Simple answer: yes. It just requires a little creative thinking.
Every quarter, Jama Software, a finalist for the OEN Tom Holce Entrepreneurship Awards Working Capital Stage Company of the Year Award in 2011 and past OEN Development Stage Company award winner in 2009, contributes a portion of its marketing budget as micro-loans to Kiva.org.
“Instead of investing in Google Adwords, we give loans to entrepreneurs in the developing world. We just thought it was a better use of money. We’d rather help a chicken farmer in Cambodia feed her village than help feed Google’s deep advertising coffers. Recently, we hit the 250 loan milestone and overall we’ve contributed more than $6,000 to Kiva loans, which is very gratifying as a growing young company,” said John Simpson, Jama VP of Marketing.
In this Group: Florence, Grace, Conelia, Bernard, Vang, Alice, Wilson, Eduard, George
Lulongo Sanyu Group in Uganda, using the loan to purchase fertilizer for great yields from her farming and higher market prices.
From the early days of starting Jama a few years ago, it was important to them culturally to give back to the community. What started out as a small idea over beers during a team meeting in February 2008 has blossomed into an ongoing program that reflects the corporate values and commitment to giving back on behalf of Jama’s customers, partners and other members of its community. In celebration of their 250th loan, Jama is contributing $1 to Kiva for each new twitter follow they get through August 20th. Learn more here.
The way it works:
For every new customer that buys Contour, Jama’s collaborative requirements management software, the team at Jama sets aside marketing dollars to provide loans that help Kiva.org recipients improve their own communities.
Jama chose Kiva.org because they embody a few fundamental principles Jama shares:
1. a belief that the entrepreneurial spirit lives in everyone from Portland, Oregon to Port-au-Prince, Haiti
2. thousands of micro-actions between people create a huge macro-effect
3. taking a collaborative, Web-based approach to solving a big problem
4. an open, global community of people working together for greater success
Jama’s program has grabbed the attention of others including Kiva themselves.
“We’re thrilled when a company like Jama Software develops an innovative program that supports both our global mission at Kiva and their own goals. It’s such a simple concept, but that’s the beauty of it,” said Jessica Jackley Flannery, co-founder and chief marketing officer of Kiva.org
Jama was featured in a documentary series about Kiva, showing the connections that can happen between entrepreneurs worlds apart.
Jama’s lending page: http://www.kiva.org/lender/jamasoftware
Kiva video with Jama: http://vimeo.com/4775821
Interested in learning more about the OEN Tom Holce Awards or sharing your favorite story about one of the finalists? Invite them to #THA2011 as we recognize this year's hottest entrepreneurs. http://ow.ly/5SvI5