The way I see it, just about any group with a treasurer is going to have a hard time turning down “free money,” even if they have to pass it along to someone else. This is an idea to help spread the word about Kiva and
guarantee at least one more entrepreneur is going to get a little more support for their loan.
I decided to recruit into the Kiva way a group of officers
in a group of officers of like-minded student organizations at the university where I work. I sent them an e-mail about lending at Kiva with “an offer and a challenge.” Some excerpts from the message are included below in case you want to improve on it and send it to some of
your favorite groups. You can customize <stuff like this> to apply to your group.
Dear <group leaders>,
I am writing to you all to make an offer and a challenge. As part of my personal efforts to help make a difference in the world, I lend to small business entrepreneurs in developing countries through a non-profit organization called
Kiva. Kiva’s “
Field Partners” lend to entrepreneurs all around the world, including <countries you are interested in>. Here’s
how it works. People such as myself choose a
business, make a loan (as little as $25), receive
journals and repayments (principal only, no interest - see
last Q&A), then withdraw or re-loan their money.
As it turns out, many groups, including those affiliated with <your kind of group> have chosen to lend to these entrepreneurs through Kiva as well. There is a list of some of these groups at a discussion board,
Kiva Friends –
Group Lenders. Some of your peer lenders hail from such <groups> as <any examples?>. Even the second graders at
Teacher Matt Class are getting involved!
My offer is I will donate $X to <your group> to make a loan to an entrepreneur of your choice through Kiva. When the loan is repaid, you can choose to lend the funds to another entrepreneur or use them for any other organizational purpose. My challenge is that in addition, I will make this same offer to any of <the other groups members of this one are likely to be in and you like> you convince to start a Kiva lending program. <add this if you want to put a cap on your donations - I’ll cap this offer at the first <X> groups who lend at Kiva, just in case you get
really successful at recruiting other groups. I’ll donate to anyone after the first <X> groups if I still have personal lending funds available.>
Of course, my hope is that others will find a way to lend to more entrepreneurs through Kiva as they learn about your group’s activities in this area. However, whether anyone else participates or not, my donation offer for <the group> to make a Kiva loan still stands.
If you have any questions about this offer or Kiva lending, I’ll do my best to reply. Many of your basic questions might be answered at Kiva’s “
What is Microfinance?” page.
Best Wishes,…
