 | |  | | |  | | Loans that change lives | | | | |
Your Team Message Digest
Team: Team CANADA
From: Eva and Alexander
Date: Mon, Sep 18, 2023 at 12:18 AM
Hello Team Canada.
I've come across this article, and thought it was important to consider.
www.technologyreview.com/2023/08/14/1077351/microfinance-money-making/?utm_campaign=site_visitor.unpaid.engagement&utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=tr_social&twclid=22spew0xi0eojw7wbx8hnpqsvx
Best wishes,
Eva
From: Sheri
Date: Mon, Sep 18, 2023 at 5:41 AM
Loan set to expire soon!
Aytigul is crowdfunding a loan on Kiva — Let's get them to 29% today! www.kiva.org/invitedby/sheri9615/for/2626236?utm_source=social_share_link&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=social_share_bp_scle_b&utm_content=sheri9615
From: Ron
Date: Mon, Sep 18, 2023 at 5:55 AM
@Eva and Alexander re: #618237
Thanks for this. I have been a
Kiva lender since 2008 as well and I am disappointed to hear this. I am going to rethink my relationship!
Ron
From: Diane (& Bill)
Date: Mon, Sep 18, 2023 at 7:15 AM
@Ron re: #618244 @Eva and Alexander re: #618237 @Diane (& Bill) re: #605634
Teammate Alan and some other lenders on other teams started discussing these issues about two years ago. In March of last year, as part of this ongoing discussion, I shared here what my approach was going to be regarding my Kiva lending, which was:
"1. I have a target of gradually withdrawing at least 80% of my Kiva funds by December of 2023.
2. I refuse to donate to Kiva.
3. I will not put new money in Kiva to lend in the future.
I will continue to lend with the Kiva field partners whose work I firmly believe in supporting (i.e. ACMUV) and for the specific types of loans that I favour (like to beekeepers.) But I will be doing this with a quite drastically reduced amount of funds that I will continue to circulate, as long as this small pool lasts. It took me a while to figure out what my own personal response to the changes at Kiva corporate was going to be, and this is it."
Fast forward to this year. My withdrawal target will work out to be closer to 50%, and I've begun relending a bit more widely. My donations to Kiva has firmly remained at zero, and will continue to do so.
I've seen encouraging changes this past year, largely because the new people now staffing the 'Community' end of things at Kiva have engaged more with the lenders, and are listening to us. They realize they have a sharp uphill climb in rebuilding trust and engagement. As a Captain on another large team, I've been consulted and have been quite blunt with my opinions in my ongoing conversations with them. I'm seeing encouraging signs going forward, so I continue lending.
Also, I'm very committed to supporting the excellent work that some field partners engage in, such as ACMUV and Friendship Bridge, for example. Many of these field partners are engaged in more than just micro-finance, offering a range of services to better the lives of their member-borrowers (literacy, health, ag extension, etc..)
Like these two:
www.kiva.org/lend/2637288 www.kiva.org/lend/2629588
From: KatenCo
Date: Mon, Sep 18, 2023 at 2:22 PM
@Diane (& Bill) re: #618249
Thanks for this thoughtful response Diane (& Bill).
I know Alan and I have been disheartened captains over the last many months as all of this information has been circulating. I, for one, feel very similar to what you've expressed here. I definitely believe that there can still be a lot of good to be done on Kiva's platform, and I desperately want to believe that our voices as lenders and team captains are being heard. I continue to lend, albeit not nearly as much as I used to previously, and I have withdrawn a significant portion of my not insignificant Kiva balance over the last several months. I have never given anything in the way of donations although I would have back in the day if there were a way to get a Canadian tax receipt but those pleas have always fallen on deaf ears of the powers that be at Kiva. So like you, I will continue to lend, with cautious optimism for better days ahead.
From: Anonymous
Date: Tue, Sep 19, 2023 at 10:48 AM
I read the article that Eva pointed out and it confirms the way my thinking has gone in the last couple of years. I stopped donating to Kiva's operating fund when I discovered that the previous CEO was receiving $800,000 in salary. I felt that he could use some of his salary to help out. When he resigned, I sent a letter asking about the compensation for the new CEO and received plenty of feel-good platitudes but absolutely no info on his salary. I pointed that out but got no response. I am very disillusioned about the direction Kiva is taking. I have continued to fund loans, ignoring my distress, but reading this article I now feel my time with Kiva is coming to an end. In the future, I will be withdrawing any money that is paid back from loans. This makes me sad.
From: Beverley
Date: Tue, Sep 19, 2023 at 12:06 PM
Thank you for this information regarding the outsized salaries at KIVA and their favourable dealings with huge corporations like Google that seem at odds with KIVA's DNA. I have been skeptical for a long time. Some of you mentioned withdrawing funds from KIVA. I didn't know that was possible, thinking about it as a donation to a worthy cause. I would appreciate guidance on this.
From: Ian
Date: Tue, Sep 19, 2023 at 3:06 PM
@Beverley re: #618283
Account settings. Portfolio. Withdraw credit. Then fill out the form with your PayPal info and they process within 1-2 weeks, usually on a Friday
From: JHS
Date: Thu, Sep 21, 2023 at 5:42 AM
Hi, Grace www.kiva.org/lend/2638054 is looking for a small loan, and has fully repaid in the past. Please consider supporting, Thanks
From: sheila
Date: Sat, Sep 23, 2023 at 3:32 PM
@ re: #618280
www.kiva.org/blog/kiva-cgi-commitments-to-action-2023
I think that it all depends on what the people at the top manage to accomplish. If they can set up new ways to help those in need such as refugees and women and pull in new sources of investment then I am content.
| | | |  |  | | Kiva is a U.S. 501(c)3 nonprofit organization located at
986 Mission Street, 4th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94103
© 2005 - 2023 Kiva. All rights reserved. | Follow Us  
| | | | | |
Comments
Post a Comment