Start the year right.
I love how language propagates today, how fast a phrase can be pushed all around the world.
It’s neat.
But, would love to see fresh thinking of embracing this, for good.
Here’s one from me, GiveDirectly.
Unconditional cash donations to those in extreme poverty.
$0.91 of every dollar ends up in the hands of the poor.
They even, are running a basic income study, heck you can even create your own.
Neat.
It makes giving back a habit.
And that’s the best way to evoke change, is to make the things which are creating the change a habit (read Charles Duhigg). You often can’t control the outcome but you can control the inputs that go in to doing it.
That’s why, things like Toms monthly coffee is interesting. you can support the cause and in an ongoing fashion.
Set it up. and it becomes a habit.
I like it. If you do too, here’s some others I do:
It’s time for another experiment, not that I’ve ever stopped, but one which I’d love for you guys to take part in.
As most of you know, I’m a massive Kiva evangelist, the concept just works on every level. Simply read my past posts.
One of my goals this year is to get $10,000 usd into my Kiva account. And to invest that in micro finance loans around the world. It’s something I really really believe in and see it as a form of everyday achievable philanthropy.
I will hit that goal – but I’d like to offer you guys the opportunity to help me (and in turn those I loan to).
One idea was to sell words.
That’s right sell words.
Mind you, not just any words.
Words that have been formed from thousands of hours of work, research, reading & experience.
Words that are curated to have maximum impact.
Not words for everyday people. But words that will have impact for the right person.
Words that once understood will create change. I won’t explain. I’ll create the spark. You finish the journey and fill in the dots.
Tomorrow I’ll share the first curated collection.
A Christmas email which actually genuinely bought a smile to it’s receivers. From Kiva:
Twas the Night before Christmas……and all across the map,
Not an entrepreneur was resting,
Not even a quick nap.
They have work to be done,
Opportunities never sleep.
With visions of better lives,
Their commitment runs deep.
This holiday season,
Kiva simply wishes to say:
Of you, our lenders and borrowers,
We are proud every day.
Kiva wishes you Happy Holidays, and a safe and healthy New Year.
—
A christmas email any entrepreneur is likely to forward on (which should always be the aim right).
I wanted to share with you an update I got on my loan I made via Kiva to a group of Bolivians, they were creating a small group to reloan the funds to other entrepreneurs.
I got this update November 20th last year:
“This is an update on your loan to MARANATHA 2 Group in Bolivia. I visited Lucy and her next-door neighbor Felipa, both members of the Maranatha group, one Friday afternoon in Montero, a small city of 100,000 in eastern Bolivia. Lucy was at the market when we arrived, so we sat under the shade of her mango tree to enjoy some homegrown
tamarinds with her husband while we waited. Lucy soon returned with bags full of produce to cook the night’s dinner.
Lucy sells meals from her home in the evenings, and she used her Kiva loan of 4,000 bolivianos (US $557) to buy a refrigerator and some ingredients to make her specialties: tripe and pig’s stomach. She also sells chicha and somó, a
popular drink made with boiled corn, sugar, cinnamon and clove. Her cooking must have quite a reputation, because her customers come from near and far just to get their hands on a plate. Sales are good, she tells me, and she’s planning to stick with the group for its next loan cycle (its fifth).
The smell of freshly baked bread wafts into Lucy’s yard. I follow my nose next door, where Felipa and her granddaughters are hard at work baking today’s batch of bread. Felipa, like Lucy, is a founding member of the Maranatha group and has participated in all four if its loan cycles. She started her business selling donuts and pan de arroz (bread made with rice flour and mashed yucca). Then she started making regular bread, and today she sells
several varieties of rolls, some sweet and some savory. I can’t resist trying one of her piping hot rolls, which is rich, white and fluffy with a sugary topping—very delicious.
Felipa used her Kiva loan of 1,800 bolivianos (US$257) to buy flour, lard, cheese and other ingredients to make bread. She works seven days a week and sells about 230 bolivianos’ (US$33) worth of bread each day, earning 60 bolivianos (US$8) in profits. She says she enjoys working with the group, since the women all know one another very well and everyone is responsible and punctual. She has taken out individual loans before, she tells me, but prefers the
group loan because it doesn’t involve so much paperwork. Like Lucy, Felipa plans to continue working with Maranatha in future loan cycles. Out of curiosity, I ask Felipa what Maranatha means, and she shrugs and laughs—neither she nor her loan officer, Julio Cesar, can remember who thought up the name or why. “
This made my week!
I printed it off, emailed to my friends and reread over and over.
Not only had I been to Bolivia to La Paz (near Montero) but the average income is $1,100 usd/year (Source: World Bank, 2006) and…
Felipa is now making about 350 days * $8 = $2800 a year! In a country where 40% of the population ~ 3.7 million people live in extreme poverty providing entrepreneurs with micro loans enables them to excel.
What really really gets me excited is the flow on affects, Felipa can employee, invest, increase consumption thus reinvesting in the local economy.
In developing countries income can flow through the economy many times in a year (adding up to potentially $10,000/year to the GDP).
Most importantly micro loans provide capability to those willing to give it a go who in turn inspire others around them.
Given not all Kiva loans have updates, the ones that do are worth it, and best yet I got all my money back! (reinvested in other loans). If your still here and haven’t loaned, why not? Hop over to Kiva.
I am a huge Kiva evangelist, enabling anybody anywhere to provide micro loans to entrepreneurs in developing countries. The capital flows are very neat.
Imagine though getting knowledge flowing in a Kiva like system.
You match up entrepreneurs in developing countries with entrepreneurs in the western world.
For sure there are barriers such as language, technology use (at the other end), lack of context by information providers.
However these aside I think there is a real need. The cross pollination would benefit both parties.
Imagine dedicating an hour a week to work with or chat with an entrepreneur on the other side of the world. That would be a real dream.
Oh also it would enhance the catch up effect of developing countries. Just a thought.
Tonnes of businesses unlock the flesh in a market, Google Adsense unlocked the flesh in the online advertising market, Ebay in secondhand goods, Skype in phone calls.
By reducing the flesh consumers benefit from a competitive marketplace.
Although there is a lot of competition in online advertising I still think there is a lot more flesh that can be unlocked.
Companies like Google Adsense, Kontera, Commission Junction will have millions on their books from the earnings of users who do not reach the payment threshold (which is a reasonably common occurrence).
Their terms usually dictate they hold onto the cash till you cash out or your forfeit it within a certain amount of time. You are never likely to recover those earnings.
My idea is for a charity or potentially Kiva to setup a programme whereby users donate their past earnings for these programmes.
They then group these together and cash them out. Alternativelly it could be a business opportunity, similar to the tax refund model, give us your account details we will get your earnings out and take a 25% cut, as hey if you didn’t do it you get nothing otherwise.
However I think companies are more likely to co-operate with a charity, great pr move for them, users feel great AND charity benefits. Win/Win/Win.
Philanthropy in the past has been limited to individuals of mass wealh or huge companies.
However every one does do their bit helping one another out and their local causes.
We view Philanthropy as out of our reach…. for now… maybe later in life.
Causes such as Kiva unlock this and unleash the long tail. So we can all engage in helping others out (in $25 usd increments).
Kiva provides a platform for people like you and me to provide funds to micro finance companies in developing and third world countries. On this platform you invest in their project or business and in return they provide blog updates and knowing you’ve had a direct hand in helping someone else out.
Your investment doesn’t end there. Once its repaid you get the money back and can reinvest it in others. Yup you get every cent back.
As a bit of a hobby economist this concept is awesome, using the multiplier effect (looking at how additional investment will flow in an economy) you can find how many times your investment will flow through the economy. Simply 1/percentage of savings ie in Peru the savings levels are 17% so 1/.17 = 5.9. Meaning your investment will add ~ $125 to the gdp of Peru.
Thats only on a basic level, there are further flow on effects.
So my idea to you is:
You can check out Kiva at www.kiva.org (my lender loan page is here). Facebook group is here.
So jump on, lend some money, help make a direct difference and see what happens.
Your marketing decision can help others too.