Kowai always has great ideas for me to steal — the most recent one is to donate to cool green organizations like Kiva, which lend money to specific entrepreneurs in the developing world to help them overcome poverty and in turn contribute to the economy (the New York Times has covered this initiative, as have other media outlets, so you know they’re legit).
What I love about the website is that it lets you see photos of the entrepreneur, often at their food stand or workshop or studio, and provides detailed descriptions of who they are, where they live, why they want to start this business, how much money they need, how much they’ve raised so far, and you can even see who else has donated.
I decided to give my $25 (not much, but I’ll be doing this regularly from now on) to a man in Ecuador named Dionicio Pascual, who’s starting up a general store. His photo was adorable and he seemed to have his values in order; at the time he’d only raised 5% of his goal so I figured I’d give him a boost. Maybe now he can start buying some rice or pasta in bulk.
I also plan on donating to my favourite charity, the World Wildlife Fund, and might join the Sierra Club, too. And it pretty much goes without saying that I’ll be adopting more than a few chocolate trees. The giving will happen at least once a month, and suggestions are more than welcome.
Photo of Dionicio from Kiva.org
July 17, 2007 at 11:58 am |
Thanks vanessa- great site- will add my help.
July 17, 2007 at 1:35 pm |
I donate to Kiva regularly as well! Another organization I’d highly recommend is Heifer International (http://www.heifer.org/). They give livestock to people living in poor areas around the world, along with training on how to raise them. Part of the agreement is that each person who receives a Heifer animal must give at least one of its offspring to someone else in their community, and they promote sustainable farming techniques and women’s rights/education. Anything you donate to them is actually just a lump amount that gets used wherever it’s most needed, but in their catalogue you can “buy a goat (cow, sheep, llama…)” for someone by donating about the amount a goat would cost. My grandfather got me and my siblings a trio of llamas for Christmas last year
July 17, 2007 at 1:51 pm |
I just clicked your link to check out Mr. Pascual’s profile, and it turns out he’s already fully funded!
I’m sure your link had a lot to do with that.
July 17, 2007 at 6:47 pm |
This is a great idea Vanessa and is the first I have heard of Kiva. I was truly moved by this site and will be loaning soon!
July 18, 2007 at 9:24 am |
Great to hear of this commitment to green philanthropy. In response to your invitation for suggestions, an Australian/US development organisation that I have been very enthusiastic about for a while now is BODHI. They emphasise really simple, low overhead, but incredibly useful/worthwhile stuff, such as the Revolving Sheep Bank for nomadic Tibetans, providing bicycles to Thai children who live too far away from school to walk, etc. They (intentionally) run on the smell of an oily rag, but always appreciate support – any support. Check them out if you will: http://www.bodhi.net.au/index.html
Bryan
July 22, 2007 at 2:44 am |
[...] 22nd, 2007 by ClareSnow Shawn at Kowai and Vanessa at Green as a Thistle were talking about their philanthropy, so I thought I’d join in. And thank you Shawn for adding [...]
December 26, 2007 at 9:20 pm |
Kiva rocks! (Yes, I heard about it on an Oprah rerun…) It is a brilliant organization and contributing makes you feel good because reinvesting your money helps others in a wonderful financial assistance circle. It is really something that keeps on giving. Highly recommended!