Wednesday Website of the Week: kiva.org
Wednesday, December 2, 2009 at 6:33AM 
(In keeping with the spirit of the holidays we're dedicating our weekly WWW to great sites/causes for the month of December.)
Did you ever need to borrow 25 bucks? Now imagine that borrowing that money meant life or death for your business, or maybe even your way of life. Kiva.org is a microloan organization, that bundles small loans from multiple individuals into slightly larger loans for entrepreneurs in developing nations. This is a loan though, not a handout, so once the loan is repaid (generally 9-12 months) the money you contributed goes back into your kiva account where you can withdraw it, or fund another small business.
We've started a tradition of giving a kiva gift certificate to a family member at the holidays so they can participate and help others while enjoying everything we're thankful for.