Kiva

I'd heard about microloans but hadn't done anything about it, and then a friend sent a link to Kiva, where he had just made small loans to a woman in Azerbaijan. At Kiva.org, you can make loans as low as $25 to low-income entrepreneurs in places like Cambodia, Senegal, and Azerbaijan. You are part of a group making small loans, which add up to bigger loans, for things like cloth, cow fodder, or even a used motorcycle, all meant to help their businesses get started or grow, to earn their way out of poverty.

You choose the enterpreneur and the amount, so if you don't want to sponsor, say, raising cattle for meat, you can choose a clothing manufacturer or fruits and vegetables to resell at market. You don't just donate to Kiva, although you can help them with admin costs when checking out at Pay-pal, which handles the transitions. The pay-back rates are very high, and are tracked through your name at one of your pages at the site, which also include your portfolio and track your invites to other people.

So I made loans to two groups of women in Lahore, Afghanistan; one group is making toys for kids and the other needed fruits and vegetables for an expanding business. These requests were posted and filled in one day - for over $500. The site is so popular that it's sometimes difficult to find a business to loan to. Which is a great thing.

So check it out. Nothing makes you feel gratitude more than reading through these entrepreneurs' stories.