

LinkedIn’s Reid Hoffman Gives Kiva $1 Million To “Empower Everyone” - guiseppecalzone
http://techcrunch.com/2012/03/13/reid-hoffman-kiva/

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kevinburke
I wish people cared more about money that was spent effectively, and less
about money that was given to a charity. It's not enough to just spend money
on charity, as Givewell.net notes:

    
    
        Conventionally, most people expect that charities are 
        probably accomplishing good unless there's proof that 
        money is being misappropriated. We disagree: we think
        that charities can easily fail to have impact, even when
        they're doing exactly what they say they are.
    

They've raised questions about Kiva.org's effectiveness and screening process;
see <http://blog.givewell.org/category/kiva/> and
<http://www.givewell.org/giving101/Accomplishing-Nothing>.

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jdietrich
Microcredit is still an unproven intervention. It seems like an obviously good
thing, but we have a paucity of evidence for its efficacy as a remedy for
poverty. The best available randomised trials show indifferent results, with
only marginally statistically significant benefits.

<http://www.cgap.org/gm/document-1.9.55766/FORUM2.pdf>

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nreece
While a new search engine or email reinvention sounds daunting but lucrative,
in my opinion the most impactful "frighteningly ambitious startup ideas" are
like Kiva'.

