Those who did Kiva (or similar microlending)

[dr.girlfriend]

I remember a bunch of MMers were doing this a few years ago. How did it work out?

[sometimesrunner]

I lent $50 and never saw a dime.

[gmail]

So that means your person never paid it back, right?

[emilyinchile]

I'm on my third loan with the same $25 I originally put in about a year ago. The first two were paid back in full, and the third is in the process of being paid back on time.

[SJ]

My Kiva loans have been paid back and I have re-lent the money over and over.

Kiva does not directly lend all of the money- they work with partner organizations on the ground. Personally, we contribute the bulk of our funds to one of those organizations (Opportunity International) and our donations are tax-deductible while last time I checked loans made through Kiva are not (since technically you can withdraw your funds when the loans are repaid)

[Deleted]

I've lent out a ton of loans over the years and I've always been paid back.

[ladygrey]

All my loans have been paid back and I keep re-lending the same money.

[Deleted]

We've had one default in about 100 loans (we've had the same $300 or so cycling through for about 5 years).

[lindyanne]

I bought a few groupons and added in some extra money with those and have always been paid back on time and relent. Good experience.

As a follow up bc I haven't paid much attention other than relending when my balance is up - is there any follow up stories on who you've lent to available?

[rubytue]

My kiva loans have always been paid back. I've also given a few gift loans, and it let's you see what those ppl do. They have keep lending, which I assume is the same money I gave them.

[lys]

All was repaid and I re-invested the repayment for other loans in the program. (Kiva)

[sporky]

I just lent for the first time in August. It's in the process of being paid back now. So far, she's paid back almost half. I've been pretty impressed with that timeline!