Join us in celebrating 15 years of impact by supporting 15,000 people around the world.
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15 years of impact
The history of Kiva,
year by year
2005
Humble but strong beginnings
Kiva lenders make Kiva’s first loan to a woman named Elizabeth, who expanded her fishing business in Uganda. PayPal joins Kiva, providing free payment processing and ensuring 100% of every dollar lent goes to funding loans.
Support a borrower like Elizabeth
2006
Uplifting women entrepreneurs
After just one year the Kiva community has funded over $1 million in loans to women.
Lend to powerful women monthly
2007
Microfinance—not just a textbook term
Over 130,000 lenders from 129 countries have joined Kiva, eager to make a difference through microfinance.
Turn a microloan into a dream come true
2008
One of the world's best
The Skoll Foundation grants Kiva $1 million, recognizing Kiva as one of the world’s best social enterprises.
2009
Lending a hand to 300,000 people
After four years, Kiva has funded nearly 300,000 borrowers and distributed over $112 million in loans.
Add another borrower to that list
2010
Thanks, Oprah!
Oprah features Kiva on her show as "one of her ultimate favorite things." Omidyar Network awards $5 Million Grant to Kiva to spur growth of microfinance in underserved markets.
Lend like Oprah
2011
Scaling impact in America
Kiva U.S. launches and lenders quickly fund the first loan to a U.S. entrepreneur.
Support an American entrepreneur
2012
Half a million supported
After just seven years, Kiva has funded 500,000 borrowers in 73 different countries, thanks to a large network of Field Partners and lenders.
Join the network and make an impact
2013
Joining forces for good
Google grants Kiva a $3 million Global Impact Award to fund Kiva Labs, an innovative program investing in social enterprises. With Hewlett-Packard, Kiva launches a $7 million campaign called “Matter to a Million.”
Invest in a borrower monthly
2014
1.5 million borrowers supported
After nearly a decade, Kiva reaches over 800,000 loans. Kiva's lenders have reached over a million borrowers in thousands of communities around the world.
Make an impact
2015
One decade later...
The Kiva community has over 1.4 million lenders from 224 countries who have funded 1 million loans to nearly 2 million borrowers.
Join the crowd
2016
Building opportunity for refugees
Kiva launches a $250,000 matching fund to provide support to refugees and the communities hosting them. These funds go to countries including Lebanon, Jordan, and Turkey.
Support refugees’ path to stability
2017
2.8 million borrowers funded
1.4 million loans have been funded around the world after 12 years as an organization. Kiva loans have an incredible 96% repayment rate.
Fund a loan
2018
Hello, United Nations!
Kiva, the Sierra Leone government, and United Nations announce the establishment of Kiva Protocol at the U.N. General Assembly. This will help millions of Sierra Leonians establish their digital identity and access more financial resources.
Lend monthly
2019
A billion to women and a big launch in Sierra Leone
Kiva hit one of its biggest milestones ever: raising $1 BILLION in loans to women around the world. Meanwhile in Sierra Leone, Kiva Protocol launches to help millions access more financial resources.
Be part of the next billion
2020
Big moves in a changing world
Amidst an unprecedented global pandemic, Kiva has raised over $70 million over 5 months to help 70,000 people. The team continues to innovate, launching the Kiva app for Apple iOS and Google's Android.
Be the difference for a borrower today
The World
of Kiva
The people who
make it happen
1 of 15
Strategic Partners
Individuals and organizations
making a difference
Our
strategic
partners’
total
impact:$101M
In donations
$130M
disbursed to borrowers
1.5M
Borrowers funded
15
Years of partnership
$1.45B
Loans Through kiva.org
$2.2M
From 38k+ customers and employees
Kiva and PayPal have a unique and deep collaboration, unified by a shared purpose of empowering entrepreneurs around the world by democratizing financial services. The connection is not surprising: Kiva was co-founded by Premal Shah, a former PayPal employee, and has been powered from the beginning with free payment processing from PayPal, ensuring that 100% of every dollar goes to fund loans on Kiva.org, which has resulted in over $1.45 billion in loans to support entrepreneurs from around the world. In addition to this, PayPal engages customers and employees to lend on Kiva.org every year.
4
Years of partnership
52
New loan products
400k
Borrowers
Kiva and the Mastercard Foundation have partnered to test, develop, and scale high-impact loans serving the unique needs of smallholder farmers and rural populations across Africa. The Mastercard Foundation is supporting the Kiva Labs approach to push the boundaries of microcredit and deepen our commitment to impact measurement and management. As part of this partnership, Kiva has been able to bring together over 50 of our partners at the Kiva Labs Innovation Conference, design and deploy technical assistance to over 30 lending partners, and deepen our commitment to impact measurement and management.
3
Years of partnership
1k+
Employees engaged
$1M
Lent
Kiva and eBay share a belief that the internet can be an empowering force that helps create opportunities for people across the globe. The partnership advances eBay Foundation’s mission to unleash the power of entrepreneurship to build economically vibrant and sustainable communities and connects eBay’s employees to direct impact in the lives of others. Through four employee lending campaigns, as well as matching funds on Kiva.org, the eBay Foundation has lent $1M to nearly 30,000 entrepreneurs across 70 countries. Additionally, the San Jose, California-based company has funded 250 small businesses locally through grants to Kiva, driving sustainable local economic growth.
1
Year of partnership
67%
of global employees are lenders
$700k
In loans
At the heart of the Visa Foundation’s mission is the belief that small businesses are the backbone of the global economy. In support of this mission, Visa Foundation granted $1M to Kiva to increase financial access for underserved small businesses around the globe. Through this 5 year program, Visa employees around the globe help direct loans with a long-term goal to help more than 50,000 small businesses. Visa’s recent launch of the Rebuilding Matters program in the US deepened the partnership: Kiva is one of 5 nonprofits to whom Visa will donate when cardholders make an eligible transaction at small businesses.
99k
Loans
211k+
Borrowers (81% women)
30+
Countries
In 2017, Kiva embarked on an innovative collaboration to accelerate Kiva.org lending. Grant funding from Skoll Foundation and a loan loss commitment from Kiva.org lender enabled Kiva to secure $10M in funding from U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC, then the Overseas Private Investment Corporation OPIC). With this collaboration, Kiva deployed $26.8M of funds from the $10M DFC loan and $49.9M from over 1M Kiva.org lenders. This translated to 99,000 loans to 211,000 borrowers across 30 countries and demonstrated the significant impact that can be achieved when different forms of capital are blended together.
Strategic partners supporting this celebration
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How Kiva Works
A step-by-step
guide
By lending as little as $25 on Kiva, you can support the causes you careabout and make a real personal impact.
Step One
Choose a borrower
Browse by category and find an entrepeneur to support
Step Two
Make a loan
Help fund a loan with as little as $25
Step Three
Get repaid
Kiva borrowers have a 96% repayment rate historically.
Step Four
Repeat
Relend your money or withdraw your funds.
Disclaimer: Lend to an Earth Day loan between now and April 23, 2024 by 11:59pm PST to earn your badge.
