Learn how to get a loan without supporting the questionable practices of big banks.

Thinking about buying a house or car? Want to start a small business or pay off credit card debt? Each of these goals requires cash, something that you might not have on hand. When many people think about how to get a loan for large purchases, they often assume big banks are their only option. In the past few years, getting loans from big banks has become harder, not to mention unattractive to those who don’t want to support banks’ dubious practices.

Many big banks are big time political lobbyists, using their deep pockets to support deregulation of their own industry. This had a big hand in causing the credit and housing market crisis that plunged the United States into recession in the first place. Beyond corruption, big banks also have a narrow view of the type of person who deserves a loan. Work for yourself or have less than perfect credit? It’s likely they’ll show you the door.

But not to worry. Just because big banks don’t want you (or vice versa) doesn’t mean you can’t learn how to get a loan another way. The emerging sharing economy has given rise to a number of peer-to-peer lending options for those who need a loan–from just a few dollars to thousands. If you’re wondering how to get a loan without supporting big banks, you’ll want to bookmark this list.

How To Get A Loan Using Peer-To-Peer Lending Sites

1. Familiarize yourself with the peer-to-peer lending industry. Like many others in the sharing economy, this industry connects people who have with people who need–the difference is instead of sharing a car or lawnmower, the asset is actually money. There are many reasons to feel hopeful about this new style of lending, but like all borrowing, it’s not without potential risk.

2. Determine the type and size loan that’s needed. Will it be a personal or professional loan? Will it be for $500 or $5,500? What kind of interest rate are you willing to pay? Experts say that micro loans, personal loans, credit card debt refinancing loans, small business loans, and loans for creative projects are best suited to peer-to-peer lending.

3. Know your credit score. If you’ve spent some time thinking about how to get a loan, you already know that your credit score is very important to getting approved. The difference between big banks and peer lenders is that a less-than-perfect credit score won’t automatically disqualify you, or lock you into a massive interest rate.

4. Choose your lender. Once you’ve learned more about how to get a loan using peer-to-peer lending, it’s time to choose a platform and a lender. Below are some of the most trusted and proven peer-to-peer lending platforms in the industry.

Lending Club – lends up to $33,000 towards consumer debt.

Prosper – provides loans ranging from $2,000 to $25,000, and for as little as $25 you can be a crowdfunder or investor.

Zopa – This London-based P2P lender offers up to £10,000, and individual borrowers deal directly with lenders.

SoMoLend – A Cincinnati-based crowdfunding platform specifically designed for small businesses.

Rebirth Financial – This New Orleans-based small business lending platform eliminates the additional costs of banks and other financial institutions.

People Capital – A revolutionary peer-to-peer lending platform designed specifically for students looking to finance college.

Peerform – Connecting personal borrowers together with investors who want to make loans at attractive interest rates.

Wikiloan – Leverages the power of your social networks to generate personal loans in a secure and professional manner.

For lots more information and resources about peer-to-peer lending, please check out my book about the sharing economy!

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Image: lendingmemo

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We’ve got a roundup of some unique and worthy crowdfunded projects to check out.

It seems you can’t scroll an inch through Facebook or Twitter these days without seeing a call to support a crowdfund project (or ten) featured on platforms like Kickstarter, Rally and Indiegogo. Maybe you’ve even started one of your own.

What’s so enticing about these crowdfunded social financing models is it’s helping shape the projects, product, art and causes that individuals and communities actually want, as opposed to giant corporations just giving us their preferred options to choose from.

This self-empowerment in turn helps us to send strong messages back to the corporatocracy about what we will and will not support, hopefully leading them towards developing more socially and environmentally supportive policies and products. These are exciting times indeed.

If you’ve not yet lent your support to a crowdfunded project, we’ve rounded up a few you might find particularly worthy. What’s also fun about social financing is there are incentives, often for nominal donations as low as $5 or $10. The more you give, the more you get, and while that’s not necessarily a reason to support a worthy cause, you can use the perks as gifts or even as a donation, if you feel called to.

1. Our own Foodie Underground columnist, Anna Brones, is working on a project about inspirational visionaries in Afghanistan called Afghan Dreamers.

2. Exile Nation: The Plastic People: This documentary film-in-process is a project about the mass-deportation of millions of Mexican-American immigrants and what happens when they’re forced out of the country.

3. Help build an urban garden in Ojai, California at the Topa Topa Elementary school.

4. Technology got you a little frazzled? Grab a handmade notebook (or several) to jot down your thoughts instead from Mirth and Company.

5. Love trees? Support non-profit efforts dedicated to rescuing timberlands from logging.

6. A film with a non-profit component tracks six women touring India, experiencing the harsh economic differences.

7. Support community in a unique experiment: walking the East Coast while holding hands. Results will be documented in books.

8. Keep one of Santa Monica’s most loved healthy and delicious raw food restaurants from shutting its doors. Euphoria Loves Rawvolution’s landlord has gone a little wacky and it’s threatening this long-time establishment.

Got a worthy crowd-funding project we should know about? Let me know on Twitter @jillettinger

 Image courtesy of Afghan Dreamers

The post 8 Eco and Socially Conscious Crowdfunded Projects Worth Supporting appeared first on EcoSalon.

Help crowdfund one of 100 sustainable school gardens in urban areas across the country.

As crowdfunding is becoming increasingly popular, thanks to sites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo, it’s easier than ever to support causes that we truly believe in like giving children access to fresh food and teaching them about the importance of healthy eating through school gardens.

This month, Whole Kids Foundation, PACT, and Indiegogo have teamed up to help fund 100 sustainable school gardens in urban areas across the US. The Urban Gardens Across America campaign enables donors to fund the garden project (or projects) of their choice through the world’s largest crowdfunding platform to help give the children tools that will empower then throughout their lives.

School gardens brings this kind of nutritional education straight to the children and serve as living laboratories for education. Today, only 2 percent of American children eat enough fruits and vegetables, and 1 in 3 American children born after 2000 is at risk for Type II diabetes. A garden is an introduction to what it takes to produce real, healthy food — from seed to plate. With more than 80 percent of Americans living in cities and suburbs, further away from farms and food production, it’s more important than ever to teach children the values of natural processes.

The goal is to raise $2,500 for each garden in just 39 days. For a contribution as small as $10, you can help feed, teach, and inspire people in each of these 100 communities. With every contribution, donors will receive great perks from mission-driven organic apparel brand PACT, including ethically made undies, socks and tees. To support the campaign, PACT has designed a garden-inspired collection of socks, tanks, T-shirts, leggings and underwear. “Our Spring 2013 collection reflects our dedication to the urban farms movement from our Farm Stripes to our Blossom prints,” says Jeff Denby, owner of PACT. “We are excited to connect PACT with urban farms across the country and raise awareness of the importance of eating healthy foods.”

The Whole Kids Foundation, a Whole Foods Market foundation, will provide additional support for each garden, like online garden planning tools and organic seeds to help build or expand each urban garden. “Gardening helps create a tangible experience that connects parents and kids to real food and helps inspires healthier eating habits,” said Nona Evans, executive director for Whole Kids Foundation.

“It’s inspiring to know that a mission-driven foundation, brand and crowdfunding platform can not only do good together, but we can also empower people to take action and influence what happens in their local communities,” said Danae Ringelmann, Co-Founder of Indiegogo.

To engage the community and rally support around these campaigns, each one is led by a “PACTivist” who acts as an advocate for a particular garden. I am honored to represent the garden at Meiners Oaks Elementary School in Ojai, CA. It’s a great example of a successful school garden, as nearly 70 percent of 1st-6th graders choose to participate. Every Wednesday, budding gardeners help with tasks like planting, watering, weeding, harvesting, sifting compost, and saving seeds, but also get to enjoy the fruits of their labor by making raw tacos and snacking on garden fresh veggies.

The Gardens Across America campaign runs until February 28. Help us support the Meiners Oaks garden or find one in your community.

photography from Meiners Oaks Elementary, all by Timothy Teague

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