Milaap was featured on Livemint.com, and we are elated! The story was focussed on how it is possible be involved in charity in India without making donations. Here's an extract.
Don’t want to donate but want to help those who can do with your generosity? Lend. That way, you can have your cake and eat it too. Milaap enables you to lend to India’s working poor so they can get access to education, clean water, energy, sanitation, and a lot more—everything that goes into making a livelihood possible. As an example, the money you give goes into paying for power that lights up zari workshops, provides money to buy raw material for photo-frame makers, and helps farmers committed to sustainable farming prevent soil pollution and preserve the natural nutrients on their farms. It’s a different take on charity and micro-financing.
Milaap identifies the needy and brings the lenders together. It has raised over $200,000 (or Rs. 1.07 crore), since it started in 2010. You can visit the Milaap site and decide who should get your loan (with a minimum commitment of Rs. 1,000), whether the beneficiary should be male or female, and the loan repayment period. Then hit the “Give a Loan” button and get going. When the borrower repays the loan, you can decide who should get your money next. If you think about it, that’s an innovative way to recycle your charity corpus.
Read the rest of the story here.