Matter to a Million - HP and Kiva
As the HP Company Foundation sought to identify an initiative to engage its 300,000 worldwide employees, it turned to Kiva, the world’s first personal micro-lending marketplace, and created Matter to a Million, a program that offered each employee a $25 credit to use to fund a micro loan.
Kiva, which has a mission of alleviating poverty by connecting people through lending, fit well with the goals of HP Living Progress, HP’s company-wide philosophy that drives human, economic and environmental progress. The partnership also aligned with the entrepreneurial spirit in which HP was founded.
Employees responded enthusiastically. In just nine days, more than $1 million was loaned via the $25 Kiva gift cards. In its first six months, more than 115,000 HP employees lent more than $4.2 million. And in less than one year, $6 million has been lent.
A key element of Matter to a Million is the Global Lending Leader Program. Lending Leaders are employee volunteers who raise awareness about the program, rally colleagues, share stories about their loan recipients, and provide feedback on the program. More than 400 Lending Leaders from 40 countries have participated.
HP incentivized employee participation by not only making it easy to redeem their $25 credit, but by offering an additional $25 Kiva credit if they made their loan within 48 hours of the program’s launch. This initiative had a redemption rate of nearly 70 percent.
Matter to a Million is one of the most successful employee engagement programs in HP history. Tens of thousands of entrepreneurs around the world received loans, while more than 43 percent of HP employees participated. Many employees said they involved their children in deciding to whom they should make loans. As a result, Matter to a Million became part of HP’s 2014 Take Our Kids To Work Day program, with additional $25 certificates offered to employees who registered for that special program with their kids.
Matter to a Million has inspired many employees to contribute their personal funds to make additional loans through Kiva, whose vision is to democratize access to capital so everyone can be a change agent—a partner in their borrower’s success.
