Kiva Atheists Hit $3,000,000 Milestone January 12, 2011

Kiva Atheists Hit $3,000,000 Milestone

By Guest Contributor
January 12, 2011

It happened a couple weeks ago, but it’s worth a mention:

The Atheists, Agnostics, Skeptics, Freethinkers, Secular Humanists and the Non-Religious group on microlending website Kiva have now loaned out over $3,000,000.

It’s a fantastic accomplishment. (To be fair, it doesn’t mean they’ve given out a total of $3,000,000+. It means they’ve loaned the money, received some (or most) of it back, and then reloaned it.) It was just over a year ago when the Kiva Atheists were the first group to reach the $1,000,000 mark.

The more than 13,600 Kiva Atheists have been atop the Kiva community rankings in just about every category for years now — Kiva Christians are ranked second.

I’m so proud of that whole team. If you’re not a part of it, remember it’s never too late to sign up.

(Thanks to Brian for the link!)

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  • To fair to the Christians they’re still ahead in per capita lending. But I am super glad to see lending in the name of human beings!

  • Wendy

    I didn’t even know there was an atheist group on Kiva, been giving lonas for a while now. Just joined!

  • cypressgreen

    @Wendy: I am a proud member of the Atheists group, the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster and the Rabid Atheists.

    The As and FSMers average $239 and $227 in loans per person, respectively. I am most proud of having joined the Rabid Atheists, a group with only 30 members, averaging $1,396 in loans per person. I love being an “underdog” (LOL, get it?) and working to move that group up the ranks.
    (description: We’re a collection of atheist animals, whose owners like to lend in our names. We’re atheists; none of that agnostic or non-religious stuff for us! And no, none of us really has rabies. I hope.)

    Also, I run the Kiva Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster Facebook group.

  • Brian

    Thanks for mentioning Kiva. This is a really awesome organization. It feels great to be part of a humanistic cause like this. I encourage everyone to join and help spread the word. 😉

  • jemand

    well I joined today lol. Interesting to look at the difference between this screenshot and the current numbers, even.

  • RG

    Just an FYI, I’ve been doing this for a few years now and I have received 100% of my money back, which has all gone back into more loans. It’s very safe, and at 0% interest it was performing better than my 401k for quite a while hah. Give it a try. Just start with $25 it’s enjoyable, and a great cause.

  • thebigJ_A

    I’m an atheist. Will they lend me three million dollars?

    I’ll totally pay it back, swear to god! 😛

  • Just wanted to say thanks for posting on Kiva – I felt like I’ve been living in a bubble! Joined yesterday and started loaning – very cool!

  • I’ve made 42 loans and had one person default in the 3 or so years I’ve been lending. I am a member of the Atheists group, but quickly opted out of receiving emails. Based on this group, atheists appear to talk too much.

  • Leah

    This is great! I love Kiva and I have recently discovered “Energy In Common.” http://www.energyincommon.org

    They only loan to green energy projects and you can start by lending as little as $5. I sent my friends all $5 gift certificates for the holidays.

    Even better is that the projects generate carbon offsets. It is a great site.

  • Kiva has several “atheist” teams. The main team with $3M in loans is atheists, agnostics, and other non-religious. Then, there is the Flying Spaghetti Monster, which is suspect is not a real religion. I’m partial to my own team, the Rabid Atheists. We take a clear stand: none of that “agnostic” stuff for us!

    http://www.kiva.org/team/furry_friends