SquidKiva - A Kiva Community for Squidoo Lensmasters

SquidKiva is a Kiva Community of members from the Squidoo community. Kiva facilitates micro-loans to individuals worldwide that would otherwise not be afforded the opportunity to open or expand their small business.

All squidoo lensmasters are welcome to join the group and collectively we can help others worldwide by making micro-loans to those who want a chance to better themselves. Together we can make a world of difference.

NOTE: Our lending team makes loans, not donations. When the borrower pays it back, you get it back - to keep or loan again. Kiva is a non-profit, though, with overhead so donations are also accepted. Donations are not included in our lending team totals, but feel free to give.

SquidKiva is a Lending Team at kiva.org where Squidoo Lensmasters can collectively help many people worldwide by each contributing small amounts of money in the for of micro-loans.

SquidKiva is a collaborative effort open to all Squidoo Lensmasters. Joining our lending team is very simple, and in doing so we can communicate, collectively track our contributions, and better promote kiva and their cause.

Q. How do I join SquidKiva?

A. Visit our SquidKiva Lending Team page, and click on "Join Now" in the green box on the right. If you don't already have an account, you will need to open one (it's free).

Q. How do know which borrower to choose?

A. It is entirely your choice. Browse through the lists of borrowers currently in the fundraising stage. You can also browse the list of borrowers that other members of the SquidKiva Lending Team have recently loaned to.

Q. I found the borrower(s) that I would like to loan to. How do I assign my loan to the SquidKiva Lending Team?

A. On the borrower's page, click the "Make a Loan" button. You will be directed to your basket. On the right you will see a drop down menu under "Count Towards Team". Set this to SquidKiva, and then click either Continue, or Add More Loans.

Map of SquidKiva Loans

So far, SquidKiva loans have gone to people in Africa, Asia, South America, the Middle East, and North America. This world map shows the countries of Kiva borrowers who have benefited from loans made by SquidKiva members.

Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Benin, Bolivia, Cambodia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Ghana, Guatemala, Haiti, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Liberia, Mali, Mexico, Mongolia, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistan, Palestine, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Samoa, Senegal, Sierra Leonne, South Sudan, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Ukraine, USA, Vietnam

Where will you send YOUR loan?

Map Updated: 1/12/2010

(World Map Provided by 29travels.com)

Watch video clips of a few Kiva borrowers discussing their loans.

On November 4, 2009, lensmaster ComfortDoc won Lens of the Day in the Thanksgiving Charity Cookoff '09. Because she was donating the proceeds of that lens to kiva.org, the $1000 prize was donated to kiva. Great job, Kirsti. Thanks.

2009 - Thirty and Three Thousand

Squidoo began in December of 2008. At that time a vote was taken as to what our first goal would be - a New Years Resolution so to speak for upcoming the 2009 year. Our goal was high - "Fifty and Five Thousand" - meaning we hoped to have 50 members and $5000 lent in kiva loans by the end of 2009. Being such a new group, this was a very high goal. We ended the year with a total to be very proud of: "Thirty and Three Thousand". Our new little group of 30 members made $3000 in kiva loans!!! What a great job!

2010 - Sixty and Six Thousand

Our goal for 2010 was simply "Sixty and Six Thousand". We wanted to have 60 members by the end of 2010, and have our Kiva Team lending total reach $6000. We were successful! We ended 2010 with 67 members and a team lending total of $7050! A big thanks goes out to in part to Ener-G whose challenge propelled SquidKiva forward in both loans and members.

2011 - 11K in '11

For 2011, we worked toward a goal of raising our team lending total to $11,000!, which was nearly $4000 as a group over the year. On December 31, 2011, we had actually reached $11,975, surpassing our goal! We started 2011 with 67 members, and set a high goal of 100 members by the end of the year. We ended the year with 82 members, which I still think is pretty great.

2012 - We Hit $20K!

For 2011, we set our goal high, hoping to reach $18,000 total lent to date. We blew past it and ended the year at $20,125! We finished out the year as a group of 108 members!

2013 - We set our goal for $30K!!!! Go team!

For 2013, we will try to raise membership to 120. That's one new member each month.

Help us choose a lending goal for 2013.

Last year we set our goal at about $6000 lent that year, and we ended up lending about $8000. We have lent $20,125 since we started. (See our team goal history.)