Nerdfights and Microloans: Make a difference in the US economy with $25 and your social network
Entrepreneurship and credit for small businesses will be VITAL to economic recovery in the US. This is why I’m starting to loan money directly to small business owners in the United States.
You can do the same thing using Kiva.org, a non-profit that allows you to lend as little as $25 to a specific low-income entrepreneur in the United States, or across the globe.
You choose the small business owner to lend to – whether its carpenter in Queens, a window-washer in San Francisco, or any other small business owner with big dreams and tight credit.
It’s a powerful and sustainable way to empower a small business owner in the US right now. And as they repay their loan, you get your money back.
Unemployment has already reached a 25-year high. Nevertheless, it is still falling sharply in the U.S. and other economies. This trend will continue well into 2010, according to world-class economist Nouriel Roubini. He predicts that unemployment will average above 10 percent in the US before the recession is over. And (even when the recession is technically over) it may take years to reabsorb displaced employees in a slow-growing economy.
Kiva platform works basically as a middle man, providing profiles of entrepreneurs for lenders to choose from, collecting the funds to be distributed through Kiva partners, and giving the capital back to lenders. Until recently, Kiva only allowed contributions to business owners in developing nations. US businesses in New York and California were recently added. Business owners in other states will be added in upcoming months as Kiva identifies its Field Partners in other regions of the US.
Let’s help make their microloan program as successful in the US as it has proven to be in Africa and developing nations over the past four years, since Kiva’s inception. Let’s fund some microloans.
Let’s become nerdfighters.
Be a Nerdfighter
Become a nerdfighter and fight to decrease ‘WorldSuck.’ In just a few minutes, you can do so using Kiva. In an act of nerdfighting, I was able to loan $50 directly to two high-energy, low credit entrepreneurs.
To kick things off, I loaned $25 to Jeremy, a former ambulance driver and a high-energy entrepreneur. He runs Emergency BBQ, a mobile catering company that serves up barbecue favorites in a style Jeremy calls California Beer B-Que. With a $25 microloan (part of the $10,000 he needs), Jeremy will expand his business beyond on-the-go catering trucks and open up a retail store in San Carlos. He will also be able to create full-time employment for his three seasonal employees.
I also loaned $25 to Joseph, who’s looking for $2,125 to launch his business. Joe’s car accessory business is art in motion. He invented custom external car covers made from unique patterns of faux fur. As an artist he pays attention to detail and has spent countless hours developing his product. His products are very unique.
Put your social network to the test.
Social networks are like muscles. You need to exercise them from time to time. Nerdfighting is a great way to do that. I’ve invited 50 members of my LinkedIn network, more than 100 Facebook friends and readers of the article (aka ‘you’) to join the Social Meteor Kiva team and lend $25 or more to a US small business owner.
The goal? See if we can lend $1000 or more in combined microloans in 30 days. Loaning $25 to small business owners like Jeremy and Joe make a real difference.
How many friends in our social networks are willing to contribute? Who will you choose to loan $25 to?
Start your nerdfighting journey: Join our Kiva team and making your own microloan for as little as $25.
Credits: Roubini’s speech at UW Madison was sponsored by American Family Insurance (my employer) and UW-Madison (my alma mater) School of Business.
The law of compound nerdfighting
Increase ‘awesome’ and decrease ‘suck.’ Become a Nerdfighter, recruit more Nerdfighters. Together to make a difference.
You follow the result of the 30-day goal by visiting the social media Kiva team at http://www.kiva.org/team/socialmeteor
Joseph got this microloan:
“This is an update on your loan to Joseph in United States. Thank you for
your loan. It has been disbursed to Joseph, consisting of Joseph by
ACCION USA in United States. We are excited to watch this business grow.
Over the 15 months of this loan, ACCION USA will be collecting
repayments from this entrepreneur and posting progress updates on the
Kiva website.”
Jeremy got his microloan too:
“This is an update on your loan to Jeremy in United States. Thank you for
your loan. It has been disbursed to Jeremy by Opportunity Fund in United
States. We are excited to watch this business grow. Over the 36 months
of this loan, Opportunity Fund will be collecting repayments from this
entrepreneur and posting progress updates on the Kiva website.”
I recommend contributing small amounts ($25) to several loan requests, instead of funding one loan request with a larger amount. This mitigates your risk. Almost all Kiva microloans are repaid — but some aren’t. I experienced the first default recently, which was accompanied by the following notice from Kiva:
Note: The entrepreneur wasn’t at fault with the defaulted loan. Kiva’s Field Partner, FSMA, is ceasing operations and is unable to repay debt to Kiva. Therefore, all of FSMA’s active loans have been defaulted and the partnership is now closed. If Kiva is able to collect further funds, they will be repaid proportionally to affected FSMA lenders on a pro-rata basis. All lenders will be notified of any repayments by email.