A few months ago, I read about a website Kiva.org where people can supply “micro loans” to small business owners in small/developing countries.  Micro loans are basically small loans, done person-to-person or “multi-person”-to-person (which is the case with Kiva).  With Kiva, the company uses contractors who look into the business owner to see how viable their business is and how financially responsible they’ve been in the past.  They have something like a 98% successful loan repayment rate because of the up-front research.  So, with all the information at hand, I went and found some business owners and issued my first two loans of $25 each - one to an electrician in Kenya and the other to a soft drink vendor looking to open a grocery store in Cambodia.  I’ve been notified several times that each of them are doing well and repaying their loan on schedule.  Yippe!

 Today, I got an email from them, their Holiday Newsletter.  The very first sentence was:

 You’re receiving this email because of your relationship with Kiva.org. Please take a minute to confirm [confirm was a link] your continued interest in receiving email from us.

Whoa, asked to confirm that you want to continue getting email?  Not having to tell them to bugger off, but instead “here is one, confirm you want more”?  Wow, that’s what I’m talking about! 

I heart Kiva.  It’s really great stuff, not only a great cause, but well done website development and design.  Hooray for them, please go make a loan if you are in the sharing mood!