Kiva Reviews

I've always been a big believer in the charitable philosophy of a "hand up" rather than a "hand out." I've also been impressed with the concept of microcredit--small loans to individuals so that they can become self-sufficient through their own business endeavors. Kiva encapsulates both these concepts in its platform. Plus Kiva in my mind maximizes the efficiency of charitable lending. The most bang for the lent dollar. Kiva allows the lender to customize their loan portfolio to match their interests: country, gender, type of business, environmental concerns, etc. It is by far my favorite cause!

Date of experience: July 12, 2024

I've participate in more than 2,700 loans over the last eight or nine years. KIVA is an incredibly effective tool for helping others. My wife and I visited an NGO in the Philippines a number of years ago that we support via KIVA. We met with the CEO and their business development person. It was an eye opener. Keep up the great work - we are big fans of KIVA,

Date of experience: July 12, 2024

If your inclined to help other people around the world with no interest loans KIVA’s network of financial partners are easy and quick to contact and they track and record all the loans by country.

Date of experience: July 12, 2024

I like that these small loans give people a chance to make their financial situation better. It allows my money to go further for more people.

Date of experience: July 12, 2024

I love making loans to KIVA. As a senior living on a pension, I do not have a lot of "disposable" income. The fact that I can loan as little as $25.00 and be part of a group who has helped a desperate person/family to start a business, maintain a current business, put a sanitary toilet in their home instead of an outhouse, pay for uniforms for their children so they can attend school, in some of the most desperately poor regions of the world, makes me feel like I CAN have some impact. $25.00 wouldn't make me bankrupt but it also wouldn't make me a millionaire if I held onto it. Those of us who were born in and grew up in the Western world have never had the hardships that these people have.

Date of experience: July 03, 2024

Love being able to pay it forward, to have money reinvested as it is reimbursed.

Date of experience: July 12, 2024

Simple and easy to lend and to choose the projects/borrowers you want to help!

Date of experience: July 12, 2024

The ability to help a lot or a little with feeling like I’m a part of someone journey and making a difference is what I love about Kiva. Paying it forward with Kivas help.

Date of experience: July 02, 2024

The site is pretty easy to use. I am a senior and not
at all tech savvy.
I like helping women.

Date of experience: July 12, 2024

We have been involved with Kiva for over 10 years now and what I love about it is that by depositing money with Kiva you are helping people who want to help themselves. I also like that you can direct your funds to borrowers whose values match your own and that as you are repaid you can relend the funds, over and over!

Date of experience: June 18, 2024

I saw an advert for Kiva on Black Friday , previously I didn't know it existed. I give to charity on a regular basis and I thought that my gift would just be another donation . I was stunned when the borrower started to pay me back. Which meant that I could re lend the same money over and over and help even more people.So I am helping people to help themselves!

Date of experience: June 15, 2024

This is such an ethical organization and what's great is that what you contribute is in the form of a loan so when it's repaid, you're able to offer that amount to another person. This is such a wonderful organization. If you want to do good in the world, I'd highly recommend you go to Kiva.

Date of experience: June 15, 2024

Kiva makes it very easy to impact the lives of meant people directly. The website is very easy to use. Over more than 12 years, I've never been mislead out had any technical or financial issues.

Date of experience: June 15, 2024

I started making microloans with Kiva in 2017. I've made 408 loans totaling $10,500. My losses have been just under $400. Each month I just relent what has been repaid to me. So I keep re-lending the same money over and over. You get to pick who you want to help. And my case I want to help women who in many cultures are marginalized and cannot get loans. This is just been a .

Date of experience: June 20, 2024

This organization helps to make a real difference in the world. They vet the people and projects that they fund, so one can be confident that funds are being put to good use.

Date of experience: June 15, 2024

It’s easy to check out people you’d like to lend to, plus you get updates on how your donation is being used.

Date of experience: March 26, 2024

Finding suitable borrowers to match my interests was fast and easy. $25 as the basic loan is the right amount - not too much for me to be reluctant to risk losing , and enough to quickly add up with other lenders’ loans to reach the borrower’s goal. This kind of person to person loan really helps people to help themselves.

Date of experience: February 14, 2024

You can loan small amount of money that can change the life of many people around the world. After a while, when you start receiving money back, it will cost you nothing to continue lending. It's great!!!

Date of experience: June 15, 2024

The steam room smelt and tasted like mould.
The cleanliness was pretty low, there was mould everywhere and no one showered in between sauna and cold pool etc.

Also, people did leave at the end of their hour session, so there were a lot of people in the sauna, it was over crowded.

I’ve been multiple times, and it’s often like this.

It could be so awesome, they just need to clean it to a much higher standard more regularly, and maintain a better time management system.

Date of experience: April 17, 2024

Kiva is a fantastic opportunity to help others around the world achieve their dreams. I can add my contribution to a loan financed by other supporters. The loans are made to individuals who would otherwise struggle to get the financial support they need for a project, business, improved lifestyle, etc. Best of all, once the loan is repaid, I reinvest the money by supporting another loan applicant. The Kiva website makes the whole process seamless, from choosing a loan to contributing to reinvesting as loans are paid off.

Date of experience: May 21, 2024