A few months ago, I read an article in a magazine about microlending/microcredit/microfinance/microinvesting/microsomething. The part that interested me the most was that the author chose to invest his money not in the stock market, but in people and their dreams.
I cannot find the article, and have searched Google, Yahoo, and Metafilter for info. While I've learned more, I cannot locate the specific article.
What I need help with is either (a) finding the article, or, (b) finding the website he uses to make these micro-loans. As I remember, it was like having an E-Trade account, and he listed about 20 different loans he made, and what the repayments looked like. Essentially, he would contribute, for example, $75 to a "customer's" $1000 request, and the customer would get the loan when enough people pledged to meet that person's request.
So, it was like the old Sally Struther's "Save The Children" ads, where you were (I think) actually supporting a person, and could see their progress and your direct impact on them.
Also, selfishly, in the article, the author stated that he was earning some amount of interest from these loans, and (I said, selfishly!) I do think there is some importance to that, even if it is only 1% interest. (I would rather help someone and earn 1%, than stick money in a bank and earn 4% or 5%.) So, it's not about donating, it's about investing and (hopefully) regaining your investment, plus, possibly, a small amount more.
(Disclosure: I am looking to make these investments, but may also write an article about it.)
Any help you can give would be most welcome!
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Prosper.com is the p2p microlending site for profit for people in the US
posted by JakeWalker at 11:28 AM on November 14, 2006