Kiva team "Kathleen Smith Memorial Fund"
Quick links to Kiva.org:

Recent Announcements

  • Missing countries (Feb 2012) Out of the 58 countries covered by Kiva, we are in most of them. The missing ones are : Iraq Israel Jordan Pakistan Palestine South Africa Thailand United States They maybe ...
    Posted Feb 16, 2012, 1:34 PM by Stephane ‎(webmaster)‎
  • Rare countries team presence The team is now present is these « rare » countries :NepalZambiaSamoa
    Posted Jan 30, 2012, 2:47 AM by Stephane ‎(webmaster)‎
  • South America All countries covered by Kiva in South America have at least one loan:  Paraguay  Peru  Chile  Ecuador  Bolivia  Colombia  See the full list of loans.
    Posted Sep 19, 2011, 7:03 PM by Stephane ‎(webmaster)‎
Showing posts 1 - 3 of 3. View more »


FAQ

What is Kiva.org?

Kiva on the Wikipedia

Kiva Microfunds (commonly known by its domain name, Kiva.org) is an organization that allows people to lend money via the Internet to microfinance institutions in developing countries around the world and in the United States, which in turn lend the money to small businesses and students. It is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization headquartered in San Francisco, supported by loans and donations from its users and through partnerships with businesses and other institutions. Kiva itself does not charge any interest; the loans made by Kiva members are passed interest-free to the independent field partner indicated for each loan. These interest rates are disclosed and are discussed in the relevant section on the Kiva website and in this article below. [...]
  • Kiva is a non-profit organisation, they collect money (with the help of their partner Paypal which doesn't apply any fee in that case), and distribute it among on their carefully selected and monitored micro credit institutions/banks called "Field Partners".
  • Kiva don't lend the money directly to the persons who need it (see above).
  • Kiva don't take any percentage from the money you lend.

How does it work?

  1. You become a member of Kiva, either through Facebook or using an email address.
  2. You join the team Kathleen Smith.
  3. You choose your borrower and you lend $25.
  4. You get repaid.
  5. Go to step 3.
When you'll get repaid, as soon as your account shows $25 you can make another loan. If you had multiple borrowers who are repaying, you'll reach $25 after a few months, even if some or none of your borrowers have fully paid back the amount due (they pay back monthly), thus the fun continues if you choose another borrower, or stop if you withdraw the money and put it back into your account.
That's probably explain why - on the average - each Kiva member manage more than 7 loans.

You can tell Kiva what to do with your money if you don't connect to Kiva.org for more than 6 months for example lend it to a random borrower, send it back to your bank account, donate it, etc.

To read more information about how Kiva works, check their About Us page.

Are there risks?

Yes but these are very small. The repayment rate is 98.84% or above. You can see how my friend Marc Cormier didn't get fully repaid for only one loan out of about 40.

Other resources

Everything is very well explained on Kiva.org website. Remember that "My portofolio / My Account" refers to your Kiva website account, and is not about money.
The website http://www.kivafriends.org/ is also worth it as it hosts a large discussion forum.

Where does the name of the team come from?

The team is listed in the memorial category on Kiva.org, and it has been created in memory of Kathleen Smith.

Registration

How to register?

Follow this link: http://kiva.org/invitedto/kathleen/by/stephanefr. Registering is free, you don't have to make a loan. You can stay anonymous. Using your Facebook account to identify yourself is recommended (and we're not Facebook lovers!).

Kiva is taking a $3.75 on top of my $25! (no)

This amount is optional: 
Kiva optional small fee: click edit and choose 0.

Just click edit and choose 0.00 (Not now), more, or less, Save, and the total will be updated.
 
Kiva is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and your donation may be claimed as a tax-deduction by US taxpayers.

Before sending the money the window should show:


Choose Kathleen Smith Memorial Fund as default team

In My Portofolio choose My Teams then choose the team Kathleen Smith Memorial Fund as Preferred Team:

Kiva choose your team Kathleen

How to choose a borrower

That's the hard but fun part.
First, choose a country, preferably not in this list!

Individual, or a group of persons?
Male or Female?
For how long? A few months or over a year?
How safe is this loan? How can I trust the Field Partner?

There is no definitive answer to these questions, make your own rules. Here are a few hints:
  • Mix short term and long terms loans.
  • Mix group / individuals.
  • Better to lend $25 to multiple borrowers than a larger amount of money to only one (or a few).
  • Choose well know field partners.
  • If religion matters to you or not there is a Chrome/Firefox plugin that will tell you if the Field Partner is religious or not (yes, it's being developed by an atheist, but it obviously work the other way around!).
  • Ask friends who know about the country to help you choose.

How to advertise the team

You have multiple choices:

Team Statistics

Click on the title!