Our motto is, 'We care about families - past, present and future.'  I started the 'Genealogists for Families' project as a new version of a family tradition, and it won an award for Best New Community Project.  We now have over 360 members in 16 countries (Australia, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, England, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, NZ, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Spain, Sweden, USA, Vietnam and Wales).  We have helped tens of thousands of families, and that number continues to grow. Please join us!

Through the Web site of Kiva, a non-profit organisation working with microfinance institutions around the world, you choose someone to support, not with a handout but with a $25 loan.  It is fun choosing who to sponsor!  Similar loans by other lenders are combined until the required total is reached.  This enables people without access to banks, especially women, to expand their small businesses so they can educate their children, save for the future and raise themselves out of poverty.

As your money is repaid (often in monthly instalments), you can withdraw it or lend it to someone else.  Money that is loaned over and over again does much more good than a one-time donation!  Carole says, 'I have been lending through Kiva since 2008. It's very satisfying to lend money to specific people and know what it will be used for, and then get it back again!'

What YOU can do:

1. Join Kiva. (Do this first - link opens in a new window.)
2. Choose a borrower and make a $25 loan.
3. Join the 'Genealogists for Families' team (opens in a new window).
4. (Optional) Edit your Kiva Lender Page to publicise your Web site, business or online family tree (see this example). Select your country from the drop-down list so we can see how widespread the team is. Go to 'Settings', then edit 'Account settings' (scroll down to 'My Lender Profile').
5. Invite your family, friends, workmates or fellow students to join Kiva (and, if they wish, our team).

Other Suggestions

Read about the family tradition that inspired the Genealogists for Families project.

Commemorative loans for dates, places or occupations that have special significance in your family.

Do online surveys to earn money for Kiva (or for your genealogy expenses).

Search this site  (do NOT use apostrophes; read search results page carefully)