Kiva works to qualify and monitor microfinance institutions (”Field Partners”) around the world. Then, these Field Partners post profiles of qualified local entrepreneurs on the Kiva website. Then, individual lenders (like you and I) can read through the profiles of business opportunities and decide which we would like to fund. Individual lenders can contribute just a few dollars, or the entire amount needed. Many requested loans are for just a few hundred dollars.

Once the needed capital is raised, Kiva sends the funds to the Field Partner, which distributes and administers the funds. The local entrepreneur then uses the funds to start or improve a business, or in some cases to improve living conditions. The borrower is supported by the Field Partner and often by a borrowing support group in the local community. Here are some examples of lending opportunities on Kiva:

• Help a fisherman buy a refrigerator in Azerbaijan.
• Improve a restaurant in Pakistan.
• Increase inventory in a spare parts stand in Ghana.
• Increase inventory for a timber business in Tanzania.
• Buy farming equipment and supplies in Samoa.

During the course of the loan, which usually lasts 6-8 months, the lender can receive journal updates and track repayments. Eventually, as the borrower repays the Field Partner, those funds are then returned to Kiva. Kiva claims that its borrowers have a historical repayment rate of 99.7%. Once the loan is fully repaid, the lender can elect to withdraw the funds, or to re-invest the funds in another lending opportunity. Lenders can choose to invest smaller amounts in a larger number of lending opportunities, and keep a portfolio of loans in which they are participating.

Field Partners do charge an interest rate to the borrowers, but Kiva will not work with organizations that charge too high of a rate. Kiva lenders do not receive interest because of U.S. government regulation. However, PayPal waives all transaction fees, so 100% of the funds loaned reach the entrepreneurs in developing countries.

According to Kiva, as of April 13, 2008, 40,577 loans totaling $27,502,710 have been made by 277,535 lenders through Kiva with an average loan size is $520.20.

I believe that most people who learn about Kiva are moved to help. So, what can we do to help? We can obviously choose to start lending, even if it is a very small amount. We can give Kiva gift certificates for birthdays and holiday gifts. Families could save their change, and together select the people to receiver their loans. We can also ask that others make contributions to our Kiva account for their gifts to us. I would LOVE to receive a Kiva contribution as a gift, because it would be far more meaningful to me than traditional gifts.

In addition to Kiva, eBay also operates a similar project, MicroPlace.

During the early days of Adoption.com when money was very tight we were very creative in our methods of generating income to fund the core business we were building. We “boot strapped” our financing at one point by registering domain names for which we had no ability to pay, and then we worked to sell them before Network Solutions dropped them for non-payment.

Even though domainers have been actively buying or selling domain names for more than a decade, this is still a relatively new industry and business practice in terms of IRS standards. As such, very few specific rules have been established by the IRS regarding domain name taxation issues such as appropriate recovery periods for depreciation, and donations of domain names to charity.

Through the years I have been unable to find an accountant with a strong knowledge of domain name issues, and as such we have traditionally treated domain names like trademarks, for tax purposes. However, domain names are not trademarks, and their business purpose is much more like a business asset than a trademark.

This week I was referred by Andrew Allemann of Domain Name Wire to Susan Brooks, an accountant who specializes in domain name taxation issues. Susan used to work at Ernst & Young, one of the Big 4 international CPA firms. Since then, Ms. Brooks has worked as the Chief Financial Officer and a Board Member of several corporations in the Internet and service industries. She has run her own tax practice for nine years and has been in the domaining business since 1998. Susan has a website at DomainTaxGuide.com where she sells an 85-page book she wrote about domain name tax issues.

This week I purchased and read her guide and was very happy to find an accountant who has thoroughly researched and thought through the unique issues faced by domainers. I was even happier to find answers to questions which we have been asking for almost a decade.