We at Kiva have been so humbled by the community's response to our Free Trial Loan program!
Just Monday morning, we asked our members to spread the word about microlending. So many of you did just that, and a huge number of invites were sent over email, Facebook and Twitter. In less than a day, 4,000 free trial loans were made by new members on Kiva!
We were blown away by such an incredible response, and amazed by how quickly all the free trials disappeared. We doubled the number of free trial loans to try and keep up, but the new trial loans disappeared even more quickly!
This has been one of the most successful campaigns in our history, and one that speaks directly to our mission: to connect people, through lending, to alleviate poverty. As a direct result of the Free Trial Loan program, we were able to connect an additional 8,000 new lenders to our borrowers. And best of all, the actual cost to Kiva of this program is very low, because as the loans are paid back, any repayments from the free trial loan go back to Kiva, not to the free trial lender.
As we review the Free Trial Loans program, a couple of facts jump out:
* It took less than 26 hours for 8k new lenders to claim their free trial loans.
* Thousands of borrowers around the world were reached by this campaign, and they received nearly $200,000 worth of free trial loans.
* 500 or so of our new free trial lenders also invited others to join them in microlending on Kiva.
We are so amazed and humbled at the outpouring of support and lending we've seen over the past few days. On behalf of the borrowers we serve around the world, Kiva would like to reiterate our deep thanks and gratitude to everyone who participated in this campaign!
While free trials have run out, the promotion is still going and you can still invite others to join Kiva and start lending here. As a thank you, we've printed a few limited edition Kiva t-shirts and fleeces. If five of your friends become lenders by August 13, we'll send you a tee (and if twenty friends become lenders, we'll send you a fleece).
It's just one small way that we can thank you for affirming our faith in humanity. We're almost at one million lenders, and there is no limit to what we can do when we join forces to try and alleviate poverty. Thank you all for everything you do for Kiva and its borrowers, each and every day!
Thanks,
Matt
