Okay, time to do some good. The Atheists, Agnostics, Skeptics, Freethinkers, Secular Humanists and Non-Religious team at Kiva is just a few hundred members away from winning a $10,000 bonus matching fund. Let’s get them that bonus! It only costs you $25. (And maybe not even that yet…for a while, due to another matching grant, your first loan can be free for awhile.) That’s the minimum venture. But when you see the results, you might end up putting more in just because you think this is really cool. Join now. (Before the end of March! The deal ends then.)
For those not in the know, Kiva is an international charitable organization that specializes in providing cheap micro-loans to people around the world, especially in third world countries, to help them in their business and job ventures and just quality of life. The loan gets paid back eventually, and when that happens, you can redirect your $25 (or whatever you’ve put in) to someone else. And so on. So the same $25 keeps helping more and more people. You might lose it eventually, though the risk is extremely low (less than 1%), and hey, it’s just $25; you can easily afford to put another in and start again.
The double bonus is that if you join through our own Crommunist’s campaign (which I’ve linked to above but again it’s here), he gets a matching $25 credit to put into Kiva loans, so you are helping twice…or actually three times, if you count what your money does, plus what that bonus does, plus what the $10,000 will do if the AASFSHN meets its target member count. I just joined and helped a Mongolian truck driver get new brakes (possibly saving lives), as well as a couch and some clothes. And I upped the profile and success of the atheist team at Kiva.
You can do that, too! I mean, honestly. It doesn’t even cost you much of anything to start, or to continue (if you want to keep going at the minimum buy-in of just $25). The low risk shows the recipients are very diligent in repaying these loans (these are not freeloaders) and the benefit can be relatively huge. You can really make a difference in the world for almost nothing. Why not?
For more, see Crommunist’s post on this new development and his past diaries of how his own loan has been recycled over the past year and more to help lots of different people.
New Kiva members are also granted a $25 trial credit, so you don’t even have to use your own money if you’d like to join up to see how it works. (The $25 trial credit is paid back to Kiva, so you’re on your own after that, I think.)
That may be temporary (you are basically spending a philanthropist’s money, just to get people into Kiva and realizing what it’s about), but yes.
Signed up. Thanks for posting.
Ditto Anon328 @ #2
I can just add that I have found Kiva great. So far I have made 74 loans so far. Once you put money in as you are repaid the money can be recycled over and over so you have the good feeling of giving that money over and over. Also the lenders are great in paying back, I have only had 2 defaults and both were to people in the United States. So if you stick to the poorer countries you should be fine.
Richard didn’t mention it but the Atheists, Agnostics, Skeptics, Freethinkers, Secular Humanists and Non-Religious team is the biggest on Kiva and they outpace the Kiva Christians by about 4 million in loans so it is a good group to be a part of and give Atheists et al good publicity by the prominence.
I missed the additional member drive when the Team had it but it is a good team to be a part of. So definitely sign up. It looks like the link that Richard has to Crommunist directly links you to the Atheists, Agnostics, Skeptics, Freethinkers, Secular Humanists and Non-Religious Team.
They are still doing the deal that you can give a free loan and the person inviting you also gets a free $25 loan. The only difference is that these loan repayments go back to the donor. So if you want to keep the cycle going you do have to put in your own money.
Richard, I hope you don’t mind but I am putting my link below. If anyone wants to join Kiva and get a free loan they are welcome to use this one as well.
http://www.kiva.org/invitedby/attila6227