Comment 12 by mmurray :

Who do you mean by they ? The original article was written by a single person.

I'm confused in your first paragraph you are arguing that anything is a charity as long as the person giving thinks it is a good cause and in the second you claim the opposite ? Personally I think donating to support a bunch of Catholic priests who could easily go out and get jobs is not charity.

More then one idiot has called Kiva a charity.

that is fair, but there is a difference.

In donating to a church they are doing what they think is best and giving up something while getting nothing but good feelings in return (charity).

While the people at Kiva.org are simply investing and making money. They are getting physical rewards greater then what they sacrificed. it does not matter if they are delusional enough to feel good about it or to think that it is a charity. Now you could argue that at least some of the investments do help people (I am sure a lot of people are employed and are entertained by those blood sports), but by definition you cannot make money in an act of charity.