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2012

 
September   Kiva launches its Experimental Partnerships Program with African Leadership Academy coming aboard.  
August   Kiva launches in India with 3 nonprofit Field Partners dedicated to serving excluded and vulnerable communities, including widowed women, the disabled and families affected by leprosy.
    The inaugural Kiva Camp draws more than 20 engaged high school and college students to talk about microfinance and how young people can get more involved.
    Kiva introduces its Bonus program to reward existing users for inviting friends to make loans.
June   Kiva lenders fund the largest loan ever posted -- US$49,500 -- through Field Partner Barefoot Power to promote solar energy adoption in Africa.
    The Kiva Zip Social brings together 100 lenders and borrowers from the San Francisco Bay Area to meet face to face for the first time and sample borrower products.
    The third Kiva City launches in Los Angeles in partnership with the Valley Economic Development Center (VEDC) and the Mayor's Office of Economic Development.
May   Kiva's Open House draws over 100 enthusiastic lenders and supporters to tour the new office, meet Kiva team members and sip on Kiva cocktails.
    Kiva publishes its first online Annual Report.
March   Kiva partners with the Milepoint lending team to co-host the Kiva Do conference. Milepoint members from around the world join Kiva staff for two days of learning, networking and inspiration.
    Kiva partners with board member and LinkedIn Founder Reid Hoffman to promote $1 million in Free Trials, recruiting thousands of new Kiva lenders.
    To celebrate International Women's Day, Kiva launches kiva.org/women in partnership with Dermalogica, offering $100,000 in Free Trials for new users to empower women borrowers worldwide.
    Kiva launches kiva.org/arabyouth in partnership with Silatech to help lenders support young entrepreneurs and stimulate employment in the Middle East.
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2011

 
December   Kiva launches Social Performance badges to recognize Field Partners' innovation and impact, and to help lenders easily identify organizations and borrowers than connect with their interests and values.
November   Kiva Zip pilot program launches to test a more direct lender-borrower experience and zero-interest loan products.
    Kiva moves into its new headquarters in downtown San Francisco. Studios Architecture donated its time and expertise to custom design the space.
October   Kiva turns six, with celebrations held in 10 cities around the world, including Sydney, Paris, London, Toronto and Vancouver.
    One Acre Fund -- Kiva's first non-MFI Field Partner -- launches on the site, giving lenders the opportunity to support innovative agriculture products.
September   The Why I Kiva campaign features video testimonials from lenders around the world, including Madeleine Albright and Gavin Newsom, talking about why Kiva is their favorite way to give back.
    Kiva's International Ballistic Microfinance visualization launches, showing loans criss-crossing the globe. It immediately goes viral, with over 100,000 views.
August   The second Kiva City launches in New Orleans.
    Kiva pilots its first Free Trial program with great success -- more than 8,000 new users join Kiva in just 2 days.
June   Kiva joins forces with Visa to launch the Kiva City program in Detroit with an on-stage announcement at the Clinton Global Initiative USA conference.
May   Kiva launches green loans, giving lenders the opportunity to support loans for solar energy products, clean cooking stoves, organic fertilizers and more.
April   Kiva launches its newly-designed website, making it even easier for lenders to find and connect with borrowers.
January   Kiva and Dermalogica team up to launch microlending platform joinFITE.org to support women entrepreneurs.
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2010

 
November   Kiva is named one of Oprah's Favorite Things.
    Jonathan Stalls completes his KivaWalk Across America, a cross-country trek on foot promoting the power of micro-lending.
October   Kiva partners with Visa to expand microloan opportunities for small businesses in the U.S., especially along the Gulf Coast.
    Kiva celebrates its 5th birthday in San Francisco at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts!
    Kiva posts its first water loan through Field Partner Fundacion Paraguaya, giving Kiva lenders the chance to expand access to clean water.
September   Kiva posts its first student microloans, helping young people and their parents afford school fees around the world.
August   Omidyar Network awards Kiva a $5 million grant to grow its microfinance programs in underserved markets.
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2009

 
November   Kiva reaches $100 million in loans distributed to borrowers in need.
July   Campus Kiva launches, providing resources and programming for college students interested in forming Kiva chapters and getting more involved with microfinance.
June   Kiva starts posting loans to support borrowers in the United States.
February   Kiva launches its API.
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2008

 
August   Kiva launches Lending Teams to help its community organize and lend around interests and affiliations.
June   TIME magazine names Kiva one of the "Best 50 Websites of 2008."
March   The Skoll Foundation awards Kiva the three-year US$1,015,000 Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship.
February   The 250,000th new user joins Kiva.
January   Kiva launches in South Sudan with Field Partner BRAC.
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2007

 
September   President Bill Clinton releases his book Giving, which profiles Kiva as a top way to give back to the global community.
    Kiva Co-founders Matt Flannery and Jessica Jackley appear on the Oprah Winfrey Show with President Bill Clinton.
March   New York Times columnist and Kiva lender Nicholas Kristof visits one of the borrowers he lent to in Kabul, Afghanistan, and writes about the experience. The article becomes the third most emailed article of the day and over $250,000 is lent in three days.
February   The Draper Richards Foundation awards Kiva $300,000 to grow and innovate.
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2006

 
November   Loans made on the website cross the US$1 million mark.
October   Kiva celebrates its 1st birthday!
    Frontline/WORLD airs a documentary about Kiva, driving so much traffic to the website that it crashes for three days. Once it's back up, $250,000 is lent in one week.
July   LinkedIn Founder and CEO Reid Hoffman joins Kiva's Board of Directors.
February   Kiva launches its strategy to partner with microfinance institutions to administer loans across many countries at once.
January   Premal Shah joins Kiva as president.
2005

 
October   Kiva is founded as a nonprofit organization. It's featured on Daily Kos and all loans on the site are funded in a matter of hours. Matt Flannery becomes full-time CEO.
September   All of the initial Kiva borrowers fully repay their loans.
April   The first 7 Kiva loans are funded, totaling $3,500. These original borrowers are termed the "Dream Team."
2004

 
April   Matt Flannery and Jessica Jackley start work on an initiative they call Kiva.
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Research

 
2007   "Kiva and the Birth of Person-to-Person Microfinance," authored by CEO Matt Flannery, is published in the Winter/Spring issue of Innovations by MIT Press. The article narrates the birth of Kiva and its breakout growth.
2009   "Kiva at Four," authored by CEO Matt Flannery, is published in the Skoll World Forum issue of Innovations by MIT Press. This article discusses the evolution of Kiva and provides a snapshot of it at the four-year mark.

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