (50.00% of your loan)
View loan profile at:
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=45549&_te=ru
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sabiduría Group in Peru (Activity: Retail)
You Loaned: $100.00
Newly Repaid: $16.67
Total Repaid So Far: $100.00 (100.00% of your loan)
View loan profile at:
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=54726&_te=ru
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Marlene Cruz Galeao in Nicaragua (Activity: Services)
You Loaned: $25.00
Newly Repaid: $2.08
Total Repaid So Far: $12.50 (50.00% of your loan)
View loan profile at:
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=55672&_te=ru
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jose Ernesto De La Cruz Mata in Mexico (Activity: Retail)
You Loaned: $25.00
Newly Repaid: $1.92
Total Repaid So Far: $11.54 (46.16% of your loan)
View loan profile at:
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=56585&_te=ru
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Genith in Peru (Activity: Motorcycle Transport)
You Loaned: $25.00
Newly Repaid: $4.17
Total Repaid So Far: $25.00 (100.00% of your loan)
View loan profile at:
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=57033&_te=ru
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trabajando Unidos Group in Honduras (Activity: General Store)
You Loaned: $50.00
Newly Repaid: $4.17
Total Repaid So Far: $25.00 (50.00% of your loan)
View loan profile at:
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=57395&_te=ru
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ruben Rafael Lacaán Tzul in Guatemala (Activity: Weaving)
You Loaned: $25.00
Newly Repaid: $1.04
Total Repaid So Far: $6.25 (25.00% of your loan)
View loan profile at:
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=57742&_te=ru
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dickson Otieno in Kenya (Activity: Milk Sales)
You Loaned: $25.00
Newly Repaid: $1.39
Total Repaid So Far: $8.33 (33.32% of your loan)
View loan profile at:
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=57914&_te=ru
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Grace Akinyi in Kenya (Activity: Clothing)
You Loaned: $50.00
Newly Repaid: $2.78
Total Repaid So Far: $16.67 (33.34% of your loan)
View loan profile at:
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=57916&_te=ru
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sopheap Ros in Cambodia (Activity: Food Production/Sales)
You Loaned: $25.00
Newly Repaid: $1.39
Total Repaid So Far: $8.34 (33.36% of your loan)
View loan profile at:
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=57929&_te=ru
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rim Sok in Cambodia (Activity: Used Clothing)
You Loaned: $25.00
Newly Repaid: $2.08
Total Repaid So Far: $12.50 (50.00% of your loan)
View loan profile at:
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=58139&_te=ru
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sao Roeung in Cambodia (Activity: Furniture Making)
You Loaned: $25.00
Newly Repaid: $2.08
Total Repaid So Far: $12.50 (50.00% of your loan)
View loan profile at:
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=58141&_te=ru
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Guillermo Rodriguez Rivera in Mexico (Activity: Services)
You Loaned: $25.00
Newly Repaid: $12.50
Total Repaid So Far: $25.00 (100.00% of your loan)
View loan profile at:
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=59790&_te=ru
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reyna Ahuanari Diaz in Peru (Activity: Fish Selling)
You Loaned: $25.00
Newly Repaid: $4.17
Total Repaid So Far: $16.67 (66.68% of your loan)
View loan profile at:
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=67546&_te=ru
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Maria in Peru (Activity: Motorcycle Transport)
You Loaned: $25.00
Newly Repaid: $4.17
Total Repaid So Far: $16.67 (66.68% of your loan)
View loan profile at:
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=67565&_te=ru
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sununa Namuyanja's Group in Uganda (Activity: Metal Shop)
You Loaned: $50.00
Newly Repaid: $12.50
Total Repaid So Far: $50.00 (100.00% of your loan)
View loan profile at:
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=68356&_te=ru
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gaudence Nyirasafali in Rwanda (Activity: Fish Selling)
You Loaned: $25.00
Newly Repaid: $0.10
Total Repaid So Far: $9.47 (37.88% of your loan)
View loan profile at:
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=68540&_te=ru
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Run Thida in Cambodia (Activity: Farming)
You Loaned: $25.00
Newly Repaid: $1.38
Total Repaid So Far: $5.55 (22.20% of your loan)
View loan profile at:
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=68703&_te=ru
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Muth Sam in Cambodia (Activity: Livestock)
You Loaned: $25.00
Newly Repaid: $1.38
Total Repaid So Far: $5.55 (22.20% of your loan)
View loan profile at:
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=68705&_te=ru
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kayunga market Group in Uganda (Activity: Farming)
You Loaned: $25.00
Newly Repaid: $1.56
Total Repaid So Far: $1.56 (6.24% of your loan)
View loan profile at:
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=89045&_te=ru
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bui Thi Lan Anh's Group in Viet Nam (Activity: Retail)
You Loaned: $25.00
Newly Repaid: $1.00
Total Repaid So Far: $1.00 (4.00% of your loan)
View loan profile at:
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=90814&_te=ru

Yahoo! We're at $3,000.00 leaned to needy entrepreneurs in developing countries! ^

From February 27 2009

Number of Team Members 10
Number of Loans 55
Number of Loans per Member 5.5
Total Amount Loaned $1,375.00

to today,

Number of Team Members 36
Number of Loans 97
Number of Loans per Member 2.69
Total Amount Loaned $3,000.00

Go FlyerTalkers!

Over 1,000 new loan requests showed up on KIVA overnight. Lots of new places and places to make a difference (e.g. Haiti, Afghanistan). Might be a good time for new members and existing members to add a few loans.

Kiva Lending Team: FlyerTalkers

Number of Team Members 38

Number of Loans 117

Number of Loans per Member 3.08

Total Amount Loaned $3,525.00

*Updated as of Apr 07, 2009 09:11 pm

I made another one today. Just looking around, there are no Education or Health fundraising projects. Those are the ones I would personally give more to than others.

I need to add, that there are no current fund raising for Education and/or Health but have been, most in the repayment phase.

For some reason I had not seen this thread before. Count me in to the group. I've just linked my fourth loan to the FT "club".

Goodonya, Craig! especially for the four loans, of course.

For some reason I had not seen this thread before. Count me in to the group. I've just linked my fourth loan to the FT "club".

As of April 15 (Tax Day!) 2009

Number of Team Members: 39
Number of Loans: 120
Number of Loans per Member: 3.08
Total Amount Loaned: $3,600.00
*Updated as of Apr 15, 2009 07:41 am

Thanks to JDiver for alerting me to FlyerTalk's decision to officially approve Kiva as an FT charity. That status is now reflected in the group description.

If you haven't already, join the FlyerTalkers Kiva team and make a small loan through the team:

http://www.kiva.org/team/flyertalkers&_isc=d818079c-7b23-102c-9865-7ae612a60d4d&_te=tr

Let's push the group over 100 members or $5,000 loaned by December!

Hi, captain boulderlaw! We've made such great progress this year, I am hoping we can double your goal :eek:, even in this weak economy. We can dream, can't we? From ten members lending $1,375at the end of February to today's 40 lending team members / $3,600 is most encouraging!

But we are just 1/3 the way down 2009, with such great events coming up as Thanksgiving (not to mention birthdays, anniversaries, memorials, etc.) to use as incentives or vehicles for lending and giving back a bit for all we have to be thankful for.

just joined and made a loan

How long does it take for loans to show up? I just joined and made two loans. Paypal shows that the loans were made. Kiva shows me as not having made any, and still has the two groups in my basket.

How long does it take for loans to show up? I just joined and made two loans. Paypal shows that the loans were made. Kiva shows me as not having made any, and still has the two groups in my basket.

There was about a 2 hour lag between making payment and the loans showing up for me today.

Maybe I did set our goal of $5,000 loaned a little too low:

As of April 22 (one week since our last update),

Number of Team Members
42

Number of Loans
130

Number of Loans per Member
3.10

Total Amount Loaned
$3,925.00

Help push us over the top by recruiting a friend or making a loan. Every dollar and team member gets us that much closer.

I joined the team today too. Time to make some loans.

Goodonya, dartagnan! And SanDiego1K shows three loans now.

Capt. boulderlaw, we are on the way - maybe to $5,000 by July 1? Now, that would be a great achievement for FT lending team members!

That sounds about right.

We are growing thanks to members like you.

Some observations:

o One new FT team member (maybe you!) already has 81 loans - (most prior to joining,) and I have to say that is IMPRESSIVE and displays a real commitment to help others. :-:

o One member has a link to this page in his Lender Profile - great idea! ^ Now I've added the link to this page to my lender profile as well; thanks for the idea!

o We're at $4,200 loaned this morning! :cool:

At May 1, our stats are now:

FlyerTalkers
Number of Team Members: 47
Number of Loans: 141
Number of Loans per Member: 3.0
Total Amount Loaned: $4,200.00

There was about a 2 hour lag between making payment and the loans showing up for me today.

This is a wonderful idea.

I'm joining the team today.

Just joined and made my first contribution. GO TEAM FlyerTalk!

Joined the team today. Joined Kiva long back and have a few loans. Good for the soul.

Just joined today and made my first (of hopefully several) loans. What a beautiful concept this is.

Welcome to the newest members.

Welcome to the FlyerTalkers lending team! Fifty members! (http://www.kiva.org/community/viewTeam?team_id=1913) That is a nice benchmark, and I see our loans total up to $4,325.00 today as well.

Even in this down-in-the-dumps economy, FT is making a difference - and I suspect we can travel to any number of places and know someone there has been empowered by the team's efforts. (This is not even taking into consideration the loans made by members before they joined the team, which are not shown as team efforts on kiva.org.)

See who we are! (http://www.kiva.org/community/viewTeamMembers/?team_id=1913)

I just did another one today.

Hi all,

Just added one as well.

Cheers,

GenevaFlyer

FanTAStic!

We are currently up to

Number of Team Members 51
Number of Loans 168
Number of Loans per Member 3.29
Total Amount Loaned $4,900.00

Five thousand dollars lent, here we come! ^

Just threw my 3rd loan in, should hit $5,000 shortly only a couple of loans shy. Good work all.

Statistic Name FlyerTalkers
Number of Team Members 51
Number of Loans 174
Number of Loans per Member 3.41
Total Amount Loaned $5,175.00

$10,000 by the end of the year ??

I just re-loaned some repayments that have hit my account over the last months - it's amazing how quickly the funds come back in (or rather, how quickly time passes... :eek:).

I'm #52

176 loans total

$5225 loaned out.

I just found this thread and love the idea. Just made my first loan and plan on more.

Thanks for doing this Flyertalk Kiva team!

Duo xie (thank you very much - I am in Shanghai today,) to all! We've pushed the FlyerTalkers Lending Team OVER $5,000! ^

We surpassed our goal of $5,000. Congratulations to all who have lent through the FT team and contributed to meeting our goal!

How about we add a few zeros to that number? Here is a global challenge for all of FlyerTalk:

If every member of FlyerTalk.com (all 197,793 members) makes at least one $25 loan on their credit card of choice through our Kiva lending team (http://www.kiva.org/community/viewTeam?team_id=1913) we can generate:

$4,944,825 in loans
$98,896.50 in cashback rebates (@ 2%) or
at least 4,944,825 frequent flyers miles

Right now the biggest team on Kiva has loaned a measly $500,000.

The people on this thread are off to a great start, but this concept needs to spread to every member of the FT community. Everyone on FT could use 25 miles or a little cashback, so what is stopping FT from dominating the Kiva leaderboard? As our team motto says, "We want to fight global poverty while earning miles." Let's get earning.

I just noticed that now U.S. entrepeneurs are listed on KIVA. Anyone want to engage in a little private sector economic stimulus?

And, why not? ;)

I re-lent a Benjamin that came back at me from borrowers today, and now we are up to $5,800.00

*Updated as of Jun 21, 2009 06:51 pm

boulderlaw, you've got a great idea! ^

I just noticed that now U.S. entrepeneurs are listed on KIVA. Anyone want to engage in a little private sector economic stimulus?

I loaned $25 on Jan 15th of 2009. Add me to the list!

I found Kiva through the link in JDiver's signature, but didn't find the Flyertalk team until today. After credits come in on the 15th, I'll be sure to credit a new loan to the FT team!

My previous loans are partially paid back, so I made another loan for the FlyerTalk team.

Did another one tonight. Wish Kiva did more education lending.

$6,200 thus far from FT!

So, I just loaned to a Bolivian taxi driver for some vehicle maintenance and picked up some MR points.

Wow, that would be something! And I know we could do it - it's a matter of educating other FlyerTalkers of the wonderful opportunity FT and Kiva allow us to spread the good around where we travel. Now - imagine every FTer did what the 57 members have done - the average loans per FT member is 3.75 loans!

"We want to fight global poverty while earning miles" at work.

Today we are at 57 members, $6,300.00 lent. ^

We surpassed our goal of $5,000. Congratulations to all who have lent through the FT team and contributed to meeting our goal!

How about we add a few zeros to that number? Here is a global challenge for all of FlyerTalk:

If every member of FlyerTalk.com (all 197,793 members) makes at least one $25 loan on their credit card of choice through our Kiva lending team (http://www.kiva.org/community/viewTeam?team_id=1913) we can generate:

$4,944,825 in loans
$98,896.50 in cashback rebates (@ 2%) or
at least 4,944,825 frequent flyers miles

Right now the biggest team on Kiva has loaned a measly $500,000.

The people on this thread are off to a great start, but this concept needs to spread to every member of the FT community. Everyone on FT could use 25 miles or a little cashback, so what is stopping FT from dominating the Kiva leaderboard? As our team motto says, "We want to fight global poverty while earning miles." Let's get earning.

I'm #58 and think this is a great cause. I'm going to forward this to my womens group!



Number of Team Members 57
Number of Loans 215
Number of Loans per Member 3.77
Total Amount Loaned $6,325.00

Just made my 8th loan. It's so easy to re-loan and it's amazingly great to see every single person I've loaned to paying back, just so that I can pay it forward again to someone else!

I made a loan. I had checked out Prosper a while ago, but it kinda just seemed like either the person wouldn't pay it back, or you wouldn't earn much interest.

With Kiva I feel more like I'm helping someone who really needs it. I donated $25 to some lady who needs money for ear piercing machines.

How is everyone doing with currency fluctuations? The one I chose said I was guaranteed my $25 back, but other loans made it sound like if the exchange rate changes that I may not get my $25 back (which would just add a little hurdle to loaning out the next $25 but not stop it).

Oh man, you have no idea how happy I am to have come across this thread! ^^

I've joined Kiva and the FlyerTalk team and have made my first loan. :)

How is everyone doing with currency fluctuations? The one I chose said I was guaranteed my $25 back, but other loans made it sound like if the exchange rate changes that I may not get my $25 back (which would just add a little hurdle to loaning out the next $25 but not stop it).

I've just made it kind of a personal goal that I log in once a month or so, and if I have credit from a repaid loan, I go ahead and lend it to someone else. Even if I have to add $10 or $15. I'm up to 9 loans now. Everyone is paying back, even 2 are ahead of schedule by paying more than what they were obligated to pay.

As for currency fluctuations, I mean, we're talking $25 loans here, not $25000 loans. The dollar just doesn't fluctuate wildly against worldwide currencies during the short term of these loans. At the maximum, the $ could increase by 10% over one year's time. So, you've lost $2.50. That's less than the cost of 1 latte at Starbucks. What you gained in good karma, decent humanity, and self-respect is certainly more valuable than $2.50.

Hi all,

I've pretty much got the same approach as TravellinHusker. I log in every month or so, and reloan the amount that has been repaid. I've got $200 in the system, with 12 active loans right now. In total, I've made 27 loans, 15 of which were repaid in full and on time (7 loans have counted since I joined the FT team).

I would not worry too much about currency fluctuations. Yes, some country could face tremendous devaluation over time, but the loans having short terms, it typically won't show. And if it does, I'll just add the difference. I'm doing this to help others, not to protect "my investment".

Cheers,

GenevaFlyer

I'm doing this to help others, not to protect "my investment".

You said it, GenevaFlyer. Perfectly sums up my sentiments exactly.

Just joined and took on my first loan :)

Just joined and took on my first loan :)

Great! One of mine was paid back early, so I loaned it out again today. This time to a Lebanese woman who makes paper bags at home with some squares of paper and a glue pot. She wants a machine that makes bags so she can speed up production.

MStieb, wildblue, weather, gj83, Jenbel, RCyyz and all, welcome aboard!

I agree this is a great opportunity to link those of us interested in helping by giving a hand up (not the "hand out" we sometimes get faced with by those who may be less than worthy / entrepreneurial beyond begging or scamming) to those looking to better their lives by hard work.

I have taken a hit on one loan (of a number) - ex-partner ADMIC in Mexico has a large number of loan defaults due to the impact of the economic crisis in Mexico, and potentially other issues; Kiva suspended them from being active partners and has specialists looking to see what can be salvaged and what help they might need if they are salvageable. I trust Kiva to do the right thing, either way.

As for potential currency exchange hits, read the page form as you loan, and you are likely to see the loan is protected from currency exchanges.

Like lili - and many of you - I log in and reloan what has been paid back, and I also tend to inject a bit more from time to time. I try to keep my Kiva credit as low as I can - it's currently $4.72.

We're up to a respectable:

60 members
235 loans (!)
$6,850.00 in loans
3.92 average number of loans per FT lending team member

(I've also involved others who are even in some cases starting their own teams or joining others - kind of like weather's great idea of forwarding the information on to her women's group.)

Just did loan number 10 and now my Kiva credit has been reset to $0. :-)

I've yet to have anyone default and everyone is paying on schedule or ahead of schedule. This is such an impressive operation that Kiva has going. Keep on passing the word, FTers!

I was already on Kiva but will have to look for the FT team next time I log in. Good initiative!

I was already on Kiva but will have to look for the FT team next time I log in. Good initiative!Just Click on lili's signature: Come join the FlyerTalk team on Kiva! (http://www.kiva.org/community/viewTeam?team_id=1913)

Statistic Name FlyerTalkers
Number of Team Members 60
Number of Loans 240
Number of Loans per Member 4.00
Total Amount Loaned $6,975.00

Some FTers have not got a travel related photo as an avatar :(

If you need to top-off a FF account, consider making a loan through the FlyerTalk Kiva Lending Team w/ a miles-earning cc: http://www.kiva.org/community/viewTeam?team_id=1913

I have never had a Kiva loan default and the overall rate of default is very low, so the cost of the miles is the forgone interest on the loaned money.

Kiva FlyerTalkers
Number of Team Members 62
Number of Loans 251
Number of Loans per Member 4.05
Total Amount Loaned $7,300.00

Hi boulderlaw,

While I do agree with the encouraging message, I also think we should not hide the truth.

Overall, the average KIVA user, as per the statistics which are show to me, have a 1.39% default rate.

Now, I will say that this is a very low rate, but I would encourage everyone to pay attention when lending on KIVA to:

- the type of business
- the lending partner involved .. what is their default rate?

It's lending-101 principles, but it does count.

Cheers,

GenevaFlyer

PS = And yes, after 27 loans, of which 15 have been repaid in full, I am still at a 0% default rate

Although Kiva has no political or religious agenda, some of their field lenders do. If there is anyone who prefers to loan only to particular organizations there is a FireFox add on for that.

The filter can act as a black list or a white list and the guy who put it together uses it to maintain a list of field lenders who claim to be christian.

If you prefer to lend based on a different set of criteria, that's fine, but if you prefer to not support a religious agenda or only support Christian lenders that is a choice that should be easier than it currently is.

http://atheist-monkey.blogspot.com/2009/08/kiva-mfi-checker.html

You do maintain your own list so if you preferred to black list lenders with high default rates or currency issues it can be used for that also.

An update: Since joining Kiva (15 July 2009) I've made 7 loans and a few have been partially repaid already. Today I checked and I have about $23 repaid so I tossed in the other $2 and made my 8th loan.

To anyone who's considering Kiva - it's easy to join, you don't get spam, loans are repaid over time and it's easy to keep the cycle going. ^

Congrats to the Kiva team. I would have joined if I wasn't already invested with Global Partnerships in Seattle. The more microloans the merrier!

I joined and made a first loan to some farmer in Togo.

http://www.kiva.org/lender/HelsinkiFlyer

Welcome to the team, Helsinki Flyer!

I think Adjo Akakpo's request was a good one, so I added my bit.

So, fellow FTers, the score is now, at the end of August:

FlyerTalkers:
68 Team Members
291 Loans
4.28 Loans per Member (average)
$8,900.00 Total Loaned
*Updated as of Sept 1, 2009 10:02 am

I'm betting ;) $10,000 by Christmas - at least! FlyerTalkers, making a difference! ^

And gj83, thanks for sharing the cool add-on!

(And, yes, I have had one or two loans go into delinquency - I am aware of risk issues and select the kind of business I lend to, the lender, the location, and do know I can decisions that control the loan risk. Thanks for bringing this up, GenevaFlyer.)

Just joined myself and made a couple of loans

Jeff

Welcome, Jeff!

You added to some truly impressive statistics for this year - from Kiwis to Seppos and Euros ;) our team is "growing and loaning" and is really a microcosm of the best FlyerTalk has to offer.

Just joined myself and made a couple of loans

Jeff

Where did everybody go? I haven't been here in awhile. (I got too sucked in to Farm Town on Face Book), but I didn't know that FT has a team on Kiva. Woo-Hoo! I've belonged since early last year, and I'm a big fan. I just moved over to your team. Yea, FT! (I also belong to prosper.com) Jean

A comment (but not a complaint):

I checked the Kiva website a few weeks back and noticed to my delight that some of the loans had been partially repaid. I happily topped up the payback and made another $25 loan.

Sometime last week I received an email from Kiva noting that some loans had been repaid. I checked today, and my Kiva balance is $0.

So obviously, Kiva is slow at sending out notices for repaid loans. While this isn't problematic for me at all, I do find it a trifle odd that repayments and notifications aren't more or less simultaneous.

Anyone else notice this?

My first loan is starting to be paid back so lent that money back out today. I'll just keep relending as it comes in.

I think I'll be giving KIVA gift certificates for Christmas!

A comment (but not a complaint):

I checked the Kiva website a few weeks back and noticed to my delight that some of the loans had been partially repaid. I happily topped up the payback and made another $25 loan.

Sometime last week I received an email from Kiva noting that some loans had been repaid. I checked today, and my Kiva balance is $0.

So obviously, Kiva is slow at sending out notices for repaid loans. While this isn't problematic for me at all, I do find it a trifle odd that repayments and notifications aren't more or less simultaneous.

Anyone else notice this?
Happened to me too.

Hi all,

Just relent another $25. The team is at $9'350 and going strong.

Let's keep the momentum, everyone!

Cheers,

GenevaFlyer

A comment (but not a complaint):

I checked the Kiva website a few weeks back and noticed to my delight that some of the loans had been partially repaid. I happily topped up the payback and made another $25 loan.

Sometime last week I received an email from Kiva noting that some loans had been repaid. I checked today, and my Kiva balance is $0.

So obviously, Kiva is slow at sending out notices for repaid loans. While this isn't problematic for me at all, I do find it a trifle odd that repayments and notifications aren't more or less simultaneous.

Anyone else notice this?


The credit email has sometimes been delayed for me as well, but I've learned when to look for credits. (thanks to info on the kivafriends.org forum)

The major posting of credits happens on the 15th of the month - it runs alphabetically by Field Partner (FP) throughout the day. My understanding is that on the 15th the loan payments due are netted against the funds the FP has raised on Kiva to that date and credits are posted.

If the FP owes more than they've raised, they have until the 1st of the next month to transfer payment to Kiva until the loan is considered delinquent. In a few cases, I've had credits trickle in over the last two weeks of the month.

You can click on the "show advanced" link to the right of the repayment schedule on the loan page to see the details of payments made from entrepreneur to FP and from FP to Kiva. I've had a couple of loans go delinquent - one was due to the entrepreneur getting behind (but then catching up) with payments, the other one the details show the entrepreneur has paid, but the FP has not yet paid Kiva.

If you're looking to relend - there are a whole bunch of group loans in Bolivia and Peru that have about 10 days left to be funded. These are short term loans - generally paid back in 4 or 5 payments.

wildblue, thanks for the informative update! :-:

I suspect some batch processing - there are sometimes lags - even in showing how much the individual or group has loaned, though that often takes less than one half hour. In the end, I have never had any problems with Kiva itself, though one or two lenders have gone temporarily delinquent over time (85 loans, 55 in repayment, 30 paid, and I've just re-lent some repaid money.)

We are now up to

FlyerTalkers
Number of Team Members 69
Number of Loans 322
Number of Loans per Member 4.67
Total Amount Loaned $9,725.00

Can the magical $10,000 be far? ^

http://l3-1.kiva.org/r17084/images/bannerlong.png

Yay! Just made another loan today. :)

So did I.

Update: I started looking around and found a few more that needed my help. I made it three times 25. Small amounts, but every penny helps.

I just joined the group. Kiva has long been one of my favorite sites and now that FT is one of my favorite sites it's nice to match them up. :)

Me too. 3 of us have made a loan to the same person in Cambodia. Loan is 60% raised so more can join

FlyerTalkers Lending Team
Number of Team Members 70
Number of Loans 333
Number of Loans per Member 4.75
Total Amount Loaned $10,025.00

In less than one year, :-: FlyerTalkers :-: have made OVER $10,000 IN LOANS to needy entrepreneurs in developing areas of the world!

That's awesome!

Do you guys have anything special you look for in making a loan? So far, I've always loaned to entrepreneurs in food-related businesses, especially street food. Yum.

I look for female entrepreneurs, and I like to do countries I've been to. I love Uganda so my one loan (so far) was to there, and I'd probably look there first again.

I, also, specifically loan to female entrepreneurs. Women simply don't have the same work opportunities as men in much of the world. Beyond that, I'd love to figure out a more systematic way to make my loans, as I'm very random at the moment. Fortunately, each loan is only the cost of a lunch or two, so I don't feel compelled to do a lot of analysis. I tend to chose a country, limit it to women, and loan to work efforts that appeal.

One more FTer. I'm now an investor in a Peruvian restaurant. :D

Sean

Apart the last loan to Cambodia to join 2 other FT'ers, all my other loans have to been to East Africa where I have spent many months & where my FT handle comes from (Traveller in Swahilli)

I'm in with three loans today.
I look for group loans and especially try to hone in on efforts to fund education for the group members children. I'm all about the people of tomorrow in this world and education is my key.
And along the way-- I'm raising small animals in Peru and cattle in Indonesia.

I just put in my first loan as a FTer. :) We are up to $10,775!

Mzuri sana! And now the Mzee (Randy Petersen) has joined us too (I like his philosophy!)

Karibuni kila mtu! (Welcome everybody, plural, in Kiswahili.)

Apart the last loan to Cambodia to join 2 other FT'ers, all my other loans have to been to East Africa where I have spent many months & where my FT handle comes from (Traveller in Swahilli)

A friend of mine mentioned to me yesterday how she was doing a program outside the US for Kiva...and I was thinking - why does that sound so familiar? Now I know why.

I've done a couple loans to pig farmers, because I feel the need to support the people who bring more bacon into the world :)

A friend of mine mentioned to me yesterday how she was doing a program outside the US for Kiva...and I was thinking - why does that sound so familiar? Now I know why.

Is that the Kiva Fellows program? I am thinking about applying for it in a few months.

Problem is, some say meat and the attendant hormone sets the body up for conflict - maybe you will have to accept responsibility for helping create the next generation of "bacon bombers?" ;)

Wow, we are up to $11,000.00 this morning! And a veritable smörgåsbord of lenders and borrowers!

I've done a couple loans to pig farmers, because I feel the need to support the people who bring more bacon into the world :)

Let us know what your opinion is - and if you join, please keep us informed! :)

Is that the Kiva Fellows program? I am thinking about applying for it in a few months.

Let us know what your opinion is - and if you join, please keep us informed! :)

I definitely will! I have a friend who is doing this program with Kiva and working with an organization in Mozambique right now. He says it has been an amazing experience.

Joined today and made a small loan for a starter. I'll have to see how my own finances settle after this cross country move, but I'm pretty sure I'll be able make more loans in time.

I love Missy's rationale for picking a loanee. :D

Goodonya! Owl look forward to seeing you here more. :D

I had some repayments, so made my 100th loan! Does that make me a mogul? ;)

Joined today and made a small loan for a starter. I'll have to see how my own finances settle after this cross country move, but I'm pretty sure I'll be able make more loans in time.

I love Missy's rationale for picking a loanee. :D

Hi JDiver,

I had some repayments, so made my 100th loan! Does that make me a mogul? ;)

Wow! Now, in the spirit of competition, I'll have to start working on catching up with you ... so far, I'm at 31 loans.

Cheers,

GenevaFlyer

Just did another one.

Okay, I'm trying this out. I joined and made my first micro-loan today. Small business loans hit close to home for me, as I started a business over a year ago. I use my credit cards to short term finance (till the credit card bill due dates) my huge up front costs, as I outlay money up front for expenses & then receive payment anywhere from a week to a month later. (Of course, I also like getting all the points & miles from all the credit card expenditures.)

Yeah! All work and no play makes Alysia a dull... well, you get the diea! :D Too bad we can't get miles or points from microlending - but there are some nice psychological benefits, as we see our borrowers succeed, particularly when we read about difficulties in some of those lands or we have traveled through there ourselves. A hearty Welcome! from another small businessperson.

Okay, I'm trying this out. I joined and made my first micro-loan today. Small business loans hit close to home for me, as I started a business over a year ago. I use my credit cards to short term finance (till the credit card bill due dates) my huge up front costs, as I outlay money up front for expenses & then receive payment anywhere from a week to a month later. (Of course, I also like getting all the points & miles from all the credit card expenditures.)

Too bad we can't get miles or points from microlending

I pay my PayPal with my Citi AAdvantage card so you can get a few miles in addition to the warm fuzzies :)

And I use my BA Amex so it also counts for my spend on my 241 ;)

Just added my Kiva account to the FT group - Kiva is a great idea and organization!

Statistic Name FlyerTalkers
Number of Team Members 82
Number of Loans 384
Number of Loans per Member 4.68
Total Amount Loaned $11,925.00

:-: Tommy777 :-:will be raffling off iPod touch, a set Bose QC3 and a TravelPro carry on on the three charter flights heading to the MegaDo in Germany November 5, with the proceeds going to Kiva - if you are there, buy tickets!

And, :-: wharvey :-: added Kiva to the Secret Santa list...

We ought to do a little push for the holidays, which we share with many others, and see if we can reach - $15,000! by the end of 2009. Anyone game? :D

Credits have started to come in for October - I have enough to add some more loans to the flyertalk team :) The credits are coming in alphabetically by field partner - they seem to be up to O.

Hi all,

With my credits for the month, I was able to add two more loans to the team. Ghana got my attention this month.

Cheers,

GenevaFlyer

:-: Tommy777 :-:will be raffling off iPod touch, a set Bose QC3 and a TravelPro carry on on the three charter flights heading to the MegaDo in Germany November 5, with the proceeds going to Kiva - if you are there, buy tickets!


http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/12691720-post1594.html

I found the flyertalkers team just from poking around on Kiva. I should have seen it here!

I found the flyertalkers team just from poking around on Kiva. I should have seen it here!Welcome to FT Kiva team :)

Just made 5 new loans today! :) Out of all the loans I have on the go, it looks like only 1 will not be repaid; the rest are nicely on track for full repayment.

I was curious about my one delinquent loan so I clicked the link for the local field organization. Here's what I found:

"[Organization's] current high delinquency is the result of difficulties in transferring funds out of [Country]. The organization is working with the State Bank of [Country] to sort out this issue and is providing regular updates to Kiva on its progress. Kiva will be sure to update this page as we learn more, and all funds received from [Organization] will be applied to delinquent loans upon receipt."

While I couldn't care less about the actual $$$ that's been loaned out, it would be nice to see if the group of ladies I made the loan to have been able to repay. It's really just a case of personal interest to see if they're doing OK. I was thinking of politely emailing the local organization to find out. Has anyone ever done this before?

Hadn't heard of this before the Star MegaDo -- joined the team and made four loans - merchandise and bulls <grin>. Has anyone here ever met any of the loan recipients?

HI RCyyz,

While I couldn't care less about the actual $$$ that's been loaned out, it would be nice to see if the group of ladies I made the loan to have been able to repay. It's really just a case of personal interest to see if they're doing OK. I was thinking of politely emailing the local organization to find out. Has anyone ever done this before?

If you go to your loan, scroll to the bottom, you will see the state of the loan. Click on Advanced, and you will get more detail, including whether the borrowers are paying back to the local organization.

I'm in a similar situation with a loan in Ghana, where my borrower is paying back on time, but the local organization has a very high delinquency percentage and is not paying back Kiva.

Cheers,

GenevaFlyer

Welcome!

I have had trouble with one organization in Ecuador - they seem to have inflated the loans and kept excessive funds for their operating overhead, without passing money to lenders. Kiva is responsibly (IMO) following up, dropping the partner and initiating legal proceedings against them.

Nonetheless, most of my loans have done quite well, and I re-lent $175 yesterday.

FlyerTalkers
Number of Team Members 88
Number of Loans 431
Number of Loans per Member 4.90
Total Amount Loaned $13,175.00

I feel very proud to be a member of this community!

Hadn't heard of this before the Star MegaDo -- joined the team and made four loans - merchandise and bulls <grin>. Has anyone here ever met any of the loan recipients?

^^

If you go to your loan, scroll to the bottom, you will see the state of the loan. Click on Advanced, and you will get more detail, including whether the borrowers are paying back to the local organization.

It worked! My group of ladies are in fact paying back on schedule so things must be OK on their end.

Thanks for the tip GenevaFlyer! ^

Wow. Now I can say I've financed a liquor store!

I just added another loan to FT. I've been putting a lot towards another group i'm in, but they've passed $1mm now so I'll work on FT.

Just signed up. Funded one loan for $25, but it's not clear to me that the group will hit their total funding request before the time limit comes up.

Just signed up. Funded one loan for $25, but it's not clear to me that the group will hit their total funding request before the time limit comes up.Have never seen a group that is not fully funded. A lot get funded in the last 24 hrs, due to the way they present on the web site.

-------
Number of Team Members 90
Number of Loans 438
Number of Loans per Member 4.87
Total Amount Loaned $13,375.00

Have never seen a group that is not fully funded. A lot get funded in the last 24 hrs, due to the way they present on the web site.

-------
Number of Team Members 90
Number of Loans 438
Number of Loans per Member 4.87
Total Amount Loaned $13,375.00


Last month was the first time several loans (between 10 - 15) expired without fully funding. I had a few - and the $ get returned to your account immediately.

A large number of loans get added to the site on the 1st of the month. Prior to a few months ago, this number always got brought down to just a few remaining loans. In the last few months though, the amount of loans seeking funding on kiva has increased, so some of the loans posted on the first of the month keep getting buried by newer loans in kiva's default "popular" sort.

A few teams have taken up the cause of these loans in danger of expiring and work to get them onto the first page of the "popular" sort where they get seen and funded by lenders. There are about 130 loans left on the site from October 1 - just change the sort to Expiring Soon to see them. The loans get tagged with "4 days left" in red once they reach that point and count down the days and minutes until they are funded or expire.

2 more loans up, hadn't checked "my portfolio" for a couple of weeks and had just about enough to do 2 more ($.66 short) so topped it up and we are now at

Number of Team Members 90
Number of Loans 441
Number of Loans per Member 4.90
Total Amount Loaned $13,450.00

Good work everyone.

Just joined and made my first loan!

Just joined and made my first loan!

^

From Feb. 27 2009:

... so far, there are ten of us with 55 loans worth $1,375.00 as of today, Feb 27, 2009.

To today, just 10 months later:

and we are now at
Number of Team Members 90
Number of Loans 441
Number of Loans per Member 4.90
Total Amount Loaned $13,450.00

Good work everyone.

Yes, that is "good work everyone." ^^

and thanks is due to the FTers who have been excellent at raising awareness of this organisation. I heard of it as a result of FTers, and though my portfolio is tiny, I'm still happy I'm doing what I can to help :) I wouldn't have been able to do that without the awareness of this charity that some FTers brought to me!

and thanks is due to the FTers who have been excellent at raising awareness of this organisation. I heard of it as a result of FTers, and though my portfolio is tiny, I'm still happy I'm doing what I can to help :) I wouldn't have been able to do that without the awareness of this charity that some FTers brought to me!

Same for me.

certainly interesting >
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/09/business/global/09kiva.html?em
http://blogs.cgdev.org/open_book/tag/kiva

Yeah, I noticed the "I'm not really lending to these 13 people" when I saw the loan repayment schedule - it was a "7 month loan" and a 4 month repayment with the first payment much higher.

It doesn't worry me much, except it limits the countries where I'd give my $25/month (and I don't really expect to get repaid, if I do that's gravy). Sure I'd prefer to give my $25 directly to the individual or small group, but that's not particularly practical from a systems perspective.

Hi all,

Indeed, I recently noticed that one of my loans had been gdisbursed to the borrower before it was funded on KIVA.

What it does confirm is the thing I noticed with one of my loans currently marked as late. The borrower is repaying on schedule, but the micro-finance organization is facing problems due to have many delinquent loans. As a result, the micro-finance organization is not repaying on my loan.

For now, I'll continue to lend on KIVA, as I still believe in helping people. However, I may also look at other alternatives in the future.

Cheers,

GenevaFlyer

Credits have started to come in for November although I haven't gotten an official "your credits are here" email. I added another loan to the Flyertalk team.

Getting close to $15000....
Number of Team Members 97
Number of Loans 484
Number of Loans per Member 4.99
Total Amount Loaned $14,950.00

Number of Team Members 97
Number of Loans 487
Number of Loans per Member 5.02
Total Amount Loaned $15,025.00

3 loans since the post above
I have been watching over the last 10 days and wondering if we get to $15,000 or 100 members first

Edit: link to Team
http://www.kiva.org/team/flyertalkers

What a great cause! ^^

Glad to be a part of this FT Community.

Number of Team Members 97
Number of Loans 487
Number of Loans per Member 5.02
Total Amount Loaned $15,025.00

3 loans since the post above
I have been watching over the last 10 days and wondering if we get to $15,000 or 100 members first

Happy to admit to being the 97th member :-)

Wow, never heard of this till now! What a great concept!

I have now taken the count to 99...who is going to be the hundredth! Don't be shy!

Statistic Name FlyerTalkers
Number of Team Members 99
Number of Loans 492
Number of Loans per Member 4.97
Total Amount Loaned $15,150.00

Just had some loans repaid so I made another $25 loan.

Question: NATO troops are engaged, quite heavily at times, in Afghanistan. Without debating the merits of the military mission I do think the civilian situation over there can be rather desperate. Kiva doesn't seem to have any Afghans asking for loans though. (It's entirely possible that the Afghan situation is too unstable to allow for such things.)

Nonetheless, does anyone know of any (reputable) microfinance outfits currently operating in Afghanistan?

Thanks for the reminder. Time to top up my balance & relend.

Just had some loans repaid so I made another $25 loan.

Question: NATO troops are engaged, quite heavily at times, in Afghanistan. Without debating the merits of the military mission I do think the civilian situation over there can be rather desperate. Kiva doesn't seem to have any Afghans asking for loans though. (It's entirely possible that the Afghan situation is too unstable to allow for such things.)

Nonetheless, does anyone know of any (reputable) microfinance outfits currently operating in Afghanistan?

I've regularly seen Afghan requests for loans pop up on Kiva. Not all the time, but they're out there. There's usually not very many, and they tend to get fully funded fairly quickly, so if want to lend to Afghanistan and see a loan request it's best to get it done right away. If they're out there, they come up in a search for loans to the Middle East.

EDIT: This is their Afghan field partner:

http://www.kiva.org/about/aboutPartner?id=34

EDIT2: Turns out I also had $28 worth of Kiva credit lying around. Made another loan, to Uganda this time (5 loans, 5 countries - let's see how long I can keep that pattern going).

I have done some research and found out that the actual recipients pay up to 23% interest rate.
Even if one takes all the administrative work in consideration, which should be mostly done voluntarily, some one is making a decent profit from this shop.

Also, looking at the faulty repayments, I guess its very easy to set up a micro-lending shop , cash in investments and then dissapear.

I am just waiting to see some documentation popup which will call it a scam.

I have done some research and found out that the actual recipients pay up to 23% interest rate.

That's incredibly disheartening to hear. Can you please share your findings?

Hi RC,

KIVA clearly posts it on their FAQ:

Self-sustainability is critical to creating long-term solutions to poverty, and charging interest to entrepreneurs is necessary for microfinance institutions to achieve this. Our Field Partners are free to charge interest, but Kiva will not partner with an organization that charges exorbitant interest rates. We also require Field Partners to fully disclose their interest rates. You can find more information about the interest rates that Kiva's field partners charge on our Field Partner pages: http://www.kiva.org/about/partners .

Microfinance is an expensive business, which is essentially the reason small loans are not provided by large banks. While Kiva's Field Partners do not bear the cost of capital or the cost of default, they do bear transaction costs and some currency risk. Charging interest to entrepreneurs enables our Field Partners to bear these costs and achieve self-sustainability.

You can find information about each partner as well. For example:

http://www.kiva.org/about/aboutPartner?id=109

(Note: partner picked at random, it just happened to be the first alphabetically.)

Cheers,

GenevaFlyer

That's incredibly disheartening to hear. Can you please share your findings?

From the Kiva website:
Why are microcredit interest rates so high? (http://www.kiva.org/about/microfinance#6._Why_are_microcredit_interest_rates )

It's unfortunate, but not avoidable.

I joined the Flyertalk group on Kiva this morning and made my first loan. I have watched this thread for sometime and it seemed like a good time to join. Great work.

I joined the Flyertalk group on Kiva this morning and made my first loan. I have watched this thread for sometime and it seemed like a good time to join. Great work.

A good time indeed! Congratulations on being Member #100 of the Kiva FlyerTalkers team! :)

Yet, in other countries such interest rates would be largely considered unethical and immoral.
I still remain very sceptical.

Yet, in other countries such interest rates would be largely considered unethical and immoral.
I still remain very sceptical.

Don't forget that many countries Kiva operates in have fairly high rates of inflation. The interest needs to counteract that as well.

Just had some loans repaid so I made another $25 loan.

Question: NATO troops are engaged, quite heavily at times, in Afghanistan. Without debating the merits of the military mission I do think the civilian situation over there can be rather desperate. Kiva doesn't seem to have any Afghans asking for loans though. (It's entirely possible that the Afghan situation is too unstable to allow for such things.)

Nonetheless, does anyone know of any (reputable) microfinance outfits currently operating in Afghanistan?

The first of the month is when you'll see a whole flood of new loans come in. Afghanistan usually has a large selection in the first few days, but they do fund pretty quickly. There have also been a few loans posted recently for Iraq.

Yet, in other countries such interest rates would be largely considered unethical and immoral.
I still remain very sceptical.

The link does provide some justification though. If there is a $50 cost of managing the loan and this is passed to the borrower then if they borrow $300 then the interest rate will appear very high. However there is no way to reduce the cost of managing the loan.

Maybe Kiva could show what the management cost is and give us the option to pay part of it as a donation if we want to help the borrower further?

I was on the Star Mega Do and was pleased that Kiva was going to be a recipient of a contribution from our event. But it was recently announced that of the $5000+ raised only $500 was going to Kiva because of "controversy". Does anyone know what went on here? Am -very- annoyed that nmy group was one of three to be funded but way down on the amount portion. Would like to understand want happened. Who did the organizers talk to? What was the "controversy"

- a very disappointed Star Mega Do participant -

Hi Bonnerbl,

I was on the Star Mega Do and was pleased that Kiva was going to be a recipient of a contribution from our event. But it was recently announced that of the $5000+ raised only $500 was going to Kiva because of "controversy". Does anyone know what went on here? Am -very- annoyed that nmy group was one of three to be funded but way down on the amount portion. Would like to understand want happened. Who did the organizers talk to? What was the "controversy"

- a very disappointed Star Mega Do participant -

The controversy is linked to a few recent articles about KIVA (in the Chicago Tribune for starters IIRC) about the way KIVA works.

If you look at the loans, you do not actually fund the loan you select. The field partner has already lent this borrower the money, you provide capital to the field partner to fund further loans. As such, there is a "deception" (although documented on the KIVA website) that you are directly helping a specific borrower.

For example, here is one of my loans:

https://sites.google.com/site/genevaflyer/pictures/kiva-1.jpg?attredirects=0

The loan was given to the borrower on Sept 9, while it was listed on KIVA two days later.

Also, in the advanced repayment section for this same loan:

https://sites.google.com/site/genevaflyer/pictures/kiva-2.jpg?attredirects=0

You can see that the borrower is repaying much earlier to the field partner than the field partner to the lenders.

(I have a case in Ghana where the borrower is repaying the field partner, but, due to problems, the field partner is not repaying the lenders).

Many lenders believed that they were really lending directly to a specific person, thus the controversy.

Cheers,

GenevaFlyer

Sorry and with all due respect I disagree. Using the word deception is extremely harmful and way off the scale IMHO. Look at the homepage of KIVA -- prominent link -- Learn how Kiva works -- click on it -- next page very clearly says that many funds are used to backfill loans already made. So I might put the onus on you, not on Kiva. Did you read this section? Your choice to not fully understand or read something clearly stated does not constitute deception on their part. It is a prominent link in clear language in readable font.

The withholding of Star Mega Do funds was shameful.

Hi Bonnerbl,

Note: I put quotation marks around deception on purpose. Yes, indeed, KIVA does explain the process. However, many people do not bother reading this information (nor do they read T&Cs before buying an airplane ticket).

I'm just relating the cause of the controversy which impacted KIVA, not defending it in any way.

Cheers,

GenevaFlyer

The withholding of Star Mega Do funds was shameful.

That's a bit harsh, and as a fellow Mega Do participant, I respectfully disagree. I think using pooled funds on Kiva is a bad idea, firstly because continous updating and re-lending is required on a regular basis, and secondly because the capital base erodes away with each loan (due to the donation to Kiva itself to cover operating costs) and would need to be replenished in the future.

Personally, I think it would have been a much better idea just to donate the money (if you insist, to Kiva's operating expenses fund) and be done with it (which is what they seem to be doing with most of it, and I fully approve).

Folks,
What was said on the raffle was that Kiva would be one of the charities that would receive money from the proceeds and the raffle.

There will be made a 500USD investment on behalf of the Star Mega DO participants who contributed.

The reason I suggested to contribute to Kiva in the first place, was because we could actually track the investment and see how the money got spent, I love the idea.

I have not said deception at all, I just don't feel comfortable with the discoveries made in the press and even if it's not a deception, they haven't been upfront on how things actually work with the Kiva investments and I don't like that.. That's why we made a decision to reduce the investment.

I'm not doubting that the money will do good at Kiva, but after talking with Lufthansa and their charity, they proposed to make a special project just for us and the ideas that have been presented sound very exciting. We will be able to follow the project in detail and we are 100% confident that the money is going to our project only.

I'll have more info about this next week!

The withholding of Star Mega Do funds was shameful.

I respect your opinion, but it has not been mentioned anything about this in the thread. You are the only one who has reacted negative via PM to our decision. We have on the other hand received many positive PMs and e-mails about deciding to give more money to HelpAlliance

I believe that I'm the guy who originally posted on the MegaDo thread that we should consider donating some proceeds to Kiva. I was extremely pleased to learn of the raffle on board our wonderful Condor and I'm pretty satisfied with the amount raised.

As for the $500 allocation to Kiva, I agree that more is better but let's also keep in mind that most loans are in the $25 range. So our $500 will have a positive impact on 20 people. That's not bad.

Would $5000 be better? Sure. But the recently unveiled lack of direct connection between donor (us) and loan requestor is certainly disappointing, if somewhat understandable from a logistics perspective. And the high cost of adminsitration (interest) is similarly disappointing, if also somewhat understandable.

In the end, Kiva is still a *very* worthy cause and I'm please to be involved. That Kiva is not all we perhaps thought it to be initially is reason for consideration but not necessarily cause for concern. And let's be completely aware that the money that may have gone to Kiva went instead to an equally worthy cause. If Tommy et al had taken the funds and frittered them away on champagne, I would be first in line to support the "shameful" characterization. But the funds all went to very good use and for that we should thank everyone who participated in the MegaDo and made these donations possible.

It's a bit difficult this because we seem to be at the nexus of two issues, both of which are legitimate Communitybuzz! threads. However, this thread was started with a particular purpose. As such, I'd say discussion of Kiva activities is on topic. I'm going to rule that now the question about the concerns the MegaDo organisers had about Kiva have been asked and answered, that any further discussion about MegaDo and charities it is generously contributing to be restricted to the MegaDo thread, leaving this thread for the Flyertalk Lending Team on Kiva.

Thanks for your consideration in this - as always, if you have questions or comments, then please do drop me a PM.

Jenbel
Co-moderator, Communitybuzz!

Just had some loans repaid so I made another $25 loan.

Question: NATO troops are engaged, quite heavily at times, in Afghanistan. Without debating the merits of the military mission I do think the civilian situation over there can be rather desperate. Kiva doesn't seem to have any Afghans asking for loans though. (It's entirely possible that the Afghan situation is too unstable to allow for such things.)

Nonetheless, does anyone know of any (reputable) microfinance outfits currently operating in Afghanistan?

There are about 50 loans for Afghanistan that just got added to Kiva.
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&partner_id=34&status=fundRaising&sortBy=New+to+Old

There are also loans in Iraq, but those carry a caveat about the additional risks of getting repayments out of the country at the moment.
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&partner_id=149&status=fundRaising&sortBy=New+to+Old

From the Kiva website:
Why are microcredit interest rates so high? (http://www.kiva.org/about/microfinance#6._Why_are_microcredit_interest_rates )

It's unfortunate, but not avoidable.

+1

The most common microfinance vehicle in the Philippines is 5-6 lending which charges a 20% interest rate compounded monthly (or even weekly.) I am more concerned with Kiva loans to American businesses, but that is another topic for another day...

Repayments are in, time to relend.

Statistic Name FlyerTalkers
Number of Team Members 101
Number of Loans 529
Number of Loans per Member 5.24
Total Amount Loaned $16,725

Impact of FlyerTalkers



Statistic Name FlyerTalkers


Number of Team Members 101


Number of Loans 587


Number of Loans per Member 5.81


Total Amount Loaned $18,575.00


Not bad at all, fellow FlyerTalkers! We can be proud of this one, and maybe, just maybe, we can hit twenty big ones by 2010? See the loans / people lent to here (http://www.kiva.org/community/viewTeamLoans/?team_id=1913). Regardless of the specifics we are providing microloans to people with little other recource, lending a hand to people so they can lift themselves. Can't be anything wrong with that!

Are there any tools out there to help sort & sift through the available loans based upon my criteria?

I've been lucky since joining that most of my loans have started paying back and I've already rolled over those payments into new loans. To keep that money rolling, I'd like a to be able to select more easily those to whom I lend. I have 9 currently and those should pay off enough each month to fund 1 or 2 more.

Thanks.

So, it's the end of the year, I was looking for charities, and kiva looks very appropriate. $25 later, and I am FlyerTalker member number 102.

So, it's the end of the year, I was looking for charities, and kiva looks very appropriate. $25 later, and I am FlyerTalker member number 102.

^^

Credits are starting to come in today for February payments - I have enough to make a few more loans.

Hi,

2 more loans for the team!

Cheers,

GenevaFlyer

Statistic Name FlyerTalkers
Number of Team Members 103
Number of Loans 642
Number of Loans per Member 6.23
Total Amount Loaned $20,000.00

Repayments are in, time to relend

Cool! ^

Went online to loan, but there's a lack of loans available at the moment :eek: Will check back later

I can fund 2 loans but there aren't too many available this morning so I'm just going to wait.

All,

Oliver made the 500USD investment a while back, but it seems like he didn't do it in the Flyertalk group for some reason.

Here's the profile link: http://www.kiva.org/lender/starmegado2009

Does anyone know how/if we can get in to the Flyertalk group?

Thanks

All,

Oliver made the 500USD investment a while back, but it seems like he didn't do it in the Flyertalk group for some reason.

Here's the profile link: http://www.kiva.org/lender/starmegado2009

Does anyone know how/if we can get in to the Flyertalk group?

Thanks

Thanks for doing that, Tommy.

To join FlyerTalk, click on Community Tab, search for FlyerTalk, click Join Group, log in, then do whatever it says.

Thanks for doing that, Tommy.

To join FlyerTalk, click on Community Tab, search for FlyerTalk, click Join Group, log in, then do whatever it says.

Thank you, lili.

I'll have Oliver do that tomorrow

Wow!

Victims of their own success! Due to an oversubscription in lenders there is currently only 1 team looking to be loaned funds! Unless they have a database problem or I have messed up the search filters!

Hope more loan requests come along soon as I have funds burning a hole in my account! :D

Cool! ^

Went online to loan, but there's a lack of loans available at the moment :eek: Will check back later

I can fund 2 loans but there aren't too many available this morning so I'm just going to wait.

Ah, so it wasn't something I did wrong!

Wow!

Victims of their own success! Due to an oversubscription in lenders there is currently only 1 team looking to be loaned funds! Unless they have a database problem or I have messed up the search filters!

Hope more loan requests come along soon as I have funds burning a hole in my account! :D

No, you're correct. They had a message on the site saying they were out of groups to loan to. I gave several Kiva gift certificates for the holidays and few of the people I've given them to have been able to make a loan due to there being no one to give money to.

Is the lack of loans some how related to Haiti? I've actually stopped putting new money into Kiva and just reloaning my old money because I donated to Haiti relief.

I find it odd that Kiva would be out of loans at a time when I would think many would be donating to other organizations.

900 loans needing funding just showed up this morning.

Great, thanks for the update! Putting a few loans through now. :)

Kiva's been in the news quite a bit lately, not all positive. Your loans aren't really going to the exact people you think they are. Instead it just goes into a big pool.

Still a great organization. But they're not so transparent. You need to read the fine print to see it.

Confusion on Where Money Lent via Kiva Goes:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/09/business/global/09kiva.html

Hi,

Still a great organization. But they're not so transparent. You need to read the fine print to see it.

While there was indeed a lot of news a number of weeks ago, KIVA has made a number of changes in response, to make it more transparant. You now see the date on which the loan was actually disbursed to the borrower, and they provide a lot more information about the interest rates being charged by the local partners.

So yes, there is a pooling system, but it is now much more visible. To quote, right from a borrower's page:

Pre-Disbursed : Jan 18, 2010
Your funds will be used to backfill this loan.
Repayments on this loan will go to you.

Cheers,

GenevaFlyer

Got enough back today to re-loan. My first re-loan! Yay!

Heh heh! Your post reminded me to go check - yep, some moolah to relend!

We are now at


Statistic Name FlyerTalkers
Number of Team Members 108
Number of Loans 691
Number of Loans per Member 6.40
Total Amount Loaned $21,575.00


Got enough back today to re-loan. My first re-loan! Yay!

More credits came in this morning - have enough to add to the FT team total :)

Another loan for the team!

Cheers,

GenevaFlyer

Had enough repaid for 2 more loans, so out it went :)

More loan repayments came through, so now the FlyerTalkers' lent total is $23,100.00 ^

Had enough repaid for 2 more loans, so out it went :)

Another loan for the team!

Cheers,

GenevaFlyer

More credits came in this morning - have enough to add to the FT team total :)

Here's the bottom line: In one year, we FlyerTalkers have lent over USD $20,000 to small entrepreneurs in the far (and sometimes near) reaches of the globe!

Hey Flyertalk lending team!

I'm in the process of completing my Kiva Fellows application (it's a volunteer position with one of the microfinance organizations in a developing country)--wish me luck!

Anyway, I'm reading this book called Banker to the Poor: Micro-Lending and the Battle Against World Poverty (http://www.amazon.com/Banker-Poor-Micro-Lending-Against-Poverty/dp/1586481983/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1268201011&sr=8-1)

I'm really enjoying it and thought some of the FT team might be interested too. It gives a really interesting history of micro-lending in Bangladesh and also helps make it more personal--there are a lot of stories of people helped out of poverty by really small loans. For me, these stories really bring new meaning to the lending that we have all been doing.

Credits started to come in yesterday. I can add a couple more loans to the FT team.

Statistic Name FlyerTalkers
Number of Team Members 114
Number of Loans 781
Number of Loans per Member 6.85
Total Amount Loaned $24,325.00

Hey giblet - good luck with the application! Do let us know how you get on - would be great to get field reports.

I had my first loan problems today. I loaned to a group in Ghana, and inspection of the in-country partner has shown that it's management and control is really poor. So far, I don't think my loan has been impacted, so it looks like Kiva caught the situation before a major problem should develop. And now they are working with the partner to improve the situation.

Nice reminder to keep spreading my loans about though!

FWIW I've had some loans with the same partner. Some repaid in full & on time, others not yet fully repaid but are on track.

Nice reminder to keep spreading my loans about though!

Always a good idea.

Best of luck to you, giblet!

Muhammad Yunus deserved his Nobel Prize, Grameen Bank led the way, and here we are! ^

Jenbel, I have made a few loans with partners that didn't quite have wings or in countries where the "fraction of corruption" is high - like Kenya - and in most cases, things have gone well. In one or two, not - but I'll keep on with this because of the positive impact and truly few defaults.

Hey Flyertalk lending team!

I'm in the process of completing my Kiva Fellows application (it's a volunteer position with one of the microfinance organizations in a developing country)--wish me luck!

Anyway, I'm reading this book called Banker to the Poor: Micro-Lending and the Battle Against World Poverty (http://www.amazon.com/Banker-Poor-Micro-Lending-Against-Poverty/dp/1586481983/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1268201011&sr=8-1)

I'm really enjoying it and thought some of the FT team might be interested too. It gives a really interesting history of micro-lending in Bangladesh and also helps make it more personal--there are a lot of stories of people helped out of poverty by really small loans. For me, theese stories really bring new meaning to the lending that we have all been doing.

Just did 2 more loans taking the teams total to 800.
Closing in on $25000 fast.

Jenbel, I have made a few loans with partners that didn't quite have wings or in countries where the "fraction of corruption" is high - like Kenya - and in most cases, things have gone well. In one or two, not - but I'll keep on with this because of the positive impact and truly few defaults. I did check and that particular loan is 85% repaid. So I'm not seeing it as a massive problem even if the partner does start having problems. And certainly not enough to discourage me from doing this.

Statistic Name FlyerTalkers
Number of Team Members 116
Number of Loans 806
Number of Loans per Member 6.95
Total Amount Loaned $25,225.00

Hey giblet - good luck with the application! Do let us know how you get on - would be great to get field reports.

I submitted my Kiva Fellows last week and was just notified that I have made it to the first round of interviews! I'm sure this is because I mentioned the FlyerTalk lending team in my application. ;)

We'll keep our fingers well crossed for you! It would be great to have a FlyerTalker on the inside... :D

846 loans from 117 members
:-: $26,250.00 lent :-:
an average of 7 loans per FlyerTalker, and $224 lent per FTer

I submitted my Kiva Fellows last week and was just notified that I have made it to the first round of interviews! I'm sure this is because I mentioned the FlyerTalk lending team in my application. ;)

Just added a Burundi loan (my first to that country) to my portfolio and the FT team total.

Okay, I just loaned $100 to Blanca Esther. I selected her on the basis of her need, her entrepreneurial motivation, and her chances of success.

(Okay, who the heck am I kidding? Most of you know me -- I chose her because she was the cutest woman I saw there.)

Okay, I just made three more loans to women in food production. Check out Lolita Labadan: http://www.kiva.org/lend/189544 Love the picture of a pig on a spit. Yum.


Also, it's great to see that the Flyertalk team has a higher lending rate than the Kiva average, which is 5.4

I'll tell you one thing - I do not want to be part of her "inventory and working capital", spit or no spit! :eek: We really should go and visit her to test the quality of her lechón.

7.4 loans per member and we hit $27,000 today! Yeah, we are doing all right!

Okay, I just made three more loans to women in food production. Check out Lolita Labadan: http://www.kiva.org/lend/189544 Love the picture of a pig on a spit. Yum.


Also, it's great to see that the Flyertalk team has a higher lending rate than the Kiva average, which is 5.4

Flyertalkers--

If you hadn't considered making a loan before, now is the time! You can lend money using your points/miles-earning credit card and then as the loan is paid back, you have have the funds returned to your PayPal account.

You can make loans as small as $25 or over $1000. The loans are paid back in monthly installments over the period of the loan, which is usually around 8-14 months. Although there is a small risk, I have been lending for 2 years and have a 0% default rate on my loans. Each month you can have the funds returned to you, and then use your credit card to make more loans.

As one member pointed out, this is a lot easier than carrying coins to the bank! Earn miles while helping entrepreneurs in developing countries--what could be better?

I just added another 4 loans and will be adding more so that I can churn a few hundred $$ per month.

It sure does beat lugging coins, and the risk of default over a large number of loans is pretty small. I consider it a small price to pay for the miles.

I had about 20 loans outstanding and didn't do it for the miles, but the churning aspect made me take out more.

BRILLIANT idea, giblet! PayPal, which allows us and Kiva to use it for free when crediting to Kiva, allows us to use those miles-generating credit cards to fund our loans. They oughta HIRE you for that... :D And it looks like we have one more lending team member - and Mary2e bumped us to $27,250! ^

Also fellow FT members and Kiva lenders:

Be sure to check out the BBC article online! Link (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8594560.stm).

BTW< if anyone chooses to link to FB (or is there), check out the Kiva group (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2366995507&ref=ts) there too.

Flyertalkers--

If you hadn't considered making a loan before, now is the time! You can lend money using your points/miles-earning credit card and then as the loan is paid back, you have have the funds returned to your PayPal account.

You can make loans as small as $25 or over $1000. The loans are paid back in monthly installments over the period of the loan, which is usually around 8-14 months. Although there is a small risk, I have been lending for 2 years and have a 0% default rate on my loans. Each month you can have the funds returned to you, and then use your credit card to make more loans.

As one member pointed out, this is a lot easier than carrying coins to the bank! Earn miles while helping entrepreneurs in developing countries--what could be better?

JudyJFLA figured this out way ahead of me. But hopefully they will hire me for it anyway! (Although it's just a volunteer position) ;)

Kiva has been chosen as one of four finalists in the Sam’s Club “Giving Made Simple” competition, for a chance to win a $1 Million dollar grant!

Winning $1 Million would be a huge deal for Kiva. With this grant, Kiva will multiply the impact by 10 by generating approximately $10 Million more in loans from the Internet community, to help 25,000 entrepreneurs in the US and around the world. As Kiva's most committed members, I'd like to enlist your help....we can't do this without you.

What can YOU do?

Sam’s Club Members:

1. Vote Daily: Between April 8th – May 2nd on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/samsclub?v=app_106908806015155&ref=ts) or Sam’s Club’s website (http://www2.samsclub.com/Giving/About/Kiva). There are only 25 days in this campaign, so your daily vote really matters!

2. Spread the Word: Tell all of your team members, friends, neighbors, followers and Kiva-lovers. Join the excitement by following Kiva on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/kiva) and @Kiva (http://twitter.com/KIVA) on Twitter.

Not a Member? We still need your help!

1. Spread the Word: Do you know a Sam’s Club Member? Send them this link to vote for Kiva (http://www.facebook.com/kiva). Share it on Facebook, Twitter, or forward this message.

2. Re-Tweet: On April 16 and April 30, Kiva will be tweeting about the campaign. If Kiva receives the most re-tweets on these days, Kiva will receive DOUBLE the votes casted that day.

Together we can change lives. Thank you for all of your hard work and continued support!

As of 4/13 we are at 903 loans between 122 members. Is it to much to ask our community to increase the loans to 1000 by April 30th?

I challenge every member of this site to make one loan this month. You know you want the free miles. ;)

Use a miles-earning credit card and help support entrepreneurship. Your loan will be repaid by the borrower and you pocket the miles. Everybody wins.

http://www.kiva.org/team/flyertalkers

As of 4/13 we are at 903 loans between 122 members. Is it to much to ask our community to increase the loans to 1000 by April 30th?

Closing in on $30,000 total as well.

I will definitely add a few loans when repayments come in in a few days. We should hit 1,000 loans/$30,000 easily.

Statistic Name FlyerTalkers
Number of Team Members 122
Number of Loans 918
Number of Loans per Member 7.5
Total Amount Loaned $28,225

Money for April is starting to be re paid now so time to re-lend

2 of us from FT have supported this loan: Joyeux Lutins Plus Group (http://www.kiva.org/lend/190852). $2750 still needed so join the FT team on this loan.
http://www.kiva.org/team/flyertalkers

Subscribe to this thread using thread tools (top of the page). Or just click here: Subscribe to FlyerTalker Lending Team on Kiva.org (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/subscription.php?do=addsubscription&t=926538)

...
2 of us from FT have supported this loan: Joyeux Lutins Plus Group (http://www.kiva.org/lend/190852). $2750 still needed so join the FT team on this loan.
...

I'm in too!

Cheers,

GenevaFlyer

I just added 4 more loans, including 1 to Joyeux Lutins Plus Group (http://www.kiva.org/lend/190852). FlyerTalk is now the #1 team lending to this group. Keep it up!

Looks like April repayments are all posted. Anyone want to join me in supporting this group from the desperately poor Republic of Congo: http://www.kiva.org/lend/190859

Their fundraising has been a little slow.

Look like another FT'er joing the group in the last 12 hours

If you want to make a loan try adding to other FT'er loans (http://www.kiva.org/community/teams/view/loans?team_id=1913). Look for "Raising Funds"
Could FT fully fund 1 loan ?

Statistic Name FlyerTalkers
Number of Team Members 123
Number of Loans 931
Number of Loans per Member 7.6
Total Amount Loaned $28,550

after a recent visit to Ukraine I was really impressed with the way some of the people I've met are "surviving" in an area with no jobs and little enterprise happening thanks to ineffective government.

however quite a few mentioned that its very difficult to secure reliable loans... banks charge outrageous fees + interest rates are 20%+ from what I understand


should sign some of those people up on Kiva so they can get their business going... (personally would love to contribute but its a little difficult being unemployed)

--Russ

... (personally would love to contribute but its a little difficult being unemployed)$25 is all you need to start. Thats only a few beers or coffees. @:-)

$25 is all you need to start. Thats only a few beers or coffees. @:-)

all in due time

I already cut down on all unnecessary luxuries

I already cut down on all unnecessary luxuriesSince when has beer been unnecessary luxury ;)

OK, I'm in. Just made my first loan as a member of the Flyertalk team!

People we are at 963 loans.... still need 37 to hit our target of 1000:-:

I have some very exciting news! Looks like FlyerTalk will have their very first Kiva Fellow (http://www.kiva.org/fellows). :)

I've been told that I will be (tentatively) placed in the East Asia & Pacific region for a minimum of 12 weeks, but don't have any more info than that yet. I can't tell you how excited (and nervous) I am!

p.s. We are at $29,400, almost to $30k!

I have some very exciting news! Looks like FlyerTalk will have their very first Kiva Fellow (http://www.kiva.org/fellows). :)

I've been told that I will be (tentatively) placed in the East Asia & Pacific region for a minimum of 12 weeks, but don't have any more info than that yet. I can't tell you how excited (and nervous) I am!

p.s. We are at $29,400, almost to $30k!


Congratulation^^^^^

I have some very exciting news! Looks like FlyerTalk will have their very first Kiva Fellow (http://www.kiva.org/fellows). :)

I've been told that I will be (tentatively) placed in the East Asia & Pacific region for a minimum of 12 weeks, but don't have any more info than that yet. I can't tell you how excited (and nervous) I am!

Congratulations

giblet, congratulations are indeed in order! Fantastic news!

We are up to

123 members
971 loans
$29,600 lent

OK, fellow FTers, let's put this over 125 lenders / 1,000 loans / $30,000!

FlyerTalkers paying it back... I'll be sure to put a bug in Randy's ear tomorrow when I see him!

I'm in.

I have some very exciting news! Looks like FlyerTalk will have their very first Kiva Fellow (http://www.kiva.org/fellows). :)

I've been told that I will be (tentatively) placed in the East Asia & Pacific region for a minimum of 12 weeks, but don't have any more info than that yet. I can't tell you how excited (and nervous) I am!

p.s. We are at $29,400, almost to $30k!

Technically I beat you (KF8 in Manila), but congratulations! ;)

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions.

Awesome! I have lots of questions, actually, so will PM you.

And the Philippines is my top choice. :)

And the Philippines is my top choice. :)

Do they need a rep in Monte Carlo?

I have some very exciting news! Looks like FlyerTalk will have their very first Kiva Fellow (http://www.kiva.org/fellows). :)

I've been told that I will be (tentatively) placed in the East Asia & Pacific region for a minimum of 12 weeks, but don't have any more info than that yet. I can't tell you how excited (and nervous) I am!

p.s. We are at $29,400, almost to $30k!
Congratulations ^^^

I have some very exciting news! Looks like FlyerTalk will have their very first Kiva Fellow (http://www.kiva.org/fellows). :)

I've been told that I will be (tentatively) placed in the East Asia & Pacific region for a minimum of 12 weeks, but don't have any more info than that yet. I can't tell you how excited (and nervous) I am!

p.s. We are at $29,400, almost to $30k!

Congratulations! What a great thing to do. Please keep us updated. Is there a thing on Kiva that you can follow reports from specific fellows?

Merrick - have you written about your experience anywhere? Seems like an interesting program (if I could take sabbatical).