Currently I am very patiently waiting for my monthly KIVA repayments to come in (they start arriving from the 17th of each month), so I can re-loan them to micro loans, in other countries to people I’ve never met… This is a bit different to donating money, time or crochet/knitwear. KIVA is a place where you (in the words of KIVA) “connect millions of people through lending to alleviate poverty”.

KIVA – Loans that change lives

1. 1 Choose a borrower
2. 2 Make a loan
3. 3 Get repaid
4. 4 Repeat!

What I really like about KIVA is how it does really help you see that small amounts of money can really make a lot of difference. And while there is a risk of losing your money, through either defaulting borrowers or currency loss, I feel as long as you accept this from the beginning, that’s OK. After all, I’m only going to re-loan the money.

How KIVA works

There is lots of information on the site, KIVA blog or the Teams.

So if you’re interested, have a look at the KIVA Video.

Heres a few tips from me and my KIVA team – especially for those who already have the KIVA bug:

Tip 1: I use keep my Etsy Sales payments in my paypal account for repayment day, to top up any shortfalls or when I have clown my KIVA budget but really want to loan to someone…

Tip 2: KIVA gift cards make great gifts!

Tip 3: You can set up transfers to your KIVA account to coincide with your payday to help you keep to your KIVA budget.

Tip 4: Transfer $25 (or whatever you budget for) into your KIVA account on credit day (17th of the month) so your KIVA credits can build up before you loan them out again. One Loaner called this his “early-credit-repayment-bonus”.

Tip 5: KIVA Credits are return in Field partners alphabetical order. That is Credits with field partners beginning with “A” are returned first.

Tip 6: I’ve learnt most of my KIVA knowledge from my team. Join a team – I’m in three – and get on the message board to learn all the ins and outs of KIVA. You can attribute you loans to a team, which fuels my competitive streak nicely… here’s my team, feel free to join, they’ve very helpful and know much stuff!

Tip 7: Try cleaning the fridge or writing a blog post when waiting for your monthly KIVA credits… its great to see your balance go up a few dollars whenever you go back and refresh the page!

Tip 8: Enjoy the community! Find a group that suits you, join the KIVA page, they also often have facebook pages and blogs. Its a great place to be with like minded people.

What are your tips for managing waiting for KIVA credits? Or sticking to your KIVA budget?

Beautiful People

Well my patiences is paying off, Credits have started coming in, so I’m off to work on step 1. Thanks for helping me entertain myself!