Don’t Buy Me A Beer, Use That Money For Something Else instead
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Well, I do drink beer sometimes but I can afford to buy my own, so instead of buying me a beer, why not take that money and lend it to an entrepreneur in the developing world? How does that sound?
Some time ago Tony Berkman from BlogCatalog started a massive blogging fundraising challenge to help DonorsChoose, a non-profit organization, to buy stuff for kids in school. So that got me thinking! Dave Olson told me about Kiva some time ago (a non-profit public benefit corporation), and seriously they rock, take a look at my Kiva page, you can see I helped an entrepreneur named Khat Ang who lives in Cambodia!
So why not start a massive bloggy fundraising challenge to help Kiva help other entrepreneurs?
We’re not all wealthy and rich, but I think one smart thing to do is to, at least, help others, it’s a start! With our time, our efforts, and our money. Check this out, to start a new business here (I’m in Montreal, Canada) how much money would I need, say to start a traditional brick and mortar business, a store or something? Probably quite a good amount of money. Well most entrepreneurs in the developing world need as little as $1000 and often way less than that. And actually it’s not donations, the entrepreneurs will have to pay back the loan! Talk about a nice way to help others. When a loan is paid in full, you take the money and lend it again to other entrepreneurs!
You can donate any amount (even just $5) directly through the Kiva “lend” page, or even buy gift certificates ($25 and up). (and it’s tax-deductible)
Also check out this video on the New York Times website. And this post is also being discussed on the BlogCatalog Discussion Board.
How Can You Make A Difference?
So, with all that said, I’d like to invite you (yep, you!) to join this fundraising challenge. Write about it on your blog, donate, link to my blog and to Kiva, invite your friends to donate. Hey in the end, when the loan is paid back, you can still get back your money! Best thing would be to lend it to another entrepreneur, but still it’s your money.
So, to get things started, I’m inviting Dave, Shane, Anthony, Dawud, Adam, RT Cunningham, Alex, Liz, Scott, David, Robin, and of course Tony. Well in fact, if you’re reading this, you can see this post as an invitation!:)
That’s it folks!
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40 Responses to “Don’t Buy Me A Beer, Use That Money For Something Else instead”
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That’s a cool idea Jon! I’ll be glad to participate.
Awesome Anthony! Thanx for participating! :)
Good idea, I’ll have to consider it! But when will I find the time?
Hi Patrick, thanx for considering it. Takes less than 10 minutes, you can write a post on your blog, and if you lend some money (which I encourage you to do) you can also link to your page on Kiva ;)
All the best.
I’m all over this of course. Gotta come up with a new way to promote it. I’ve been planning to give $25 gifts certificates to all the guest bloggers on my site. Every little bit helps. :smile:
Dave, hehe I knew you’d be interested. humm $25 gifts certificate to your guest bloggers? Good idea! :)
Well, anyway gift certificate or not, I’ll send you my guest post probably tomorrow or friday, though a gift certificate really is a great idea! or I’ll catch you on skype!
This is excellent idea. Thank for the head up Jon. I should try it at my community blog. I’m back - will blog regularly from now on. Two months break - such a long holidays.
Hey Calvin, it’s been a while buddy! Happy to know you’re back! How was the break/vacation?
Lemme know when you post about Kiva, of course I’ll be giving links away to people who participate in this :)
A charitable cause is so much more appealing than ‘buying a beer’. This is on my ‘to do’ list. Cheers for the mention, Jonathan and I hope all’s well with you.
This is an excellent idea! Thanks for writing about this.
I sometimes get tired of all the “how to make more and more and more money” posts that are everywhere on the web. This is a breath of fresh air!
Hey David, thanx a bunch for considering it, I appreciate! lemme know if you decide to post about it :)
Hi HtCwP, thank you very much! yeah I kinda don’t wanna fall into the “make money online” category, there’s 70 million blogs out there, and I guess 75% of them are “make money” blog hehe
This is such a great idea and Kiva is an amazing website!
Another way to rally your online community would be through Firstgiving.com. Through Firstgiving you can set up a fundraising page (for a non-profit) and then send it to your friends, throw a widget on your blog, and in general just promote it to the world.
Your friends can leave comments as they donate and so the whole community gets to participate.
When you said you were emailing all your friends is reminded me of how so many fundraisers do the same thing!
Hi Brittany,
hey thanx for letting me know about firstgiving, I’m checking that out right now, sounds good. signed up, and will see how it goes. :)
Yep, e-mailing everyone is a good way, already raised a good amount just by e-mailing my contact list before, it works.
Take care!
I think the idea of sponsoring a budding entrepreneur is a great idea. But, what about sponsoring one near home? I’m sure there are some here in remote Scotland that could do with a hand getting started. Charity starts at home…
Hi Robb, welcome to smartwealthyrich! I think you’re right, charity starts at home, i totally agree with that, but on the other hand, does it have to stay at home? Why not take charity to other countries also? We’re fortunate enough to at least be able to drink water and have foood, and help the folks in our own country, which people in other country cannot even think of. Why not help them to help temselves? my 2 cents
hello.this is constructicle boy and i have added you to the train under this link,http://constructicle.blogspot.com/2007/06/double-whammy-to-increase-alexa-ranking.html
Hi constructible boy, thanx a lot for inviting me, but unfortunately I cannot participate, I’m not really into all those link trains, although I appreciate the linkage, I prefer to grow my alexa rank “naturally”. But thanx anyway :)
good idea… What if i tried “buy me a porsche?” I guess that might not work as well :(
Hi Layouts, haha “buy me a Porsche”! Good one! Well I can put the “buy me a Porsche” plugin up, and make sure you send the money to the right paypal account :)
Great idea. Kiva is a great organization. I also like trickleup.org
Hi John, thanx for the heads up on trickleup, looks like a good idea, similar to Kiva. I’ll read more of their website :)
by the way, welcome to SWR!
Hi Jonathan — I’ll definitely post about this.
(Funny, I just put the “buy me a beer” plugin on my site, but I couldn’t stomach (no pun intended) all the beer references, so I changed everything to be “buy me a chai” instead.)
You rock Adam, thanx a lot! :)
“buy me a chai” sounds pretty good, I’d go for “buy me sake” or “buy me a Caramel Macchiato” hehe
What a level-headed and wise post! I love it. I’m not so into the buy me a beer plugins either. It was cute at first, but I see it everywhere. It’s creepy, methinks.
Anyway, with all the cash changing hands online it sure would be cool if we all committed to donating more to worthy causes.
You are brilliant Jonathan…giving is what it is all about.
Angie, thank you so much! I agree on the creepy thing, it’s everywhere. I would probably donate to someone for writing posts that makes me think, but for a beer, nah :)
Hey Adam, thanx a lot! Feel free to participate, the more people that participates, the better :)
Hi Jonathan :)
Just saw this..what a great inspiring idea. I’ll be in! :)
Hi Robin, awesome! I also got your e-mail, will reply right away.
[…] doesn’t want you to buy him a beer and gives us smart posts worth […]
Excellent idea. I was never a fan of the “buy me a beer” option. Put the money towards a good use, whether it be for knowledge or foundations to help the less fortunate. Keep up the good work.
Zac, thanx a lot, I hope this will help some people. If you decide to participate lemme know! :)
This is great Jonathan - I can’t say enough great things about Kiva. Donating feels great because as you said, such a small amount can make such a big difference. Thank you for posting about this ~
[…] Don’t Buy Me A Beer, Use That Money For Something Else instead - A good post from Jonathan telling you not to dip your hands into your pocket. […]
Hi Christine, you’re absolutely right, thats exactly what I meant. 25 bucks for us in Canada, US or Europe is just $25. But the same 25 bucks for someone in Cambodia means a lot more.
Hi,found u through bloggingtips.
regarding developing countries, u r right. I’m from india, and folks here dont have even $100 when they start.
But one q, would it really help poor?what if they’re ignorant of these loans? And how long before repay?
Hi Techzilo,
I’ve donated to Kiva and had a great experience. The people getting the loans have all been reviewed and I wouldn’t say that they are ignorant of what to do with the money at all. They all state what they will use the money for and also send email updates on their progress. So far, the people I have donated to have made a great deal of progress paying back their loans.
Christine
Hi Techzil! :)
Like Christine wrote, I donated too, and so far it’s been a great experience. All the people getting the loans have to report to “field partners” and they keep us updated on the progresses, so it’s cool. Most micro-loans like that have a repay rate of around 96-97%, and Kiva is around 99.5% or somethig like that so it makes me smile :)
[…] post recently that received a great deal of positive feedback, questions, and pushback. His post, Don’t Buy Me A Beer, Use That Money For Something Else instead talked about the benefits of donating to organizations like Kiva that offer a hand UP to budding […]
[…] by Jon at Smart Wealthy Rich: It’s simply a nicer and cooler way of asking your readers to donate, instead of having a […]
That’s a fantastic idea! What a great way to try and generate money for those who need it most!