One of my community service interests is "microcredit" - making small loans to people in poor areas so they can start or improve businesses. Grameen Bank was the first established financial institution to make microlending a priority, and the person who drove that initiative recently won a Nobel Prize for his work.
There are a number of variations on the model, but usually a sum of less than a few hundred dollars enables an entrepreneur to buy livestock, equipment, wholesale merchandise, or building materials to grow a business. The lending organization provides training and business advice as well as the money itself, performs due diligence to estimate whether repayment will be possible (in some cases, microcredit may not work - you need to know that) and establishes a payment schedule. Once the first loan is paid off, the business owner is eligible for another.
It's important with this type of activity to lend through a reputable organization, so after some research, I settled on KIVA.org. There are many other good microlenders, but I liked KIVA because I can lend directly to individual people - learn about their businesses, see how they're doing, provide a followup loan if all goes well - and still know that a knowledgeable organization is giving me good odds that the transaction will be successful. Personal, but safe, in other words.
Pictured is one of the businesses currently asking for funds through KIVA. There are many more as well, so if you're interested, their website is at http://www.kiva.org.
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