It’s time for another great SeaMO event for all you folks in Seattle.  SeaMO is hosting an August Microfinance & Microbrews featuring entrepreneurs from Washington CASH:

When: August 12 · 6:00pm – 8:00pm
Where: Ventures, 314 1st Avenue South (in Seattle’s Pioneer Square), Seattle, WA
Price: A suggested $5 donation
About: It is rare to have the opportunity to meet the people, who microfinance has helped. Usually they are only a distant face in a foreign country or a profile on a web site or on a microfinance organization’s brochure, but microfinance helps people locally here in Washington state. Join us for this rare opportunity to meet local micro-entrepreneurs, who have been lifted out of poverty. Come listen to the first-count stories from …Washington CASH’s clients/micro-entrepreneurs at Ventures, a Washington CASH retail store and business incubator, which displays and sells the products and services of dozens of talented and determined micro-entrepreneurs. Microbrews and light appetizers will be provided.

Head over to seaMO to find out more.

I’m sure everybody knows about the major earthquake that has devastated Haiti, killing thousands of people. Over the last week I have seen support coming from all angles, from mainstream sites like Facebook, BBC, CNN, celebrities like Ben Stiller donating through their charities, to major non-profits in the area like Yele Haiti and the Red Cross.  It is great to see so many different companies and organizations contributing to help the cause.  Although the earthquake was major, it was only a little bigger than earthquakes in the US, but caused an expontentially higher amount of damange and casualties.  I think this earthquake opened peoples’ eyes about the impact that natural disasters can have on developing countries.  Similar to the Tsunami in Thailand earlier this decade, people have joined from all over to help donate money.  Although a lot of the rebuilding will be coming from the donations that people will be making, one of the next steps will be for people in Haiti to help themselves rebuild.  I think there will be a big microfinance push as things start to get cleared up in Haiti.  With all of the relief organizations helping out, it’s only a matter of time that microfinance will take over.  In the last week alone, there have been a lot of microfinance organizations that have been helping the cause.  I decided that I would share some of the ones I have heard about.

-Alex Counts from the Grameen Foundation talks about the next step to help Haiti rebuild:

-Kiva’s field partner Esperanza wrote an update:

On Wednesday,20 January, at 6:00AM a 6.1 magnitude aftershock struck Haiti (with an epicenter approximately 35 miles north of the capital, Port-au-Prince). This is the largest aftershock yet and it comes just eight days after the tragic 7.1 magnitude earthquake hit the capital. As a result of the aftershock, many unstable buildings collapsed; however, we are fortunate they were empty as many survivors of the original quake have been sleeping on the streets. We ask for continued prayers and support for the people of Haiti.
In light of this disaster, Esperanza is partnering with various doctors and medical volunteers in the towns of Elias Pina and Jimani, located on the border with Haiti. Loads of water, food, personal hygiene items and medicines have been shipped to these areas. We are also working with our already established network of pastors and church leaders who are currently preparing sites in Port-au-Prince to receive aid directly into the country.
As the situation in Haiti becomes dire, we are still in need of cash donations from our partners abroad. Monetary gifts of $40 to Esperanza´s Disaster Relief initiatives will provide a family with its basic necessities (food, bottled water, healthcare kits, etc.). For more information on how to help, please contact the Esperanza Disaster Response Group at disasterresponse@esperanza.org

-Fonkoze, an MFI in Haiti, has an Earthquake News and Updates page that they are updating with information from the ground as well as some photos that their staff have taken.  Whole Foods has donated 1 million dollars to Fonkoze to help out the microfinance effort on the ground.

-In addition to MFIs and other non-profits helping the efforts, there are also local microfinance networks such as SeaMO, Seattle Greendrinks, Global Washington and Re-Vision Labs who are putting on an event here in Seattle to help raise funds and awareness about what is going on in Haiti.
You can RSVP for Washington for Haiti: A benefit to aid the relief efforts of Fonkoze on their facebook event page

This month, SeaMo (Cosponsored by the UW Global Business Center) is throwing another one of their great microfinance networking events, Microfinance & Microbrews.  This month, Kushal Chakrabarti will be speaking about Vittana.  Here’s some more details about the event:

What: VITTANA, a new Seattle based microfinance organization pioneering education loans in developing countries
When: Wednesday Nov. 18th – Doors open at 5:30pm, presentation begins at 6:15pm
Where: Spitfire 2219 4th Ave, Seattle WA
Who:You and other professionals, students and community members learning about Vittana.org directly from co-founder Kushal Chakrabarti Named a Gamechanger for Philanthropy by the Huffington Post
Why: We know the value of microfinance loans to support adults launching small businesses, but what about giving young people a way to fund their secondary and college educations? Vittana.org is doing just that – going directly to students with loans from us to fund knowledge development around the world.

I saw this in the SeaMo monthly newsletter (mailing list here), Microfinance for Institutional Investors is having a Microfinance conference in Washington DC that will bring together a panel of 50 experts from leading microfinance and financial organisations. Get more details here.

Kiva rocked the microfinance world today by announcing on Good Morning America this morning (RyanC, thanks for the heads up on Twitter) that they have now opened up loans to the US as well.  There has been quite the press on this issue this morning already, I’m sure it will get more attention as the day goes on.  There have been positive and negative comments surrounding this announcement.  Some people like the fact that microfinance is making a bigger push here in the US, while others think that the focus should be more on third world countries where capital is harder to raise.
Here are some of the recent comments this morning from people here in Seattle on the SeaMo Team on Kiva:

“While I do not necessarily agree with lending to US entrepreneurs (although many such people in the US face redlining/discriminatory practices when attempting to borrow), none of us is required to lend to these people and can continue to lend outside the US if that is our preference. I suggest that we refrain from inferring that people are rich just because they live here and refrain from inflammatory statements.”

“Kiva has started to lend to US entrepreneurs in 2009. These US entrepreneurs might have more money than most Kiva lenders do. Why don’t these US entrepreneurs use their own savings or get a loan from the bank to start their businesses. Why US entrepreneurs shift the risks to Kiva lenders and getting interest free loans from Kiva lenders for their personal benefits? The altruistic meaning of helping the poor is lost. If lending to US entrepreneurs is for business reasons, then Kiva.org should require these rich US entrepreneurs to pay interest and share a percentage of the interest return to Kiva lender so both Kiva.org, Kiva lenders, and US entrepreneurs or First World entrepreneurs can benefit from this. To sum it up in one sentence, Kiva Lenders should ask Kiva.org to demand interest payment from these First World Rich Borrowers who might have higher networth than their Kiva lenders. Please message Kiva.org and spread the words if you agree.”

“I agree with ####. I am also disappointed in Kiva’s decision. Sources for funding businesses in the US are vastly more available than in undeveloped countries. Kiva is diverting financial assistance from those who need it most and have the least access to it. Bad idea, in my opinion.”

“Of course is it for altruistic reasons #####. But did you know that Kiva is starting to lend to US entrepreneurs who are looking for interest free money to start their businesses? These US entrepreneurs might have more money than most of us but still asking for free loans on Kiva rather than using their own saving or going to the banks. The meaning of helping the poor is lose and there are many people lending to these US entrepreneurs for free or no knowthing that they won’t get interest. Kiva should at least require interest payment from these rich borrowers and share some percentage of the interest to the lenders.”

“I do not agree with you. We are in this, not for the money, but out of altruistic reasons. Since the money is disbursed immediately and is not earning interest, out of what funds do you think Kiva should pay us interest? Any funds should go to finding more people in need and training field staff.”

“I think Kiva should consider giving lenders some interest payment for doing good and lending to there people. what do you guys/gals think?”

“I just went and checked out the US listings on Kiva (see my note below for my initial reaction). Now I am even more outraged after reading the following:
For 15 years, Mark worked in architecture offices as a graphic designer, producing websites and scale images of architecture projects. He liked the work, but the jobs were inconsistent and had long dry spells that were difficult to manage. Mark knew that he could do it better as his own boss, so in late 2008 he decided to start his company, Urban Digital.
Urban Digital specializes in marketing and visual tools for builders and architect engineers. With a degree in architecture and many years of experience, Mark is an expert at producing technical images, websites, marketing kiosks and other materials that architects need. But getting started is hard, especially given the high upfront cost of all the hardware and technical software he needs to complete the projects he is pitching to clients. With a $7,000 loan from Opportunity Fund, Mark will be able to make these purchases and truly get his business up to speed.
Mark is saving money right now by running the business out of his home, but his goal is to bring in enough clients that he can hire employees and establish a real office.
Visit: www.urbandigitalworks.com
Excuse my French here, but holy crap, what are you thinking and what have you done?? THIS guy is in need of $7000 more than, say 7 truly destitute families in Africa????
Yes I can still choose to loan to any country I want, but the OTHER folks who contribute to the US borrowers are taking (perhaps literally) food from the mouths of babes to give it to the rich. THIS guy has a MILLION other avenues to get where he wants; a family in Africa is desperate.
I am totally ASHAMED of Kiva’s decision on this matter and outraged you didn’t think it through farther. I urge you to ABANDON this program immediately.”

“Hi fellow Seattleites,

Kiva announced today on Good Morning America, BBC, NPR and other major media outlets that it will be facilitating loans to US entrepreneurs. The first set of loans are now available on the site, so it is a great time to invite additional friends and family to the site, or to use up those repaid loan funds.Thanks to everybody for helping our team to reach $25,000 in loans. Let’s see if we can catch the Atlanta lending team, which has made almost $50,000 in loans. We can do it!
Ryan
Seattle Team Captain”

Personally, I like this idea that Kiva had.  People are not forced to donate to the US companies.  If you are opposed to giving to a US borrower, then don’t.  You can always choose one of the many thrid world countries that Kiva allows lenders to donate to.  I think that by opening Kiva up to the US,  more first time lenders will be attracted to the cause.  Many people do not know what is going on in different countries, and are hestitant to donate to causes they don’t know about.  By having microfinance be local,  it allows lenders to donate to borrowers who are closer to their community.

Could just be my outlook on things, anybody else have any thoughts?  Please share.

Our friends at SeaMo are throwing another great Microfinance and Microbrews event this month with Unitus.  Ed Bland, the President of Unitus, as well as members of the senior management and board, will be there for an evening of networking and an update on their expansion into East Africa.  Unfortunately I missed the last Microfinance and Microbrews event, but the two before that were really fun and were a great networking event for anybody wanting to learn more about microfinance.  If you are in the Seattle area, I definitely recommend checking it out.

Date: June 25

Time: Doors open at 5:30pm, presentation begins at 6:15

Location: Spitfire 2219 4th Ave

RSVP: Facebook Event page or by email

Suggested Donation of $5

With the current global economic crisis going on, people are asking many questions about how microfinance will handle the situation, and to what degree MFIs will be affected. As I was thinking about this, I asked myself “am I making the right decisions when I lend?”  I am always interested in learning about new lending platforms and usually just give each one of them a fair trial and then determine which ones I like based on user experience.  I realized that most of my decisions on who to lend to are based on how easy it is to lend and how intrigued I am by the entrepreneurs story.  However, although this makes things fun for me, it is not always the most effective solution.  To piggyback on Drew’s post discussing interest rates,  I have found some interesting posts that lenders can consider when making decisions:

-Ryan Calkins, over at SeaMo, recently made a post entitled “Nine Questions to Ask Every Microfinance Institution” which discusses some questions that the Grameen Bank has come up with to determine which MFIs are good investments.

-David Roodman discusses interests rates and lending in his blog post “When is lending just?”