New Years 2012 Loan-A-Thon

2011 has been a great year for our team. We have continued to make impressive contributions to alleviating poverty through micro-lending. In 2011, we're 98% of the way to our goal of $6 million in total loans ($2.6 million for the year 2011)! ...... Let me say that again, in 2011 we lent over $2.5 million. That's incredible! That amount is 44% more than what we lent in 2010. Join me for the New Years 2012 Loan-A-Thon and we'll take care of the last $75,000 needed to break our goal.

This years New Years 2012 Loan-A-Thon will take place during the 48 hour period of December 31 to January 1st Pacific Time (although we are flexible since everyone is in different time zones). To participate in the Loan-A-Thon all you have to do is make a loan (preferably with new money you've added to Kiva specifically for the Loan-A-Thon) during the specified time frame and, if you like, post to the team message board to let everyone know you've participated.

As always, some team members make pledges in advance for how much new money they will be lending during the Loan-A-Thon to encourage others to follow their lead. Personally, I pledge $200 in new money towards this loan-a-thon.

Cheers,
Pete
Team Captain

Interviewed by Hank from IEET

I was recently interviewed by Hank Pellissier an Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies (IEET) Affiliate Scholar. The IEET is a secular think tank focused on topics related to emerging technologies.

Our discussion was on Atheism and Kiva:
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/pellissier20111125

4th Annual Halloween Loan-A-Thon

On September 15th 2011, our team crossed the $5 million in loans milestone. Congratulations to all my teammates! We are now at $5.4 million of our year-end goal of $6 million. We'll have to raise $300,000 in November and December to reach the goal.

This year, Kiva has provided new tools for tracking goals and I set some up earlier in the year and we're doing great.

We are 98% to our goal of 70,000 new loans by Dec 31, 2011.
We are 97% to our goal of supporting 50,000 unique loans by Dec 31, 2011
We are 79% to our goal of 6,000 new members by Dec 31, 2011
We are 78% to our goal of $2,600,000 (2,023,150 of 2,600,000) in 2011 (started Jan 27th 2011)

Tomorrow we kick off our 4th Annual Halloween Loan-A-Thon which will take place during the 48 hour period from October 31st to November 1st 2011 (Pacific Time... of course you're always welcome to celebrate in your own time zone). To participate in the Loan-A-Thon all you have to do is make a loan (preferably with new money you've added to Kiva specifically for the Loan-A-Thon... but recycled money is always welcome) during the specified time frame and, if you like, post to the team message board to let everyone know you've participated.

Some team members make pledges in advance for how much new money they will be lending during the Loan-A-Thon to encourage others to follow their lead. Personally, I pledge $200 in new money towards this loan-a-thon.

Cheers,
Pete

July 1st 2011 - Loan-A-Thon

The Loan-A-Thon will take place during the 48 hour period from July 1st to July 2nd 2011 (Pacific Time... of course you're always welcome to celebrate in your own time zone). To participate in the Loan-A-Thon all you have to do is make a loan (preferably with new money you've added to Kiva specifically for the Loan-A-Thon... but recycled money is always welcome) during the specified time frame and, if you like, post to the team message board to let everyone know you've participated.

The July 1st Loan-a-Thon honors Muhammad Yunus the grandfather of micro-finance. We also celebrate the many independence movements peoples around the world have accomplished during the month of July throughout history.

Some team members make pledges in advance for how much new money they will be lending during the Loan-A-Thon to encourage others to follow their lead.

Cheers,
Pete

April Fools 2011 Loan-A-Thon

Our April Fools 2011 Loan-A-Thon is just around the corner. This year's April Fools Loan-A-Thon will be held during the 48 hour period from April 1st to April 2nd 2011 (Pacific Time... of course you're always welcome to celebrate in your own time zone). To participate in the Loan-A-Thon all you have to do is make a loan (preferably with new money you've added to Kiva specifically for the Loan-A-Thon... but recycled money is always welcome) during the specified time frame and, if you like, post to the team message board to let everyone know you've participated.

Our current lending total is $3,712,350 and it will soon be time to guess when we'll hit the $4 million milestone.

Our April Fools Loan-A-Thon is best described by Joe from our team:

April 1st - We're no April Fools! We will not waste our money tithing to a religious organization when we can do some actual good by lending capital directly to our fellow Humans who need it!

Some members of our team like to make pledges in advance on the team message board for how much new money they plan to loan during the Loan-A-Thon. I'll make mine on the board...

Cheers,
Pete

PRESS RELEASE: Atheists Raise $3 Million in Microfinance Loans To Alleviate Poverty

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Peter Kroll
Web: http://atheist-monkey.blogspot.com
Kiva: http://www.kiva.org/lender/AtheistMonkey

Atheists Raise $3 Million in Microfinance Loans To Alleviate Poverty

In just over two years the community of Atheists, Agnostics, Skeptics, Freethinkers, Secular Humanists and the Non-Religious (AASFSHNR) at Kiva.org have raised $3 million (USD) in interest-free loans to help end poverty. Kiva.org is a US non-profit organization that connects lenders with borrowers, from around the globe, who need a micro-finance loan. Peter Kroll, the AASFSHNR community team leader and foundered, commented "This is still the beginning for us. We have organized 14,000 Enlightened individuals from a diaspora of 100's of millions. Our community is thought based and we believe fair peer-to-peer lending can provide the economic opportunity to poor entrepreneurs who have been closed off from the mainstream banking system."

Most of the world's poor live without access to banking. Without collateral they cannot arrange for a loan or open a savings account. Kiva.org has made it possible for the an ordinary person to proactively contribute to making a positive change to this situation.

Kiva's co-founder Matt Flannery has put out his call that "now is a time for the world's privileged to demonstrate to the world's poor just how compassionate and resilient we are." The AASFSHNR community has responded, as well as many other communities and individuals. More than five years after Kiva's founding almost $175 million has been lent worldwide.

Micro-finance is the brain-child of Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Mohammad Yunus. Yunus realized decades ago, on a visit to a poor village in his country of Bangladesh, that the local people were caught in an endless cycle of debt caused by loan-sharks. He realized what a difference it would make by "removing the barriers faced by the poor so that they can unleash their creativity and intelligence in the service of humanity."

2011 Year-End Goal

After some thought I'm setting our year-end goal to raise our total amount loaned to $6 million. We are currently at almost $3.4 million. To raise $2.6 million in 2011 is a big goal for us. We raised almost $1.8 million in 2010. Considering we are a global community we have a vast pool of people to draw from, 1.1 billion by some estimates. So, if we all tell a friend, online or offline, or maybe send an email to a secular blogger we like then we can increase our already tremendous efforts and meet our goal.

We are doing good and having fun at the same time :)

Cheers,
Pete
Team Captain