The last post on this blog discussed donating (more or less) directly to an individual teacher for a specific project to help their students. Another charitable organization that operates along similar lines is www.Kiva.org.
Kiva matches donors with applicants from around the world who have applied for a loan to fund a small business of their own. These loans are used to purchase business supplies, buy or rent a better place to conduct business, or buy in bulk to make their business more successful. Each application for funds includes a term for repayment - so really donors aren't donating but lending money with the expectation of full repayment.
After the success of Mohammed Yunus and his Grameen Bank (his book is a very intersting read), microfinance has spread all around the globe. Kiva partners with local microfinance groups to screen applicants and access communities with the greatest potential benefit from microfinance. Kiva's website provides descriptions of the specific projects a lender's money would be supporting, and offers updates on the progress of the projects for each lender. Kiva.org has not yet been evaulated by CharityNavigator.
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