Here's a new way (at least for lenders in the USA, maybe Canada as well) of supporting Kiva by buying things...
Endorse for a Cause (EFAC) is a newcomer on the philanthropic shopping scene. In fact, they launch today
[Aug 31st 2010], so happy birthday! Now, you can shop and share your purchases with friends on Facebook and Twitter while raising money for a cause close to your heart. Just sign up and select the organization you are passionate about helping. Shop online, either through the EFAC site, or through everyday retailers like Target, Old Navy, Gaiam and Starbucks — told ya you'd be buying stuff anyway. When you share your purchase on your social networks and your friends click on your link and shop, EFAC will collect money from the retailers and donate it to your cause of choice! You don't spend a dime other than what you would have purchased regardless.
Some of the charity heavyweights available through EFAC are
Kiva, the Humane Society of the United States, the American Cancer Society, American Red Cross, CARE, Feeding America and The Nature Conservancy, to name a few.
“Endorse for a Cause uses social media for social good, providing a new way for us to engage with lenders on a deeper level,” said Buckley White, product marketer at Kiva. “Endorse for a Cause promises to make quite an impact.”
http://www.tonic.com/article/five-ways-to-online-shop-without-feeling-selfish-endorse-for-a-cause/I'd never heard of Buckley White, product marketer before. He (or is it a she) doesn't appear on the team or volunteer pages at Kiva, but those pages have been known to lag behind reality in various respects.
The business model (gleaned from a quick glance at the FAQs) seems to be that retailers pay Endorse for a Cause for the traffic, and Endorse for a Cause (itself a for-profit corporation registered in Delaware) will distribute about 70% of net profits to the charities.
Maybe this will fly. I certainly look forward to finding out what it's like to be engaged on a deeper level by Kiva. I wish it the best of luck.
Peter
