Good morning,
In 2012 a movement was started called GivingTuesday. To quote directly from the GivingTuesday website:
GivingTuesday is a global generosity movement unleashing the power of radical generosity. GivingTuesday was created in 2012 as a simple idea: a day that encourages people to do good. Since then, it has grown into a year-round global movement that inspires hundreds of millions of people to give, collaborate, and celebrate generosity.
The way that I like to celebrate GivingTuesday is to offer you the chance to do some good in the world AND get the opportunity to do some good for yourself as well.
Here's how it works...
One of my favorite organizations to support is Kiva. Kiva grants micro-loans to people running small businesses who would not qualify for regular financing from traditional banks.
In
many cases, a loan of a few hundred dollars can make a world of difference to a family. One of the very first Kiva case studies I read was about a family who for just $87 were able to buy a piece of equipment that allowed them to irrigate their land more effectively. That equipment meant that they were able to farm all of their land, instead of just a fifth.
But the difference was much bigger than that. Because they could now grow a lot more, they were able to feed themselves and have excess crops to sell. AND because they had crops to sell, they could hire farmhands, which meant the children of the family could go to school instead of having to work the land.
For only $87 the family's fortunes changed for generations!
The part I love most about Kiva is that these are not donations, but loans. So as the small business owner is successful, the loans are repaid, which in turn means the money can be loaned out again to help another small business.
Here is what that looks like in action in the Tapping Q & A Kiva account:
