Introduction
Every year on 5 September, the United Nations marks the International Day of Charity, a day created to encourage charitable activity, volunteering and wider public awareness of the role generosity can play in reducing hardship and strengthening communities. The date was formally designated by the United Nations General Assembly and coincides with the anniversary of the death of Mother Teresa.
At PrimeSites Digital, the idea behind the day is something we strongly identify with.
We believe a business can do more than provide a good service and make a profit. It can also create opportunities for other people, support worthwhile organisations and contribute in small but meaningful ways to communities both locally and further afield.
That belief is why we built giving into the way PrimeSites Digital operates.
For every new client who joins us, we fund a microloan through Kiva, a global non-profit organisation that helps expand access to finance for people who may not have the same access to traditional lending that many of us take for granted.
It means that when a new business chooses PrimeSites Digital for its website, hosting or ongoing support, the impact of that relationship can extend well beyond the website itself.
A simple idea with a wider impact
The principle behind our Kiva programme is deliberately simple.
When a new client joins PrimeSites Digital, we make a loan contribution to an entrepreneur or small business owner through Kiva.
Those loans may support people such as:
- farmers purchasing equipment or livestock
- shopkeepers building inventory
- artisans expanding production
- small food businesses purchasing supplies
- tradespeople investing in tools
- entrepreneurs creating local employment
- people building businesses to provide more stable income for their families
Kiva operates through a crowdfunding model, allowing individuals and organisations to contribute relatively small amounts towards a borrower’s larger loan. When repayments are made, those funds can be lent again to another person, allowing the same pool of money to continue creating opportunities over time.
That ability to re-lend is one of the things we particularly like about the model.
Instead of a contribution having one single moment of impact, repaid funds can go on to support another entrepreneur, then another, and potentially many more after that.
Supporting entrepreneurs around the world
To date, PrimeSites Digital has helped support 242 entrepreneurs across 67 countries through our Kiva lending activity.
That number has grown gradually as PrimeSites has grown.
Behind every loan is an individual story.
It might be someone seeking funds to expand a small farm, purchase stock for a family-run shop, improve equipment, develop a service business or create a more stable source of income.
The industries and circumstances vary enormously, but the underlying ambition is often very familiar to anyone who has built a small business.
There is usually an idea. There is hard work. There is risk. There is a desire to build something better.
And sometimes there is simply a shortage of access to the capital needed to take the next step.
That is one reason the programme resonates so strongly with us as small-business owners ourselves.
Why Kiva?
Kiva describes its model as using crowdfunded loans to expand financial access.
Borrowers are typically supported through Kiva’s network of lending partners, which can include microfinance institutions, non-profits and other local organisations. These partners help with functions such as screening borrowers, disbursing funds and collecting repayments.
Kiva states that 100% of funds contributed as loans go towards borrowers’ loans, while the organisation itself is supported through separate donations, grants and other funding sources.
The scale of the programme is substantial.
Kiva currently reports more than US$2.4 billion in loans, around 6 million people impacted, and approximately 2.9 million loans funded over its history.
Those figures are significant, but for us the attraction is still the individual level.
You can see the person or group you are supporting.You can understand what they are trying to achieve.
And when repayments are made, you can put those funds back to work supporting someone else.
Business owners supporting business owners
There is something particularly fitting about using the growth of PrimeSites Digital to support other entrepreneurs.
Most PrimeSites clients are themselves small-business owners, organisations, charities or people building something of their own.
We understand the uncertainty involved in starting a business.
There are costs before revenue becomes predictable. There are decisions about what to invest in first. There are long hours. There are mistakes.
There are moments when one piece of equipment, one opportunity or one additional source of funding can make a meaningful difference.
The circumstances of a Kiva borrower in another part of the world may be very different from those of a business owner in Perth, but the underlying entrepreneurial drive is often recognisable.
That shared connection makes the programme feel much more personal to us than simply setting aside an arbitrary percentage for a generic corporate responsibility initiative.
The ripple effect of every new PrimeSites client
One of the parts we enjoy most is that our clients indirectly become part of the programme.
When a new business joins PrimeSites Digital, it creates the opportunity for us to make another loan.
The client receives a new website, hosting, technical support and an ongoing digital partnership.
At the same time, another entrepreneur somewhere else receives additional support towards their own business plans.
It creates a small ripple effect.
A website project in Western Australia can contribute to:
- new equipment for a farmer
- additional stock for a local retailer
- tools for a tradesperson
- materials for an artisan
- expansion of a small family business
- greater financial independence for an entrepreneur
No single loan changes the world.
But Kiva’s model demonstrates how large numbers of relatively small contributions can collectively create substantial access to finance. The organisation reports that, among borrowers surveyed through one major impact study, 90% said their quality of life had improved and 88% reported increased business income after receiving their loans.
Giving back does not have to be complicated
Small businesses sometimes assume that meaningful charitable activity is something reserved for large companies with dedicated corporate social responsibility budgets.
We do not believe that has to be the case.
Giving can take many forms:
- donating money
- donating professional services
- volunteering time
- supporting local charities
- sponsoring community organisations
- providing reduced-cost work for non-profits
- mentoring another business owner
- funding microfinance
- sharing expertise
The United Nations itself recognises that charity can include volunteering time and expertise as well as direct financial contributions.
For a small business, the most sustainable approach is often to choose something that genuinely aligns with its values and build it into normal operations.
That is what we have tried to do.
Supporting charities closer to home
Our Kiva programme is only one part of the way we think about giving back.
PrimeSites Digital also works with not-for-profit and community organisations here in Western Australia, sometimes contributing additional time or support where we can.
One recent example is our work with Wheelchairs For Kids Australia, a Western Australian charity helping provide specially designed wheelchairs to children around the world.
Projects like this matter to us personally as well as professionally.
As a family, supporting worthwhile causes has always been important to us, and we want that same attitude reflected in PrimeSites Digital.
We would love to continue working with more charities and not-for-profit organisations where our skills in website design, hosting, ecommerce, technical support and digital infrastructure can make their work a little easier.
Good business and good impact can coexist
We do not see commercial success and social contribution as opposing ideas.
In fact, a healthy business is often in a stronger position to support other people.
When PrimeSites grows:
- we can employ and support more people
- we can invest in better infrastructure for clients
- we can devote more resources to charitable projects
- we can fund more Kiva loans
- we can provide more support to community organisations
That creates a positive cycle.
It is also why we believe giving should be sustainable rather than performative.
The goal is not to create one large gesture for a social media post.
The goal is to keep doing something useful year after year.
International Day of Charity is a good reminder
The International Day of Charity was created to encourage people, businesses, non-government organisations and communities to support charitable activity and increase awareness of the value of helping others.
For us, 5 September is a useful reminder that giving does not always need to be dramatic.
Sometimes it is simply about building a habit.
One new client. One more loan. One more entrepreneur supported. One more opportunity created.
Over time, those individual actions add up.
Our 242 loans across 67 countries did not happen all at once. They happened one client and one entrepreneur at a time. And that is exactly the way we want it to continue.
Websites that work and give back
PrimeSites Digital exists to help small businesses and organisations build stronger websites and reliable online systems.
But we also want the success of our business to create some benefit beyond ourselves.
Every new client gives us another opportunity to support an entrepreneur through Kiva, and we are very grateful to the PrimeSites clients who make that possible.
If you are considering a new website, moving an existing WordPress site, improving your hosting or simply need better ongoing website support, we would love to hear about your business.
And when you become a PrimeSites client, somewhere else in the world another entrepreneur gets a little extra support too.
Websites that work, and give back.
