There are many individuals and organizations who want to give donations to renewable energy projects, in order to create a better future and to increase renewable energy adoption. I appreciate their motive, donations do increase renewable energy adoption.
But, are donations good/sustainable on the long run? What if the recipient becomes dependent on your donation? Does it not encourage malpractices? What about accountability, do you or your organization keep a track on the projects you have donated for, and ensure that the money is actually used to promote renewable energy usage? Many times, it's difficult to track/check these factors.
Instead of donating to a renewable energy project, why not give a loan?
According to what is mentioned on their website, Milaap.org is a service functioning in India that enables people to lend as much money as they can (starting from Rs. 500), which will be returned by the borrowers over a period of time (which can vary depending on the project). Mostly individuals or small groups, who don't have upfront capital investment for buying things like solar lanterns, etc. are selected by Milaap.org's partners and loans are disbursed to them. Field executives (from partner's side) are in charge of repayment collection, and the installment money will be repaid to you as they are collected.
According to what is mentioned on their website, Milaap.org is a service functioning in India that enables people to lend as much money as they can (starting from Rs. 500), which will be returned by the borrowers over a period of time (which can vary depending on the project). Mostly individuals or small groups, who don't have upfront capital investment for buying things like solar lanterns, etc. are selected by Milaap.org's partners and loans are disbursed to them. Field executives (from partner's side) are in charge of repayment collection, and the installment money will be repaid to you as they are collected.
The entire process happens online (for lenders) - this is a good example of crowd-funded micro-financing, in action. They charge some interest from the borrowers, but according to what I understand from their site, most of the interest amount goes towards their operation costs. So, basically you'll be giving interest free loans (if my understanding of what is provided in their website is right).
And also, there are no repayment guarantees. Even though all the partners have a 100% on-time repayment track record (as mentioned on their website, at the time of writing this article), there is a chance that some borrowers might default/delay repayments. The current 100% repayment should have been possible because of some buffer amount the organization/partners might be having (my guess). Otherwise, achieving that 100% on-time repayment, is very difficult. Practically speaking.
Have a look at the projects mentioned on this page (click on 'energy' on the left hand side, to see renewable energy based projects - mostly) and see if you would want to help any of the recipients with a small loan. Of course, my website is not connected with Milaap.org in anyway, and this post is not to canvass for their services. Have a look at all the terms & conditions mentioned there and then decide for yourself. Please make sure you understand all the risks involved, before proceeding.
The point of the post is, why not lend money, make the borrowers accountable for the money that they are spending and make sure that your money is spent for the right/preferred, cause? Milaap.org also has a feature that allows you to re-lend the money that is collected on your behalf (just in case you want to encourage more projects) and treat your money like a donation, but not actually a donation!
I thought Milaap.org is an interesting (and potentially impactful) initiative that could enrich the lives of many economically disadvantaged people, and increase renewable energy adoption (at least partly). Hence I am writing this article. Please be sure that I didn't receive any incentive/compensation for writing this article.
