Kiva.org Matures Into The First True Social Giving Platform

Yesterday, Kiva.org (which we profiled here) announced that it was creating a developer community and releasing a set of APIs.  With this bold stroke, Kiva transforms itself from microfinacing product to microfinancing platform.  This is very exiting, and I’m going to do my best to tell you why without losing you over too many technical details.

You may have heard Taylor or me mention the term “API” in the past, but I don’t think we’ve done a very good job of explaining what it means.  An API (which stands for Application Programming Interface) is essentially a set of computer commands and protocols that allows one piece of software to request information from another.  In short, the API is the language of software: the requesting software calls for information, and the source software delivers it.  Each program has its own “dialect” that the requesting software must employ in order to get the information it needs; when a company “releases” an API, then, it is essentially publishing the dictionary and grammar guide for that program’s language.

For example, if you are using a Windows PC, every program running on your computer right now — from AIM to Chrome to iTunes to MSWord — is making use of the Windows API to access resources from Windows XP or Vista.  Web applications often release APIs as well: Google and Facebook have APIs that allow developers to call for information from their services — whether it be search results, map tiles, or your social graph — and employ it in their own web applications (see my post on mashups).  By releasing numerous and robust APIs, companies essentially turn what were once simple products into foundations that can be built upon by those willing to learn and use the language.  The product evolves into what is called a “platform.”

Transitioning from web product to web platform is a sign of not only a product’s success and confidence, but also its maturity.  The release of an API shows that the service itself is structured and strong enough to handle not only its own traffic, but also an unknowable number of outside requests.  It carries a guarantee of a certain level of reliability of the service, as well — that it will suffer minimal downtime and will return clean data for every request.  But perhaps most importantly, the movement from product to platform signals an realization by the company that its mission can not be achieved in its own walled garden.  Whether your goal is to connect the world together like Facebook, or to organize the world’s information like Google: if your ambitions are lofty, then you have to open up yours doors so that others can leverage your resources for unique and innovative applications.

So when Kiva.org, an already quite successful microfinancing service, announces that they are releasing APIs, I salute them.  With this announcement, they celebrate their success and confirm their maturity and commitment to their cause.  But what does this really mean in the details?  Let’s turn to their announcement:

Here are some of the things you can request through the API:

• all of the loans at Kiva currently raising funds
• all of the entrepreneurs from Uganda and Peru which have fully repaid their loans
• the latest lending activity on Kiva
• financial nitty-gritty for any of our loans
• the list of loans made by any one of Kiva’s lenders with a public lender page

[...]

So what will you build? If you’re at a loss for ideas we’ve started a running list of many of the great ideas we’ve heard about so far. Here are a few:

• an application for iPhone or Blackberry that let’s you keep up with Kiva on the go
• a service where lenders can register for alerts on new entrepreneurs they want to fund
• integration into a social network where friends can engage around each others’ activity and loan updates on Kiva
• a map that simulates the realtime transfer of funds across the globe

You should see by now where this is going.  The possibilities are limited only by the creativity of developers and the interest levels of the users.  By making itself the first great social giving platform, Kiva.org is providing the resources and tools for programmers to leverage its robust platform to do good in the world.  And that’s something worth being really excited about.