For those of you on a budget, I know it can be tough to give back to your community. Volunteering is a great, affordable option, but for those of us who do not have a lot of spare time, it can be tricky trying to balance schedules. Another option to give back is to donate money to an organization of your choice, but it's tough to donate when you don't know how your money is being spent, or if your measly donation of $20 is going to actually make a difference. One solution to this problem is microfinancing. At Kiva, you can donate as little or as much money as you want to an entrepreneur in a developing country. Kiva's field partners screen the loan recipients beforehand, and post profiles online of the various people who need financial assistance for their budding businesses. Overtime, the entrepreneur pays back his/her loan. Once you, the lender, get your money back, you can reinvest it in another entrepreneur or donate it to Kiva to cover the company's overhead expenses.
Also, another non-profit that I would LOVE to get involved with is The Girl Effect. See the video below. Their homepage can be found here
I absolutely love Kiva, I have been lending for about 6 months and feel so good doing it! I just love the fact that you can really narrow down who/what/where you want to lend and then watch as they repay the loan, genius. Glad to hear others like it too!
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