Hey Cromrades,
I just sent out our 6th Kiva loan. Because of the speed of turnaround of many of the projects listed on the website, crowdsourcing the selection is very cumbersome. I’m sorry to preclude you from the discussion of which loans we select. I don’t see a way around this, but maybe you do. Maybe if I pre-schedule the day of the loan, y’all can submit your input in a flurry?
Anyway, here’s where our money went:
Sanaa, 20 years old, is a single lady, with four brothers. Sanaa is a university student majoring in business administration; she has applied for this loan to pay her fees for the semester. Sanaa hope that after graduation she will find a job in her field to help her family and support herself.
The group was created on May 23, 2012; its members are socially close. Their main activities are retail and animal fattening. Awa, the group’s president, is 52 years old. She is married and a mother of three boys and five girls. She is standing with her hand raised in the photo. With the granted loan, she is going to purchase four ewes to fatten and resell after six months for a profit. With the resulting profit, she is planning on purchasing a transportation vehicle, as she works with her husband whom she helps with the family expenses.
For the month of October, we made $46.38, and loaned $50.
For the month of November, we made $65.81, and loaned $50.
For the month of December, we made $44.76, and loaned $50.
For the month of January, we made $58.59.
For the month of February, we made $57.33 and loaned $125.
For the month of March, we made $78.68 and loaned $125.
For the month of April, we made $64.62, and loaned $57.50*
Total amount loaned so far: $450
Total loan funds repaid: $63.17
Fund balance: $7.64
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*Kiva periodically requests a donation to support their operating funds (they do not see interest on any loans). I donated $7.50 this time around.
I have been lending on Kiva for a couple of years now, and I agree that it’s hard to get a group together and decide on a loan before the loan is funded and out of play. (That’s a good thing, though, right? Means lots of loans getting funded!)
I don’t really know a solution for it. The groups I’ve been part of start discussing it a day or two before repayments, and then try to pile on that day before it fills up. Sometimes they’ll pick a main loan and an alternate, for those who aren’t able to get in. The exception is the Late Loaning Lenders, who try to pick the loans that are closest to expiring and lend in a bunch, trying to shoot the loan to the front page.
My own criteria for lending are probably different from yours. I go in each month planning to lend in an area (continent or country) that I don’t already have many loans in, wanting to lend in a particular sector, or to a group, or to a female borrower… and then a loan may catch my eye that doesn’t meet any of my preselected criteria… and there I go.
I wish I could lend more often. I wish I could lend more, period. At the moment I’m just recycling the money I lent in better times, wincing every time I siphon a little donation off to Kiva but not wanting to short them, either.
Anyway, this probably isn’t helpful from a perspective of helping you crowdsource loans, but I didn’t see any comments, and I did want to drop in my encouragement to keep lending. I think this is a great project, and I commend you for doing it.
It’s still good to have your view on it. I’m happy that I can do this, and as long as you keep reading, you’re contributing.
Just wanted to say thanks for putting me onto Kiva. I’ve wanted to do something like this for some time, and in addition to my own loans, will probably start loaning in lieu of birthday presents.
KNowing that you can keep reinvesting the money makes it even better.