Starting in June 2009, Javelin Wealth Management began to support a number of selected charities that meet our criteria for worthwhile causes. On an ongoing basis, for every new client that establishes an account with Javelin Wealth Management, we will donate at least US$150 to one of three charities that our new clients elect to donate to, or a combination of two or all three.
Our favoured causes are:
(1) Kiva is a potentially life changing micro-finance organisation that matches lenders (us) with borrowers – mainly in developing countries – who want to set up their own small businesses to support themselves and their families, but lack the small funds needed to get going (see www.kiva.org). Loans are provided interest free and are usually repaid in full within 12 – 18 months.
We will sign you up as a member of the “Javelin & Friends” supporters page on Kiva (see
http://www.kiva.org/community/viewTeam?team_id=7129 ), on which we can all track the progress of the projects we have decided to support. As a new client, we’ll give you a voucher and then you can choose from the long list of Kiva’s projects and tell us how you want the donation to be allocated.
The best part is, when the entrepreneur pays back their loan you get your money back and Kiva's loans are managed by microfinance institutions on the ground who have a lot of experience doing this, so you can trust that your money is being handled responsibly. This is therefore not traditional philanthropy: the borrower has a responsibility to pay the loan back, interest free, and you can then re-lend that money to someone else.
It's finally easy to actually do something about poverty - using Kiva, we know exactly who our money is loaned to and what they're using it for. And most of all, we know that we're helping them build a sustainable business that will provide income to feed, clothe, house and educate their family long after my loan is paid back.
(2) The
Central Asia Institute (see
www.ikat.org) is a charity set up by an American climber, Greg Mortenson, following an aborted attempt to conquer the submit of K2 in Northern Pakistan. For the full background on this remarkable story, read Greg's fantastic book" Three Cups of Tea". The Institute funds the building and running of schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan - specifically in areas where the reach of the central governments and the support they provide, is limited or non-existent. A key condition of the Institute in providing funds is that the local community needs to provide the land for the school, the labour build it and the pupils - specifically girls.
(3) The
Singapore Children's Cancer Foundation (
http://www.ccf.org.sg) provides much needed support to both patients and their families as they fight to overcome a cruel disease. We are happy to provide whatever support we can. One of our colleagues, Kim Ping, recently participated in a sponsored "head-shaving" to raise money for this very worthy cause!
