For those who want to help save the world but don’t know how, a new club on campus can help them get involved in an organization that helps one person at a time. Cal Poly’s new Kiva club focuses on helping international entrepreneurs in a microeconomic way. Working in a way that lets individuals directly affect another on the opposite side of the globe sparked the interest of four seniors.
The Kiva Club at Cal Poly was started this quarter by Inna Treyger, Kaitlyn Hemingway, Alan Crosby and Melissa Feldman, all business seniors. The club is associated with Kiva.org, a micro-lending Web site that allows individuals or groups to lend money to ‘the working poor,’ and give less fortunate people the opportunity to have a stable work life around the world.
Kiva pools money from multiple lenders until the goal amount for an international entrepreneur is reached. Usually, these entrepreneurs need money to start up business that they can’t afford. The average amount that entrepreneurs ask for is $417.17, a relatively manageable amount that one or a few lenders can easily come up with.
Once the money is compiled, the organization then gives them money and monitors how the it is being used and e-mails lenders with updates as to how the business is going how their money is allocated. Within six to 12 months, lenders will begin to be reimbursed in increments until they’ve gotten all of their money back. Finally, the lender can choose to reinvest this money in another business or withdraw it.
Kiva has grown immensely in the microeconomic community during the past three years. It was ranked by Women’s Health Magazine as one of the “100 Most Useful Sites on the Web” and Time.com listed it in their “50 Best Websites 2008.” Other major outlets buzzing about Kiva include Forbes, CNN and the Wall Street Journal to name a few.
“We thought (Kiva) was a really interesting way to directly work with others internationally,” Feldman said. “All of the members have made loans individually, too.”
Jonie Fleischer, a business administration junior, talked about how difficult it can be to choose someone to lend to. There is a donation made about every 31 seconds according to their Web site. Because this is a peer-to-peer lending group, the repayment couldn’t possibly be 100 percent, however it is still high at 98.35 percent. Kiva has lent $75.5 million since it was incorporated in November, 2005.
Fleischer mentioned that the site’s popularity often causes potential recipient to receive loans almost immediately.
“When you’re looking through the lists of possible people (to lend to), you might go back to a page and someone you were considering could have already been taken off the list,” she said.
The club held a 5K run fundraiser last weekend that raised over $300. The race went through the center of campus, around Cal Poly farmland and ended at the Health Center. There were approximately 25 runners who paid either $10 in an entry fee, which went to helping form a loan with other racers, or a $30 entry fee that gave the runner the opportunity to choose an entrepreneur to give $25 of that to.
“It was really successful,” Feldman said. “We had a lot of people come out and volunteer.”
Fleischer said that along with the elections, the continuing members will be discussing the events and fundraisers that are already in the works for next year.
To have a hand in something like this is really incredible,” she said. “Hopefully the club will grow and become something self-sustainable.”