November 09, 2009
The New York Times reports on CGD Research fellow David Roodman's blog post on Kiva.
From the article:
"Last month, David Roodman, a research fellow at the Center for Global Development, pressed a button on his laptop as his bus left the Lincoln Tunnel in Manhattan and started a debate that has people re-examining the country’s latest celebrated charity, Kiva.org... 'Little did I realize what that click would unleash,' he said in an interview, later adding that the post had attracted dozens of comments, more than 10,000 hits and thousands of Twitter postings. "
"Kiva is the latest nonprofit group to have to overhaul its explanation of how it works. Where its home page once promised, 'Kiva lets you lend to a specific entrepreneur, empowering them to lift themselves out of poverty,' it now simply states, after Mr. Roodman’s post: 'Kiva connects people through lending to alleviate poverty.'"