Our Plan
"Give a man a fish, you've fed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, you've fed him for his life." This phrase is the motto of Lending Peace. We believe that the best way to relieve poverty in third world countries is to help develop self-sufficient organizations in those areas. Our goal is to raise money to provide micro-loans in order to achieve this goal. We raise money through a variety of fundraisers and lend that money out through various non-profit organizations. Our operations help connect small business owners in impoverished areas with funds to develop a business. This money could be used by a farmer in Kenya to expand his chicken farm, or by a leader in India to purchase sewing machines to start a tailoring business. Eventually stronger economic foundations will be built around the world by financing and helping to create businesses with micro-finance loans. We believe that as areas of the world are taken out of poverty, people in those regions will become less desperate and in turn stop turning to desperate measures such as terrorism and violence. In short, our loans will help to create businesses to bring regions out of poverty and as the worldwide economy develops, there will be fewer sources of conflict and violence.
How Kiva Works
Kiva partners with existing microfinance institutions around the world called Field Partners that have expertise in microfinance and a mission to alleviate poverty. Field Partners disburse loans as soon as they are needed. The Field Partner collects entrepreneur stories, pictures and loan details and uploads them to Kiva. Volunteer editors and translators review the loan requests and publish them to Kiva.org.
Then, lenders browse loan requests and select which ones they'd like to fund. Lenders can fund as little as $25 and as much as the entire amount of the loan. To help streamline the loan transaction process, loan requests posted by the Field Partner are rounded up to the nearest $25 increment. Kiva aggregates funds from Kiva lenders and provides them to the Field Partner.
The Field Partner collects repayments from Kiva entrepreneurs as well as any interest due and lets Kiva know if a repayment was not made as scheduled. Interest rates are set by the Field Partner, and that interest is used to cover the Field Partner's operating costs. Kiva doesn't charge interest to its Field Partners and does not provide interest to lenders.
If there is already money in the Field Partner's account, or once their payment is received, Kiva uses these funds to credit the appropriate lenders with their loan repayments. Lenders can re-lend their funds to another entrepreneur, donate their funds to Kiva (to cover operational expenses), or withdraw their funds via PayPal.
- Taken from Kiva's website at http://www.kiva.org/about/how/even-more
Then, lenders browse loan requests and select which ones they'd like to fund. Lenders can fund as little as $25 and as much as the entire amount of the loan. To help streamline the loan transaction process, loan requests posted by the Field Partner are rounded up to the nearest $25 increment. Kiva aggregates funds from Kiva lenders and provides them to the Field Partner.
The Field Partner collects repayments from Kiva entrepreneurs as well as any interest due and lets Kiva know if a repayment was not made as scheduled. Interest rates are set by the Field Partner, and that interest is used to cover the Field Partner's operating costs. Kiva doesn't charge interest to its Field Partners and does not provide interest to lenders.
If there is already money in the Field Partner's account, or once their payment is received, Kiva uses these funds to credit the appropriate lenders with their loan repayments. Lenders can re-lend their funds to another entrepreneur, donate their funds to Kiva (to cover operational expenses), or withdraw their funds via PayPal.
- Taken from Kiva's website at http://www.kiva.org/about/how/even-more
How Lending Peace Works
There are a few things that are difficult for an individual lender when using Kiva. Not only does it take a long time to have the loan repaid, but once the loan is repaid thats it. The interaction is over. When money is donated to Lending Peace you can be guaranteed that not only will it be lent to a worthy third world entrepreneur, but also that after the money is repaid it will be lent out again and again to new borrowers. Lending Peace works to keep money in Kiva's system over time spans that most individuals do not have the time for.