In the spirit of the season
In the spirit of the season, I wanted to share a remarkable story of generosity from IONS member Shana Chrystie, a Vice President of Operations at the travel company Geographic Expeditions. In December of 2007, Shana listened three times to a Shift in Action teleseminar with Jessica Flannery, the co-founder of Kiva.org.
Kiva.org builds a personal bridge of connection to entrepreneurs in countries such as Thailand or Uzbekistan, with lenders offering them a few hundred dollars to start small businesses. From this simple concept, Kiva has grown into an organization that has brokered $52M in loans from 383,000 lenders to 75,000 entrepreneurs in 42 developing countries.
This year at Christmas, Shana convinced her company to skip the usual designer chocolates holiday package to their top clients and instead to offer the “gift of giving” with $100 gifts to Kiva in each of their clients' names. Clients then could make a microloan to an entrepreneur of their choice in the developing world: a goat herder in Tajikistan, a seamstress in Uganda, a weaver in Bolivia – whoever inspires them the most. The effect was truly remarkable.
Shana writes that, “We have never before had such heartwarming responses to our holiday gifts! One couple had never heard of Kiva before, but upon investigation, were so impressed that they switched some of their holiday gifts for friends and family over to Kiva gift certificates. Another expressed his hope that he could take his family to visit his loan recipient. More than one said that our gift was one of the ‘best ideas of the season.’ And for our staff & management, giving this gift has been one of our most deeply gratifying experience”.
The ripple effect of this kind of philanthropy is remarkable. Let's imagine that Geographic Expeditions' holiday gifts were used for loans to 100 different entrepreneurs in the first year. As each of those entrepreneurs pulls themselves out of poverty, they likely lift their families with them, which may be four or five people. As the network of entrepreneurism grows in their village or community, there are further positive effects on the local economy. So let's say the first round of micro-loans directly benefits 500 people. As the loans are repaid, often within a year, the money can be reloaned, such that over ten years, the original gift might support 5000 people. That's a remarkable effect.
Perhaps more importantly, by pioneering a new kind of corporate giving, Geographic Expeditions is inspiring their clients to join in, and other companies may well follow suit. One person's idea may thus have a positive effect on tens of thousands of people in the coming decade! And the great beauty is that people in the developing world are not just receiving charity but being empowered to be more self-reliant and self-sufficient, which is far more effective long-term. The extraordinary part of this story is that the Kiva loans were actually less expensive than the previous year's holiday packages, which meant Geographic Expeditions saved money while creating a wave of goodwill.
That’s the kind of innovative holiday generosity that can truly change the world. Many thanks to Shana and Geographic Expeditions, as well as Kiva.org for creating their wonderful program.
Stephen Dinan
iShift Editor
