Kiva is a person-to-person microlending nonprofit: lenders fund loans as small as $25 to underserved entrepreneurs worldwide, working through microfinance partners. Kiva takes no fees from lenders or borrowers, and its overall partner repayment rate is 97.1%. Once a loan is repaid, lenders can withdraw the money or relend it to someone else.
Not a donation in the traditional sense — it's a loan you can eventually get back and lend out again, which makes it a good fit if you like the idea of your money working more than once. With an overall repayment rate of 97.1%, most lent money does come back, so re-lending it to someone new is the realistic expectation rather than the exception.
Where the money goes
A microloan of $25 or more to a small-business owner, such as a seamstress or a mechanic, to buy equipment or goods to grow their business; repaid over time and re-lendable.
