Have you heard of the Kiva Organization?
Matt and Jessica Flannery, a 27 and 28 year old married couple, founded this non-profit in 2005, as a way for individuals in more affluent countries to lend money directly to specific entrepreneurs in the developing world, thus empowering them to lift themselves out of poverty.
Or as they say it, Kiva provides “Loans that Change Lives”.
Kiva’s business model is based on the economic theories of Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, founder of the Grameen bank and author of Creating a World Without Poverty: Social Business and the Future of Capitalism
, and on the power of Web 2.0.
Kiva provides a link between first world citizens and developing nations. Currently they partner with 85 local microfinance organizations to find responsible entrepreneurs in 42 countries in Africa, Central and South America and Asia.
Since 2005 they have enabled 261,000 individuals to lend $24 million to 36,000 entrepreneurs with a 99.89% repayment rate.
According to their site:
“Kiva is using the power of the internet to facilitate one-to-one connections that were previously prohibitively expensive. Child sponsorship has always been a high overhead business. Kiva creates a similar interpersonal connection at much lower costs due to the instant, inexpensive nature of internet delivery. The individuals featured on our website are real people who need a loan and are waiting for socially-minded individuals like you to lend them money.”
It makes sense that an organization that only exists because of the internet, would incorporate web 2.0 features, like blogs, in its fundamental business model.Kiva sends volunteers around the world to work with micro-lenders as Kiva Fellows. One of the responsibilities of the Fellows is to write weekly blog posts.
According to Kiva’s advice to Fellows:
The Kiva Fellows Blog will be an opportunity for you to share your experiences living and working abroad and having first hand experience with meeting Kiva Entrepreneurs. You will be able to write about how encounters as a Kiva Fellow inspired you, moved you, made you laugh and made you think. Your contributions to the Kiva blog will be read by tens of thousands of Kiva Lenders as well as potential lenders and will be great publicity for Kiva and your particular MFI Partner”
The Kiva Fellows blog provides insight into the daily challenges of the Kiva Fellows as they learn to live and work in places like Ghana, Uganda, Cambodia , Vietnam, etc.
Kiva Fellows also post journal entries which are transcribed directly from the individual entrepreneurs. These posts enable lenders to receive updates on how their loans are helping change lives on a granular basis.
The Kiva Fellows blog and journal entries are critical to the success of Kiva. Kiva relies on the continuing good will of its lenders. The more that Kiva can make the lenders feel a part of the experience, the more they will be likely to continue lending and to encourage their friends to lend.
Having the Kiva Fellows write the journal entries rather than representatives from the microfinance partners increases the authenticity and credibility of the reports. Kiva Fellows provide impartial validation that the loans really are changing the lives of the people who receive them.
In addition to the volunteer blogs, Kiva maintains an organization blog that provides updates to changes in the organization and notices about events and charitable promotions.
And lastly, CEO and co-founder Matt Flannery blogs about his behind the scene experiences at the Kiva Chronicles.
The Kiva businss model, partner relationships and marketing strategy provide a wealth of ideas for any business that is looking to build an online presence.
photo credit: babasteve
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