DonorsChoose vs Kiva | Tactical Philanthropy
Mike Everett-Lane, former Executive Director of one of the Donors Choose regions, on Kiva's transparency issues:
I don’t believe that microphilanthropy (or microfinance, peer-to-peer giving, etc.) is a good solution for most problems. DonorsChoose.org has an advantage, in that they are funding discrete classroom projects within public schools, but do not have to fund the infrastructure of the schools themselves. Most problems just couldn’t be solved in this way. (”I’d like to fund only the violas in the orchestra, please.”) But if you’re going to advertise yourself as giving choice to the donor, you’d better do it.
The whole comment on Tactical Philanthropy is well worth reading. Sean's (@tactphil) coverage of the entire conversation around Kiva's fundraising stories vs operations has been fabulous.
