Dallas, TX – (November 30th, 2010) – VanillaSoft announced today that it has selected micro lending as its 2011 social community initiative and use Kiva as the platform to make micro loans to entrepreneurs and small businesses across the globe.

VanillaSoft, a leading provider of lead management software for Inside Sales teams sees micro lending as a perfect fit for it’s employees, prospects, investors and customers. “It just makes sense,” said Ken Murray, President of VanillaSoft. “When we started our company, we got funded early on through friends, angels and eventually through traditional banks and VCs. Opportunity for funding in the developing world is extremely limited or simply not available. This is not only an opportunity to make a loan to a fellow business owner, it is absolutely the right thing to do.”

VanillaSoft hopes to spread the good will well beyond their small community. They have two initiatives underway. VanillaSoft will match any gift of $25 to $100 made to Kiva prior to the end of the year up to a total of $10,000 in new loans. Interested lenders simply join the VanillaSoft Team at http://www.kiva.org/team/VanillaSoft to pick out who they wish to fund, then notify VanillaSoft at[email protected] and VanillaSoft will match the loan to the selected entrepreneur. If the selected entrepreneur is fully funded, VanillaSoft will make a loan of equal value to another one. All repaid loans go directly back to the original lender.

As part of the VanillaSoft commitment to help start-ups and early stage companies that are cash strapped in the developed world, VanillaSoft will make its Lite product available royalty free for a specified and agreed-to period of time in exchange for a Kiva loan being made. VanillaSoft will also match any loan made through this program.

The team at VanillaSoft is excited to get their new programs underway and start sharing their good fortune with other businesses and entrepreneurs around the world. To learn more about the program visit vanillasoft.com/kiva.

About VanillaSoft

VanillaSoft is the award winning lead management andtelemarketing software created by Inside Sales experts for Insides Sales teams. VanillaSoft enables customers to do more than store their data and report on it like traditional CRM. VanillaSoft customers drive productivity by deploying an award winning Best-In-Class feature set which includes next-best-call logic, auto-dialing, on-board intelligent messaging, integrated e-mail, real-time lead distribution, live dashboard and call recording for training. Typical users realize a production increase of 30 to 50% over traditional CRM, creating an easy to justify ROI. VanillaSoft dials over existing phone systems or VOIP meaning no new or high fees for telecom. VanillaSoft is based in Plano, Texas where it has served a global client base since 2005.

About Kiva

Kiva’s mission is to connect people, through lending, for the sake of alleviating poverty.

Kiva empowers individuals to lend to an entrepreneur across the globe. By combining microfinance with the internet, Kiva is creating a global community of people connected through lending.

Kiva was born of the following beliefs:

  • People are by nature generous, and will help others if given the opportunity to do so in a transparent, accountable way.
  • The poor are highly motivated and can be very successful when given an opportunity.
  • By connecting people we can create relationships beyond financial transactions, and build a global community expressing support and encouragement of one another.

Kiva promotes:

  • Dignity: Kiva encourages partnership relationships as opposed to benefactor relationships. Partnership relationships are characterized by mutual dignity and respect.
  • Accountability: Loans encourage more accountability than donations where repayment is not expected.
  • Transparency: The Kiva website is an open platform where communication can flow freely around the world.

As of November 2009, Kiva has facilitated over $100 million in loans.