You’ve probably heard me talk about IMPOSSIBLE.org – the philanthropic arm of IMPOSSIBLE.
You’ve most likely heard me talk about Pencils of Promise and the 777 Project – where I ran 7 ultra marathons on 7 continents to build 7 schools with Pencils of Promise.
IMPOSSIBLE.org is not an official non-profit entity / 501c3, but it is a channel we use to raise funds and awareness to give directly to causes that we care about.
To date, we’ve raised over $220,000 for Pencils of Promise and funded 8 schools (which are getting built as we speak!).
I get pitches all the time from people wanting us to fundraise for them or make a big donation, but our two major focuses at IMPOSSIBLE.org are education and entrepreneurship.
- Education – To help students and kids get the basic foundation, tools, and health in order to have solid footing to succeed in life.
- Entrepreneurship – To help them do something, take a risk, and do something impossible in the most immediate way possible.
So education makes sense – PoP builds schools and trains teachers around the globe. Check
But what about entrepreneurship?
Well, there’s another IMPOSSIBLE project that’s been quietly chugging along in the background that has raised over $55,000 in loans to small business entrepreneurs around the world.
When I talk about entrepreneurship – it’s a bit different than the Shark Tank / San Francisco VC model where people are trying to raise millions of dollars for their “idea.”
That gets a lot of TV deals, but that’s not what most businesses look like. Most businesses aren’t big, sexy startup companies, but down-to-earth local businesses doing something valuable or creating something well-made that helps their neighborhood and community.
So, back in 2011 (woah!), we started a group to help make small loans (starting at $25) to entrepreneurs around the world starting their businesses through Kiva.
When it started, it was a small group – and it still is (about 100 people), but since 2011 – that group has been making consistent loans on a regular basis to people in 79 countries!
And the impact that has been had over the years might surprise you.
Some stats for you. To date:
Total Loans: 2,105
Members: 94
Loans per member: 22.4
Countries Loaned To: 79
Total Amount Lent: 56,700
The interesting part about that is that after a loan is re-paid, you can . I believe I have put in a total of $1,500 that has turned into a total of $13,000 lent over the years!
A couple things about this:
1 – Consistency
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The group isn’t big, but it is consistent (AF). Most people haven’t even loaned that much money to start with, but because they can re-loan money once it’s paid back – consistency pays off BIG.
2 – Automation
The automation of the entire process makes it so you don’t have to think about it much. If you had to think consciously every month about doing it – chances are you’d break the streak one month – and then completely fall off the wagon the next.
3 – We’re Not Done Yet
I haven’t talked about it much, but if you’d like to join us over on Kiva (or if you already have and forgot about it), I’d love to see you over there. One of the major pillars of IMPOSSIBLE is once you’ve done something IMPOSSIBLE, lay out the way for others. This is a super practical way you can start doing that by helping people who are helping themselves in 79 countries around the world.
Want to Join Us?
If you want to push your limits, one of the very practical ways you can do that is by giving back on a small scale. Want to join the Impossible.org Kiva team in helping people do the impossible around the world by starting their business? Join the team at this link.
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