Do you think making loans can be viewed as giving?

[Guest]

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[Teague Ventures]

I am very excited about finding kiva and the opportunity to impact the lives of other who have dreams of having a better life.  I have a certain amount of money allotted for "giving" in my budget.  I would like to direct some of that money to kiva loans.  I was wondering if i plan on re-lending all repayments and I am not concerned about repayment.  If this could be in sense considered giving.  I look forward to hearing your opinion.

I am new to kiva lending and look forward to being part this group.  I have enjoyed reading some of your past forums.

Thanks
Fred

[David2051]

I was wondering if i plan on re-lending all repayments and I am not concerned about repayment.  If this could be in sense considered giving.  I look forward to hearing your opinion.

I am new to kiva lending and look forward to being part this group.  I have enjoyed reading some of your past forums.

Thanks
Fred

Hi Fred!  Welcome to Kiva and Kiva Friends!   

Personally I think it is helpful to distinguish carefully between giving or donating money and lending money that you intend to have repaid.  I think in some ways it is important for people who are borrowing money to repay it.  This can be a benefit to their empowerment, sense of dignity and self worth, and is helpful in developing their personal responsibility.  At the same time there are other groups working to improve the lives of people in poverty in various ways, such as Heifer and Smile Train, who are doing work that I think is very worthwhile, and I feel good about supporting these groups.

Also there are differences between the two in terms of benefits that may be provided by employers or the government in the form of matching money or tax benefits.  My own employer will match money that I donate to charities, but will not match money that I lend on Kiva, because of the expectation that I will get my money back.  Likewise, donations may be deductible on taxes where monies lent are not.

In terms of how you see it personally, you will have to make up your own mind on that.  I think both options are personally rewarding.  One thing to keep in mind is that you really don't have to choose one or the other.  It sounds like you have a recurring budgeted amount per month designated for charitable giving.  If you divert some of that money to Kiva for a few months or years you will get repayments from those loans that you can relend in the future without impacting your giving budget.  Once you build up a certain amount of money in Kiva you can stop putting new money in and still be able to look forward to making more Kiva loans each month as your repayment credits come back to you.

I hope this helps, and welcome again to Kiva and Kiva Friends!