[11] The couple's initial interest in microfinance was inspired by a 2003 lecture given by Grameen Bank's Muhammad Yunus at Stanford Business School.

While Flannery was visiting Jackley in Africa, the two spent time interviewing entrepreneurs about the problems they faced in starting ventures and found the lack of access to start-up capital was a common theme.

After returning from Africa, the two began developing their plan for a microfinance project that would grow into Kiva, which means "unity" in Swahili.

[12][13] In April 2005, Kiva's first seven loans were funded, totaling $3,500, and the original entrepreneurs were subsequently deemed the "Dream Team".

The lenders transfer their funds to Kiva through credit card processing or PayPal, which waives its transaction fee in these cases.

These microfinancing institutions then lend out money with high interest compared to bank finance in mature markets, averaging a portfolio yield of over 30%.

[20] The organization's main sources of funding are grants, financial backing, and discounted services from many major national corporations and institutions.

Kiva also won a $1 million grant in Sam's Club's "Giving Made Simple" campaign and $500,000 in American Express's "Take Part" competition.

[21] In their non-fiction book Half the Sky, Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn highlight Kiva's work along with that of some field partner organizations, such as the Kashf Foundation in Pakistan.

"[22] In 2011 Kiva added a new category of loans to help borrowers move to cleaner and safer forms of energy, green agriculture, transport and recycling.

[23] Green Kiva loans help fund solar panels, organic fertilizers, high-efficiency stoves, drip irrigation systems, and biofuels.

[26] Vittana works on the ground in countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America, developing loan alternatives for low-income students.

[35] Labs initiatives include lowering interest rates, providing more flexible repayment terms that accommodate issues like seasonal profits in farming, and offering longer-term loans for investments like education.

In less than a year, the Kiva City programs in Richmond, Virginia, helped fund more than $100,000 in loans to local businesses.

Some people, including microfinance pioneer Muhammad Yunus, argue that the interest rates of many microcredit institutions are unreasonably high.

However, it does publish the average "Portfolio Yield" of each of its field partners, as a way for prospective lenders to estimate the cost to the borrower of the loans they consider funding.

[43] Some observers have pointed out that the "Portfolio Yield" measure is unreliable, and does not directly reflect the actual price that borrowers are paying for the loans.

Kiva Zip transferred funds directly to borrowers without outsourcing disbursements and repayment collection to field partners.

Instead, the program partnered with local institutions in the United States and Kenya called Trustees, who vetted loan applicants and provided mentorship.

[50] As of November 2018, there are a total of 332 field partners listed on the Kiva website and their status is as follows: 173 Active, 41 Inactive, 14 Paused, and 104 Experimental.

[52][53] Disbursing loans sooner has a positive impact on the borrowers, who no longer need to wait weeks to receive their funding and can thus take advantage of time-sensitive business opportunities.

[57] In his 2007 book Giving: How Each of Us Can Change the World, Bill Clinton covers Kiva.org and the work the organization is currently doing and has done in the past.