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RE: The Charity Donation Challenge - Day 1 (Kiva.org)
Well, my idea of giving is Give and never look back. I never considered lending money to someone as giving or mayb I don't quite understand what this Kiva.org is all about but from your explanation , I think they loan money to those who need it. How about giving them the money and never asking them to pay back.
I don't know what faith you believe in but I do know that givers never lack and so if the idea of having them pay back is so you can help another in need then that's also not my own idea of giving.
My idea of giving is to give and have faith that I will have another to give out tomorrow...My opinion though.
When giving money to someone especially for business purpose, I prefer to give it as a loan. Often times, it is to make sure the funds go round. But most important, it is to make sure the beneficiary works hard enough because of the belief that he/she will have to refund the money.
Once when I gave my own cousin money to start some petty trade. I didn't plan to get the money back but I still give her as a loan and within few months she was ready with the money. I asked her to put it back into the business to expand it. Why did I do so, it was to make sure she put all of her into making sure the business succeed. That's just my opinion.
I think @tarazkp is right. To get a loan (for instance a woman in India who wants to own a sewing machine or even more than one to start as a tailor) and she pays the loan back when business goes well, shows respect for that woman. When the business goes wrong it is also or still possible to cancel the loan. But it is good for her self-esteem to get a loan instead of just the money.
In addition, you can of course also give to all kinds of good causes, even to organizations that provide loans to people in developing countries. These organizations also need money. And than we are back at the first sentence.
This is how it works. The corporate company I donate to has been doing this for years and also instead of giving Christmas presents to clients, they donate for them and give them a card. They are yet to take any back and they add thousands each year. In my opinion, empowering people to start their businesses and provide for themselves is much better than straight charity.
It helps them develop businesses, or like this one, build sanitation. Once many get on their feet in one way, they get another loan to do something else. Most donaters like myself keep rolling the donations in to the system. That way, many more people can benefit and entire communities can grow.
One of the businesses I do contract work for has a large account at kiva.org and every year I give a donation to them that they roll into larger donations and projects too. That is where I have actually dealt with kiva before.