Annual Members Meeting and Ice Cream Social 2017


  • Start: July 8, 2017 2:00 pm
  • End: July 8, 2017 5:00 pm

9556 Magnolia Avenue, Riverside, California, United States

Click for our Annual Members Report 2016-17.

The RFC Board votes monthly to apply proceeds from our Member Crop Box to a selection of Kiva loans. This month we asked our membership to make the choices, and here are the five results:
Krug Creamery
SNAFU Acres
Kale Bale Market
Hudson Valley Seed Company, now fully funded
Lantern Farm


The Annual Meeting will be COOL this year! Get the scoop! Hear all about

  • Our current finances
  • Our current projects
  • Our exciting raffle: a $50 restaurant gift card for Members who bring in new Members, and
  • Our proposal to become a Kiva Microfunds Trustee (see below for more details, click here for more about Kiva).

Then we’ll have ice cream with your favorite toppings! Join us, please. The co-op is all about you, our Members.


Members in attendance will vote on the following ballot.

QUESTION: SHALL RIVERSIDE FOOD CO-OP BECOME A KIVA MICROFUNDS TRUSTEE?

Kiva’s Mission:
To reinsert relationships into the financial system, filling the gap of affordable, flexible, friendly capital for entrepreneurs that struggle to find other forms of financing.

  • This is a loan, not a donation like other crowdfunding sites. Kiva borrowers can access a 0% interest loan up to $10,000, with a term of 12-36 months. Typical crowdfunding sites take 4-10% of the donations.
  • Kiva’s success rate in the U.S. is 90% after the private fundraising period. Typical crowdfunding has a success rate of 50% or less. Borrowers are expected to bring about 80% of their goal from their personal network. Borrowers raise about 30% from their personal network and the remaining 70% from the larger network of lenders.
  • Kiva borrowers can build their credit by successfully repaying the loan.

Kiva Trustees:
Trustees are people and organizations that publicly vouch for entrepreneurs in their community for a Kiva loan. Many entrepreneurs in the U.S. struggle to access capital to launch or grow their business.

  • As a Trustee you can empower entrepreneurs in your community with 0% interest loans. A large part of being a Trustee is spreading the word about Kiva as a funding source. A Trustee endorsement exposes the borrower to the Trustee’s larger network, which increases its visibility.
  • The process is straightforward. As a Trustee for Kiva, the RFC will receive a request from a party interested in a Kiva loan. A small Trustee committee–open to the Board or general co-op members–interviews the applicant. The interview determines if the applicant has done the work to be successful: shows commitment to repay the loan, and shows that the loan will increase revenue and have a positive impact on the business. If the Trustee committee deems the applicant worthy of recommending, it forwards the information to Kiva where the borrower sets up the loan.
  • A Trustee recommendation only makes the loan process simpler for the borrower. RFC may or may not loan money to the potential borrower. People in our Kiva lending group will see the borrower’s request, and may or may not loan money. A Trustee’s power is in the social capital its recommendation represents.

Benefits:
Increased exposure for the Riverside Food Co-op while investing in our community. Most loans are in agriculture, food, artisan/maker and service industries. Loans help create new businesses, or expand existing ones.

Risks:
A borrower may default. Trustees are not responsible for repaying the loan, but the lenders may not realize repayment. Individual loans are usually for $25, and the repayment rate is 97.1%.