The process (as the diagram below shows) is that you look through listings of entrepreneurs who need financing, choose one, send $25 or more to Kiva and they pass that on to the relevant micro financing organisation in that developing country that lends it to the entrepreneur. When the entrepreneur pays the loan back to the micro financing organisation, it goes back through Kiva to you – you can then lend it to someone else if you want, donate it to Kiva to help with their operating costs or withdraw your funds.

And because Kiva partners with micro financing organisations on the ground in developing countries, you can be assured that the entrepreneurs’ stories listed are genuine.

Here’s a video that explains what Kiva is:

Here is an example of a Kiva loan request:

Micro finance (also known as micro credit and micro loans) goes beyond charity and empowers people in the developing world to create self sustaining businesses. It also means that one donation can have multiple lives as it able to be recycled to fund future projects.