Offer a Micro-Loan to Entrepreneurs among the Extremely Poor

Micro lending, sometimes called micro-finance, is an easy and rewarding way for you to help end extreme poverty around the world. According to the World Bank, there are 1.4 billion working people who are living on less than US $1.25 a day.

Many micro-loan applicants do not have access to clean water, sufficient food, shelter, or even the most basic health or medical care for themselves or their families. Many micro-loan applicants have family members who are dying from starvation and disease. They need hope and help: You can provide both. With access to small loans to invest in their own livelihoods, the extremely poor can greatly increase their quality of life and also generate the income to repay their loans, which frees up that money to be lent to other extremely poor workers and gives them a vote of confidence.

In recent years, social entrepreneurs have created mechanisms to facilitate lending money (as little as $25) to people in dire need in small amounts and with reasonable (or no) interest by anyone with Internet access and a few bucks to invest. These "micro-loans" can empower extremely poor people to invest in their own income generating enterprises and live a better life for themselves and their families.

For example, people in underdeveloped countries have applied for small loans to purchase food for their cows, to open a small village shop to sell garments, and to buy materials to make clothing. Remarkably, repayment rates on these micro-loans are reported as being very high, suggesting that investing in the poorest of the poor may not only help the impoverished but can also help (or at least not harm) your own financial well-being.

By investing in extremely poor people, you are giving them a vote of confidence and desperately needed financing to help them lift themselves out of poverty, with dignity. 

• Log-in to Kiva, MicroPlace, or OptINnow to create an account.
• Fund your account. If you have a Paypal account, you can transfer the money online with one or 2 clicks. You can begin with as little as $25, but try to start with $50 if you can.
• Browse through the various individual loan applicants (including pictures and a summary of their business) or (in the case of MicroPlace) local banks / micro-finance lenders and decide where and on what repayment terms to invest.
• With a few clicks, make your investment.
• When your investment is repaid, make another loan to continue the cycle.
• Both Kiva and Microplace sell gift certificates. If you like the experience, buy a $25 gift certificate to introduce a friend or family member to it as well. 

For more information on micro-finance and its use as a tool to end global poverty, visit The Village Banking Campaign  and the Microcredit Summit Campaign.