Kiva Embraces Social Media and Word of Mouth

The Critical Role of Advocates and Personal Evangelism:

Premal Shah the President of Kiva points out that “people buy from people” and Kiva leveraged this principle in their “people borrow from people” principle. Shah further highlights how this plays out in word of mouth for Kiva:

It’s finally worth noting that Kiva’s “personality” is derived not only from our lenders and borrowers, our staff, and our broader team, but also from the thousands of supporters who evangelize Kiva at their offices, in their communities, and through their social networks. Whether it’s Bill Clinton championing Kiva in an interview or it’s a student emailing her classmates about us, we’ve empowered our fans to get others involved so that lending on Kiva.org becomes a thing people do together and feel a part of together; it’s people helping people fight poverty, one loan at a time.

This trend reflects a new generation of social citizens that engage social media and are passionate about social change.

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Related Resources on Venture Philanthropy and Philanthrocapitalism:
• Kiva in Second Life
• Giving Kiva gift certificates
• Thought leaders in social capitalism
• Philanthrocapitalism
• Venture Philanthropy
• Social Capitalism
• The Myths and Realities of Philanthocapitalism
• The Rise of the Triple Bottom Line (People, Planet, and Profits) in the New York Times