[ajug-members] Micro-lending Web Site

[Dean Wagner]

I have a development project from a non-profit (them and me) that I  
need advice on.  I've agreed to do it, Pro Bono, but I'm afraid they  
may get what they paid for (as I am a novice).

They do community development work throughout Africa.  Over the next  
6 months they want to set up a web “service” “application” for micro  
lending.  My daughter spent the summer driving around the bush and  
working in the villages for this group.  I'm a business consultant  
who enjoys Java and has been coming and going from AJUG meetings.  I  
made a very primitive  AJAX test database which was literally an  
adaptation of the PHP CRUD tutorial from NetBeans, which worked!  Now  
talk has gotten serious and I would like advice on the correct  
architecture/technology/framework and also the content repository.

What they imagine is something like kiva.org, a very successful  
site.  What the site does is act as a broker between Micro-Finance- 
Institutions (MFI) and individuals (Social Investors, SI) who would  
like to loan  the small amount of money needed to start a business or  
whatever in a third world country.  The typical loan is about $500.   
The typical contribution is about $25.  Many SIs will contribute to  
the same  micro loan.  When/if  the money is returned (about 90%) ,  
their portion goes back into an account and can be re-lent by the  
social investor to another project.  It is called a “high-touch”  
charity because the giver gets to see pictures and get reports of  
success for their contribution.  This means a lot of images, and if  
possible a little video.

Kiva.org has about 100 MFIs, 60,000 active loans and 300,000 social  
investors.  They claim a new loan is posted every 20 seconds.   
They've been on Oprah.  This site would be considerably smaller, but  
should be scalable.  Even though the money is legally given away, I'm  
sure the Social investors would be pretty angry if their balance got  
screwed up.


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MFIs have multiple projects
projects have multiple donors and donors have multiple projects
donations and re-payments are used to calculate net monthly payments  
to/from MFIs

Users
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curious public – gets to search the database of projects past and  
present, retrieving images and journal entries,  browse MFI profiles,  
register as new investors, give donations, shop at the gift shop, etc...

Social investors – donate to loan projects, establish user profiles,  
view transaction history, check loan status, etc...

MFI Contact –  edit profile, upload new loan information, summit  
payment information, etc...

Account manager – Audit and monitor MFI activity, reconcile monthly  
payments, etc...

Any and all advice will be appreciated.  thanks