A Dissenting Voice

This guy hates Kiva.  Basically it comes down to interest rates and "neoliberalism," and one of those critiques is probably reasonable.

Add to this the fact that there appear to be no controls on interest rates even contemplated, and the fact that the first world neoliberal braintrusts who love this model so much are treating the high interest rates like the dirty little secret of microfinance and hiding it is much as possible, and the disaster that increasing the developing world's dependence on microfinance much more would be becomes all too clear.

It actually is harder to find anything about interest on Kiva's site than I remembered it being.  I'm guessing the vast majority of lenders don't do the scrupulous research that characterizes the typical dude with a blog.  So maybe they are playing that down.

But that's enough to convince me of anything.  I mean, we don't to make the perfect the enemy of the good, if I can be permitted to use a tiresome cliche.  And when it comes to choice between neoliberalism and people who say cusses about neoliberalism, I'm giving benefit of the doubt to the former.

In other news, an odd blog has come to the same conclusion I did: Vittana is a "cool internet site."  I was totally ahead of the curve on this one.

Wokai

Another one!  I might have to work up a checklist for the Kivaesque.  In fact, I'll do that right now.  If you're a Kivaesque microfinance organization, please put a check next to each of the following characteristics that applies to your non-profit organization:

1. Personal profiles of loans recipients
2. Green color scheme
3. Botanical logo
4. One word name that means something meaningful in a foreign language
5. All that other microfinancey stuff that I'm not going to go into right now

On that scale, Kiva of course scores a 5/5.  Vittana also gets a perfect score.  United Prosperity gets a 3.5/5 - they don't have the fancy name, and their financial model is different enough that they get a half a point.

Wokai works exclusively in China, getting loans to rural entrepreneurs.  It scores 4/5 on the Kivaesque Scale: the logo's green, the profiles are there, and the name means "I start" in Chinese, and the logo is almost perfectly generic.

Their actual process differs meaningfully from the Kiva model, however.  You make a loan, and once that loan's paid back, you can "redirect" it to another project.  You maintain this control over the money for three cycles, after which it disappears into the slavering maw of operational expenses.  Once you send in the money, you're not getting it back.  You do get to write it off on your taxes, though.

So . . . I don't know about this one.  Unless you're really eager to help out in China specifically, I don't see how Wokai's a better choice than any of your other alternatives.

One other thing I'm wondering about (and I took only a cursory look at the site, so maybe I missed it): what is this organization's relationship with the Chinese government?  They can't be doing this without official approval, and I gather that the central authorities are a bit touchy when it comes to the plight of their countryside.  We've all seen the travails Google's gone through in their dealings with the regime, and even the Ultimate Fighting Championship is skittish about it.  I'd be interested to hear how Wokai is dealing with that obstacle.

United Prosperity

Man, these organizations - collectively known as The Kivaesque - are popping up like mushrooms after a spring rain.  Except these are special mushrooms that have innovative solutions to the problems of the developing world.

Last time, it was Vittana, which is like Kiva but for education (and my man Jose Maria Muños Vera still needs $170, by the way).  Today we have United Prosperity (hat-tip to Triplepundit), which is like Kiva but more . . . I don't know, financey.

Green logo with a plant in it?  Check!

Basically, the way the thing works is you put up some money to guarantee a loan from a bank - your loan serves as collateral.  Once a certain amount of money is put up, a bank sends the recipient a loan that's bigger than the collateral.  On this one, for example, if United Prosperity can guarantee $508, a bank will lend $924.  If all goes well, all involved get their money back.  If the recipient can't pay back, you're out of luck.

Maybe they can explain it better than I can.

I haven't signed up for this one - don't want to spread myself too thin.  But if you do, let me know how it goes.

Vittana

You know what they say: Failure is an orphan, but success has a million websites that look just like it.

The Kiva model has been adopted lock, stock, and leaf-bearing logo by an outfit called Vittana (hat-tip to TechCrunch).  It's exactly the same thing, except that instead of helping various categories of entrepreneur, it helps students.

It's actually kind of disorienting - you really need to concentrate to make sure you're on the site you think you're on.  Observe:

• Kiva has a green color scheme.  Vittana has a slightly darker green color scheme.
• Kiva has a branch and leaves cleverly arranged to make the K in its logo.  Vittana has a couple leaves somewhat less artfully dotting the I.
• They both have a one-word name that means something important in a foreign language.  Kiva is Swahili for "unity."  Vittana means "seed" (I don't know in what language - they say it's "Indian."  India's as big as the world, so that seems kind of vague).  If I ever start one of these things, I'm going to call it "Crapula."  It'll lend booze money to indigent college students.  Together we can really make a difference.
• The format and guarantees are the same.  $25 default loan amount, assurance that every dime goes to the recipient and not the organization, PayPal; the whole megillah.

It's probably a great idea, and the more the Kiva model catches on, the better.  It's easy to use and satisfying in a number of ways.  It would seem that the repayment timelines are a little more elongated out of necessity, but who doesn't like education?  Nobody, that's who.

So here goes twenty-five bucks to Jose Maria Muños Vera, a Paraguayan going to school in order to be a teacher.  Why this guy?  I like teachers and I like Paraguay, but that's got very little to do with it.  Check out that shirt!

 

Maryland Orioles! I love those guys!  Is this a bizarre knock-off of a major league shirt, or is Mr. Teacher Muños a fan of the Cal Ripken Sr. Summer Collegiate Baseball League?  Either way, that's right in my wheelhouse, so he gets the loan.

At the time of this writing, he still needs 230 clams, and Vittana is still pretty obscure, so these loans don't fill up real fast.  If you're fan of education and possibly imaginary baseball teams, think about helping him out.