Stories, software and strategies to help nonprofits do the social web
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...
October, 15 2009 • 0 Comments • 0 Faves
The “your money buys this” message isn’t going anywhere soon. If anything, what Kiva and Charity:Water and DonorsChoose have shown is that there’s a way to take this approach and adapt it to 21st century tools – so that you can see an online photo of the microloan recipient or the well that was dug or the classroom that was helped — if not directly by your money, at least by that same amount of money as the amount you gave. It’s interesting that making this association more visible and tangible is calling into...
October, 14 2009 • 0 Comments • 0 Faves
Matt Flannery, Kiva CEO and Co-Founder, replies to David Roodman's post (which we covered here http://elstudio.us/kiva-is-not-quite-what-it-seems ). One of the contributions that Kiva has made is to demonstrate that empathy increases generosity. The pictures and stories on the Kiva site increase understanding between various parties that would otherwise operate in completely different universes. When understanding increases, so does empathy. When empathy increases, so does generosity. People are inherently more...
October, 13 2009 • 0 Comments • 0 Faves
So the battle is Kiva’s spin on their operations and whether or not it is misleading. But the war is the illusion of person-to-person giving. This is a big deal. Kiva is a super successful organization, yet as everyone in the debate seems to agree, the best way for them to operate does not fit donors’ preconceived notions about what is best. Therefore promoting the fact that they use the best process will almost certainly lead to less social impact. via tacticalphilanthropy.com Sean Stannard-Stockton follows...
October, 13 2009 • 0 Comments • 0 Faves
Our first module, Savings & Credit, will be available within the next three to five months. It will allow users to issue credit, hold client savings and record client credit histories. By linking individual profiles to their respective phone numbers, Savings & Credit will automatically track loan dispersals and adjust outstanding balances as mobile payments are received. Any mobile payment in excess of an outstanding balance will be attached to the appropriate profile in the form of mobile savings, which an...
October, 10 2009 • 2 Comments • 0 Faves
David Roodman's long post is a great explanation of how Kiva works. It's also critical of the way Kiva markets. Here's the issue. Let's say you make a $25 loan on kiva.org. You pick an entrepreneur, you make a loan. The web site makes it look like you have funded that particular entrepreneur. But that isn't really how the microfinance organization works. For practical reasons, that entrepreneur has already been funded by one of Kiva's partners on the ground. On one level, Kiva is open about this, providing dates...
October, 9 2009 • 7 Comments • 0 Faves
Matt Flannery, co-founder of Kiva, looks forward from the organization's fourth birthday -- What we will see, in the years to come, is that we are just at a beginning of a larger trend towards more connected experiences. Kiva is just one organization that will be part of a much larger shift. It is a shift towards personalization and partnership relationships of mutual dignity. Looking back, the $100M will seem like a small drop. The potential for big change from the aggregate tiny actions of many is now more enormous...
October, 8 2009 • 0 Comments • 0 Faves
Startup thinking for the social sector. Code to help nonprofits do the social web. Plus photography.
(And reading aloud.)
More about Eric Johnson.
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