The holiday consumerism...er, oops, I mean spirit, is upon us again. If you are in the giving spirit this season, please consider a microloan, a new form of charitable giving that won its pioneer the Nobel Prize. Better yet, you can give in the name of someone on your list who doesn't really need another pair of fuzzy slippers. For $25 (or as much as you'd like to give), you can help someone in a third-world country start their own business and get out of poverty. 98% of microloans are repaid in full within a couple years, and your money really stretches, because you get it back when the loan is repaid, and you can then reinvest it in someone else. I love that you can follow the progress of your recipient, and get to select someone whose story speaks to you. So you can either help Omar buy that dairy cow he has his eye on, or help Olga get a pottery wheel if that strikes your fancy more. Not to get all "About Schmidt" on you, but I think seeing a name and a face somehow drives home that there are real people behind our charity and may bring us out of a Western perspective in a way that dropping a dollar in the Salvation Army bell-ringer's bucket fails to do.

I like KIVA (www.kiva.org), a microloan organization where 100% of your money goes directly to the person you sponsor, and the first charity for whom Paypal has completely waived all of its fees, so you can donate online. Happy holidays!!!

 

What did you think of this article?

Liked
Disliked
No Opinion