Microgifting and Microloans
I keep coming back to the Holiday Spirit which officially starts for me on Dec 1 of every year. Last week I blogged about making donations through text messaging and then I found even more ways individuals can donate to charities in very small amounts – microloans or microgifts. I found three in particular that I want to spread the word about. When you consider that most people on the planet live on less than $2.00 per day – very small donations can pay big dividends. Here are some examples:
1. Microgifts.org
Microgifts.org
Microgifts is an iphone app that lets you donate as little as .99¢ to select charities. Go to the App Store to download a free copy. Each week a charity is featured and select information is sent to the app users iphone – giving them a chance to donate or not. Once a charity is featured by Microgifts, it is permanently added to the database and users can donate to the charity at any time using the app. The group of charities is ever growing as new charities are being featured and added to the database all the time. Donations start at .99¢, $1.99, or “x” which means you can add in your own amount. Any charitiable organization can apply to be added to the Microgift database simply by emailing them at info@microgifts.org.
2. PlanUSA.org
PlanUSA.org
This is a nonprofit microfinance program that lets you make a donation to the cause you most care about by selecting an issue to support. (You can also sponsor a child, a project, or make a general donation to microfinance). The donation is done online like any other donation – the thing that stands out for me is the amounts they are asking for are minimal. No $200 dollar donations here – most of the site includes donations for less than $20 dollars making generosity affordable.
3. World Vision Micro.org
World Vision Micro lets you become a banker – loaning money to a budding entrepreneur create a business that will support his or her family and subsequently their community. Here’s how it works: you read through the list of approved entrepreneurs and their business ideas, select one you want to support and make the donation (either all or in part). Once the business is fully funded you can follow the progress of your donation as the business grows. Ultimately the borrower repays the loan (the repayment rate is an impressive 98.7%) which is then recycled back into the program providing funding for another potential business owner creating an ever growing circle of prosperity. For as little as $25 dollars you can help reduce poverty around the world.
Small amounts really do add up. Give one of these sites a try – both as a giver and if you are running a nonprofit consider how your organization might benefit from using some of these services.
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