microfinance

Kiva is a not-for-profit facilitator that links people with microfinance lenders to help alleviate poverty in many parts of the world .  Here's a short video about microfinance produced by Kiva. 


And there's a bit more detail here http://www.kiva.org/about/microfinance

This type of lending is not tax deductible in Australia - it's a loan.

Here's how I approached my Kiva lending. I figured I'm not going to miss $10 a handful of times a year.  So, I made my initial loan of $25 (US) to a borrower and when $15 had been paid back I topped it up with another $10 and made my next loan.  I then had two loans chipping away at repayments.  When another $15 (total) had been repayed I topped it up again, but this time I added a small donation  of about $3 to Kiva to help them with their work.  Each time about $15 is paid back I top it up and relend it.  As far as I'm concerned this money is a donation - I have no intention of withdrawing it and it will keep going around in the microlending culture and continue to assist those who need it.  I'll keep reassessing my lending structure from time to time, and tweak it as I can manage.

Just a couple of things to keep in mind if you decide to help through Kiva:

• Check the repayment terms.  Some loans are paid back bit by bit each month; others are paid back in full at the end of the loan term.  The cash flow of my structure works when loans are paid back bit by bit each month.  Having said that, the more loans I have going means I can help to fund end of term repayment loans too.  Just worth keeping in mind if you're relying on the return of the money to fund your next loan.
• When you make a loan and go to the checkout, check the options for donating to Kiva. For a while it was defaulting to a $3.75 loan and you had to uncheck the option.  It may have changed, and I had trouble donating another time.
• Yes, interest rates can appear excessively high, but details of how this works is explained well here.  It's nowhere near as bad as it is made out to be, and in fact, works successfully.

Fair Trade

I remember being struck by whole towns and cities in the UK and Europe declaring themselves as Fair Trade, with plenty of publicity. I don't think it was that long ago when Fair Trade was unpublicised and more expensive in Australia. Is that still the case? Are there any cities or towns in Australia that have taken a public Fair Trade stance?

Enfield Community Food Centre

I wanted to pick up my 2011/2012 Entertainment Book this week and it reminded me that I could share the work of the Enfield Community Food Centre, where I got my Entertainment Book this year. They provide low cost groceries for people who struggle to afford them. The Centre needs financial support and a lot of the Centre's work is done by volunteers. The ECFC recently relocated from Enfield to Gepps Cross which has cost them a lot. I visited the centre just before they moved, and it's an amazing place, run by extraordinary people for extraordinary people.

food rescue

While I was waiting for the bus a couple of days ago I was reminded of OzHarvest when I saw one of their zippy vans scooting down North Terrace, Adelaide.  I'm thrilled they're in Adelaide now, and think OzHarvest food rescue an inspired initiative by Ronni Kahn.  OzHarvest collects excess food that would be discarded, but is still ok, and distributes it to those who need it.  It's worth reading some of the Food Waste Statistics here.
There are many ways of helping OzHarvest: volunteering, donating food if you have a business with excess, or donating money to assist with the running of the organisation.

casual day: April

It's amazing what happens when you fling open the doors.  We've decided that April's Casual Day funds will go to Australind Children's Fund, who provide aid to orphan, destitute, homeless, abandoned, physically and mentally handicaped children and young people in overseas countries as well as indigenous young people of Australia and New Zealand.

How to start?

I don't have a specific organisation for this first post. Yet. It will come.  Last week my small office decided it was time to instigate 'casual day'.  And, like some other offices who have instituted similar days, we decided that with it we would have a minimum gold coin donation on that day as well (which just happens to be pay day).  With at least two 'casual days'/month we should have $20+ to donate each month.  It's small, I know.  But, it's money that we won't miss at the same time as it is appreciated by someone else.

Stay tuned in the next day or so if you want to know the cause of choice.