By now you may have gotten an email from Matt with the great news -- thanks to your nominations, Kiva has been voted into the Top 25 in the American Express Members Project online competition!
Chosen out of 1,190 projects, Kiva's entry, Loans that Change Lives, is now eligible to win the grand prize of $1.5 million in funding. As you can imagine, this is a huge sum for a non-profit like Kiva! The project with the most votes receives $1.5 million, 2nd receives $500,000, 3rd $300,000, and 4th and 5th $100,000. The grand prize would enable Kiva to reach an additional 60,000 developing world entrepreneurs around the globe.
Now we need your help to move Kiva to the final round!
If you haven't already, here's what you can do to help:
- American Express Cardmembers, vote today. Voting is easy and it doesn't cost a thing. Click here to vote.
- If you're not a Cardmember, getting the word out to your networks makes a huge difference. Click here to promote Kiva's project to your networks of family, friends, co-workers, and alumni groups.
- Facebook Users, click here to add the Kiva Video Application (seen below).
- If you are not a Facebook User, you can still share the Kiva Video Application (seen below). Watch it, click on 'Share' on the top of the video, and follow the instructions.
$1 donated to Kiva's Operational Expenses has led to $8 in loans. If Kiva wins $1.5 million, this could help facilitate $12 million of additional loans to 24,000 entrepreneurs. The beauty of the Kiva model is that when an entrepreneur repays his/her loan, the lender can re-invest it, which happens 60% of the time. Over the next 10 years, your vote for Kiva could help generate $30 million dollars in loans to 60,000 developing world entrepreneurs around the globe.
This round of voting is open until September 29th. If we can mobilize to vote with the same energy and determination that we've shown in fighting poverty, I'm confident that we can move Kiva to the final round!
