I just found out about a very interesting social-lending / social-philanthropy site called Kiva.

From their website:

“Kiva lets you lend to specific entrepreneur in the developing world - empowering them to lift themselves out of poverty.”

Due to the generosity of contributors, Kiva personnel have had to limit donation amounts to $25 per entrepreneur to give everyone the opportunity to donate. Now that’s a good problem to have…

From what I’ve read, everything seems very secure and entrepreneurs are checked out before they can participate in the program. The site has an extensive FAQ section for the wary.

Thanks to Mike from the Kiva Podcast (I’m subscribed) for posting a techie question on the Yahoo! Podcasters Group. I would not have checked it out if you hadn’t mentioned it. Talk about social!