Kiva.org (2016) is one of the best know microloan charities. The concept is simple. Instead of giving people food or money, Kiva lends business people, mostly women run businesses, loans to start and find their businesses activities.

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We envision a world where all people hold the power to create opportunity for themselves and others.

Kiva is an international nonprofit, founded in 2005 and based in San Francisco, with a mission to connect people through lending to alleviate poverty. We celebrate and support people looking to create a better future for themselves, their families and their communities

Kiva has a 97.1% repayment rate. They credit this to the effectiveness of their model, where individual lenders choose pre-screened borrowers and make small ($25) loans. The small size of the loans and the ability to spread loans to many businesses lowers the lender's risk. The borrowers make sure to repay their loans in order to maintain their reputation.

Peer to peer lending/investing was once very popular. Members of the community would put money into a common fund and lend it to people who had a need.  

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Have you come across any other example of Peer to peer lending/financing?

How could you use this model to support your business?

What do you know of other cooperative arrangements?