Giving funds allow anyone to start a fund for a group that matters to you and invite others to join. You can align your fund with any of Kiva’s impact areas — women, climate-smart farmers, refugees, or small businesses in the U.S.. Unlike the Kiva you know, all contributions to the giving fund are donations, which means they can’t be withdrawn. This helps Kiva continuously circulate the money to more and more borrowers for years to come.

Whether you are celebrating a birthday, part of a book club, in a church group, or engaged in an employee resource group, you can activate a collective giving fund anywhere.

Here’s how it works:

1. You choose who you want to support — women, climate-smart farmers, refugees, or small businesses in the U.S.

2. Personalize your page, set a goal or a timeframe if you like.

3. Share your fund link with friends, family, or colleagues to grow your impact together!

Watch your impact grow as your contributions are lent and re-lent as people repay!

With a giving fund, you select an impact area — such as women, refugees, or education — and we automatically lend funds to people in that area, continuously supporting new people as loan repayments are made. You won’t choose individual borrowers, but you’ll be able to see who your fund has supported.

If you want to personally select each borrower, our original lending experience might be a better option.

No, because these funds are technically a donation, they cannot be withdrawn. This is the first time lending through Kiva is tax-deductible! You can even give through your donor advised fund (DAF). These funds will be re-lent to continuously support borrowers.

To ensure we can keep relending and growing your fund’s impact, we retain a small portion of each repayment to covers costs. 100% of your first donation goes directly to supporting borrowers, and as repayments come in, Kiva retains 15% to manage the fund and support our work. This helps us keep the experience seamless, fund new borrower opportunities, and fuel Kiva’s mission in 83 countries. You can learn more here about how donations sustain our impact.

Giving funds and loan choice are two different ways to use Kiva — and you can use both! Giving funds are great for continuously supporting borrowers in your selected impact area. Outside of your fund, you can always choose individual borrowers to support, the same way you always have.

Not yet! Because this is still a new experience, fund activity isn’t fully integrated into your individual lender profile. You’ll still get borrower updates and see how your fund is growing, but those updates will come through a separate dashboard. Over time, we aim to connect this more seamlessly with your lender profile so you can see your full Kiva journey in one place.

Lending teams require a Kiva account, and are a great way for existing users to attribute specific loans to a group and track their collective impact. Giving funds are an easier way to share Kiva with community members who aren’t already lending. The people you invite can contribute without an account, and donations are pooled and automatically lent out to borrowers in the impact area you choose. As borrowers repay, funds are automatically re-lent again. This recycling grows the impact of your fund over time — without extra work from your community.

Kiva Cards are a great way to spread your love for Kiva. Here are the key differences:

1. With Kiva Cards, the recipient must choose a loan. Some people love this, but others prefer not to choose and never redeem their card.

2. With Kiva Cards, you don’t pool your impact with card recipients. Giving funds allow you to stay connected and track your collective impact on an ongoing basis.

Absolutely — in fact, we encourage it! Sharing your fund link is a powerful way to multiply your impact.