We are getting very close to our goal
 

Before/during/after CG imploded, my goal had been to use the energy and resources of CG to make the world a better place.

I had a couple of examples of this from my time on cougarboard. For example, I organized funds to be donated to the family of a BYU graduate in the Army who died in the line of duty in Iraq. Also organized donations for a LDS family in the Dallas area, that was bereft of resources.

Due to our very small numbers, it's made any kind of organized effort on a medium scale virtually impossible.

But I did do one thing several years ago--I signed up for a google ad account to generate ad income for this website. And my intention the entire time has been to use that ad income towards worthy causes.

As you know, it takes some amount of money to keep this site running. It's not a lot of money--and I can afford it. So I take care of that.

The ad money is much less than what it costs to keep the site running. So lest anyone think I am trying to make money--I am not. We are making less than $2 a month on ads.

All gross revenue from ads donated to charity.

To actually cash out money from Google Ad Sense, you need $100 in your account. After all these years we are at $95. So we are *almost* there to the point that can we cash out $100 and make a donation.

The question is a donation towards what? In keeping with the theme of Mormon thought and self-improvement, a good candidate would be the perpetual education fund. Could also make a donation to BYU for scholarship money. I think there are worthy non-LDS related charities out there, but I don't see them as directly in line with what CG has been about.

I'm willing to take further suggestions. Thank you for the role that you have played in the CG community and contributing to the page views that have paid for this future modest donation.

Maybe you should set up a Kiva account and use the proceeds to make Kiva loans. This money is normally returned, but then can be subsequently used to make more loans.

We're over $100 now. I'd never heard of Kiva. I'll look into it more.

I have been lending through Kiva for several years. They fund microfinance institutions around the globe. There is a little controversy as the loans you fund are actually already prefunded and you are just covering something they already chose to fund, but from a practical standpoint it makes sense that they do it that way. Here are some links:

http://www.kiva.org/home

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiva_(organization)

http://www.charitynavigator.org/inde...8#.Uvz6oiKYa70

I was looking at the FAQ for Kiva. So as a lender to Kiva you don't actually get back any profit or interest, right?

If I put in $100, the max I get back is $100?

I'm not entirely sure what the point is of having individual loanees. Doesn't that just increase the risk? Wouldn't it be easier to invest in the field bank and get a more guaranteed return?

Obviously the point of this is not to make money. But I'm trying to understand what makes sense and what doesn't.

Right, the maximum you would get back is $100. Any interest on these loans goes to the local microfinance institution. It does not go back to Kiva either. Kiva covers it's expenses through donations other than the loans. They do add a small donation every time you make a loan that you can remove. Donations do not come back.

Kiva actually gives money to local institutions who make the individual loans. You really do not really have control over who is getting a specific loan as it has already been made before you "fund" it. You do decide which areas you want to support and the repayment to you is based on actual loan repayments. More than anything, the individual stories just make the loans feel more personal.

I don't consider this an investment. When I get money back I just use it to fund more loans.

If you were to do this, you could also set-up a Cougarguard group that individual board members join with their personal Kiva accounts.