There are many great organizations out there that should receive support by donations. I did so many times in the past and it’s supported by German tax law as you can reduce your tax payments with it. But it feels a little bit strange because you don’t really know what happens with your money. Then I discovered Kiva, a charity organization founded in 2005 and based in San Francisco, United States.
There are many people in the world that could improve their life if they would just get a credit to open a shop, grow more plants or to increase their livestock. But they don’t get one or only at unaffordable interest rates. Kiva now acts as a platform for people in less developed countries (represented by development aid organizations) and for people willing to give micro credits at a zero per cent interest rate.
The minimum investment is $25 and when a credit is funded the money is paid out, the project is realized, and the money is later paid back. It is, therefore, no donation but credit and you can use the repayments for the next project. You always lose some money because of currency conversion, failed projects and inflation – but therefore you’ve got full transparency. Now and then you should also donate some money to the platform.
By using Kiva I could help more than 400 people at Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Benin, Bolivia, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Chile, China, Colombia, Congo, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Fiji, Georgia, Ghana, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kenya, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mexico, Moldova, Mongolia, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nepal, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistan, Palestine, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Rwanda, Samoa, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Suriname, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tonga, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, United States, Vietnam, Yemen, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Sustainably. And I think that’s a wonderful thing!