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30DC Preseason Lesson 7: Kiva
By Dee-Dee M | June 28, 2009
Many people introduced to the Thirty Day Challenge for the first time ask “What’s the catch?” In their mind they are thinking “Nobody gives all of this away for free… when are gonna have to get out our wallets?”
You can hardly blame them really… the “Free” word has be used ‘ad nauseum’ to lure unsuspecting punters for years to persuade them to buy something whether it’s online or offline.
During The Thirty Day Challenge ‘season’ (August) promotion of products is banned; after all as Ed Dale says, “we can promote and sell 11 months of the year”. The “free” 30 Day Challenge is sacrosanct.
However it doesn’t mean that some money may be involved.
It’s true that all the great content of the 30 Day Challenge is given to participants at no cost to them but the 30DC Team also provides an opportunity to give back to the community at large through their favourite charity Kiva.
Kiva – Why It’s the 30DC Charity of Choice
The 30 Day Challenge has always believed in giving back to the community – it is the premise on which the 30DC is built – however in 2007 they went one step further and introduced Kiva as charity of choice to which members can donate their 30DC earnings… pay it forward… so to speak.
Kiva is a person to person micro-lending site which distributes interest free micro-loans to people in developing countries to help them better themselves and start a business to provide for their family and escape poverty. Now by our standards in the first world these entrepreneurs are still poverty stricken but a $200 loan to start a home based business means the world to them.
Pete Williams tells us about the 30DC involvement in Kiva and how we as participants of the 30 Day Challenge can contribute.
Kiva and The Thirty Day Challenge – 8:53min video
Kiva ties in nicely with the Thirty Day Challenge philosophy of helping entrepreneurs get started on their own business.
Kiva links up people who want to donate loans with struggling entrepreneurs is third world countries. The interest free loans allows them to start up their business.
It could be buying goats to start a milk and cheese business or materials and tools to start a craft business. Rather than giving the whole loan amount to one individual, the 30DC chooses to help as many as they can by donating a portion of the loan required.
On the 30DC Kiva page is a list of all the people that have been helped so far, some 345 loans from all over the world. There are details on how the money was used and the repayment schedule of each (to date not one of the loans have defaulted) and a little about their business and the country they come from.
There are several ways you can donate to Kiva through the 30 Day Challenge:
The 30DC Charity Auction: These are products donated to the 30DC that Challengers can bid on. A lot of them are no longer available to the public.
The 30DC Kiva Shop: Here you can buy 30 Day Challenge branded gear with the profits going straight to Kiva
Donating Earnings for the 30DC: You can also donate the money you earned doing the Thirty Day Challenge
You can learn more about Kiva and The Thirty Day Challenge’s support of this worthy cause by going to www.thirtydaychallenge.com
Topics: Pre-season 2009 | No Comments »