Twenty five dollars doesn’t go far when spent on a tank of gas or a night downtown.

It does, however, when loaned to entrepreneurs in developing countries around the world through Kiva, according to the organization’s public relations director.

Kiva, a lending program in which people can support microfinance – the extension of small loans for low-income clients – for donations of as little as $25, was established in 2004.

“Our co-founder and now CEO, Matt Flannery, went to Africa in 2004 and wanted a way to support entrepreneurs in the developing world,” said Fiona Ramsey, public relations director of Kiva. “But at the time there was no way to do that without at least $1,000.”

Flannery and co-founder Jessica Jackley, began the program to connect lenders with people around the world who are not able to obtain loans to begin or maintain their businesses.

“We are one of the very few ways to gain experience in microfinance, so we get a lot of people wanting to get involved,” Ramsey said. “Kiva takes students and non-students from across the U.S. as well as outside the U.S., so it is very much a global program.”

One of the people in the program is a recent University graduate, who is now following her Kiva involvement to Tanzania.

Rebecca Corey, an alumna from Athens, recently left for Tanzania for an unpaid fellowship with the Kiva Fellows Program.

“The program will let me go to a microfinance institution in Tanzania and help them with their Kiva operations, write borrower profiles, update journals, help with marketing and public relations and anything else they need,” Corey said.

Her interest in microfinance began during her time at the University as a student researcher for the Delta Prize for Global Understanding.

“One of the people we researched was Muhammad Yunus, a Nobel [Peace] Prize winner and one of the pioneers of microfinance, loans and savings that the program is based on,” Corey said. “Microfinance really empowers people and is more of a hand-up instead of a hand-out.”

Loans are made in increments of $25, but can range up to $5,000 depending on the country. The loans are lent to entrepreneurs around the world who cannot get a loan from a traditional bank.

Once the entrepreneurs have improved their business and economic independence, they then repay the loan over time.

“One of the coolest things is that Kiva lets you connect with someone in a country on the other side of the world and learn about their lives and businesses,” Corey said. “Borrowers and entrepreneurs do everything from small food shops to selling used clothing, small fish stands and a whole variety of businesses in their country.”

“It really is a revolutionary concept, since it gives borrowers the message of ‘I believe in you, so I’m going to invest in you,’” Corey said.