Kivanniversary

[gement]

February 13th was the one year anniversary of my first loans on Kiva. This was closely followed by the more meaningful celebration of a full year on Kiva, my twelfth Credit Day. (Every month on the 15th, a pile of money flows back to the lenders.)

While I'm no longer in the first blush of obsession, I seem to be administering the loans for four other people. In addition, I just looked at the nifty complicated spreadsheet app that slices and dices all my numbers to discover that...

For the first time in a year, my lifetime repayments are greater than my lifetime new money. That's right, on average, every dollar I've put in has gone through the full loan cycle once. (For a while I was putting in money quickly enough that this day looked a very long way off.) I really did just clear it today, by $1.42.

As always, I'm happy to geek out about microfinance with anyone who will listen. Questions? I field them! Interested but not sure how to start? I'm good at getting people hooked.

Comments

[gement.livejournal.com]

So you know the "I just helped someone" hit that you can get from giving a present or getting a homeless person a sandwich or any of that class of activities?

I get a hit of that for $25, which is about the standard rate for charities. Later, unlike most deals, I get to hear about it more, and I get it back to do it again. Depending on the loan terms of the loans you like, $100 in the system will give you a fresh hit of happy-helper feeling every month or two.

There are a lot of microfinance places out there at this point, all of which work on the model of you (the lender) providing funding for an organization (MFI) that makes loans to someone in their country (the borrower). The thing that makes Kiva particularly compelling is that you are actually selecting from individual borrowers.

[ Some people find this either too hands-on or too paternalistic. If either of those hits your nerves, MicroPlace just says "here are some MFIs, fund them and get a little interest!" I know a couple people who are very happy with lending through MicroPlace. ]

Is it silly? Maybe. Does it all end up in approximately the same place? Yep. Does it cater to my monkey brain that wants to connect with individuals? You betcha.

And it keeps me lending, and it makes me smile all day when I've gone and made another loan.

(Similarly, you can "count" loans toward the progress of a team, which is completely meaningless but makes my silly tribalism brain chemistry dance up and down when GLBT edges past Belgium.)

So that's what I get out of it. Other people get other things.