Question 1

Is it really free?

Accepted Answer

Yes. The donation comes out of the affiliate commission the merchant pays Jharis when you click through and buy. You pay the same price the merchant always charges.

Question 2

What's a 'valid purchase'?

Accepted Answer

A purchase is valid when the affiliate program reports it back to Jharis as completed and not refunded. Returns, cancellations, and payment failures don't generate a commission, so no donation is made.

Question 3

What percentage gets donated?

Accepted Answer

Between 1% and 10% of the purchase total, depending on the merchant and category. The current rate for each merchant is shown on the home page strip and inside the Chrome extension.

Question 4

When are donations paid out?

Accepted Answer

Monthly. Once the affiliate networks have confirmed the previous month's eligible purchases, Jharis aggregates the donations and funds Kiva microloans in a single batch.

Question 5

What happens if I return an item?

Accepted Answer

If a return cancels the affiliate commission, no donation is made on that purchase. If a donation has already been paid out, it's reconciled against future donations rather than clawed back from Kiva.

Question 6

Why Kiva?

Accepted Answer

Kiva is an established non-profit with a transparent loan-by-loan model. Every donation Jharis makes is traceable to a specific borrower, in a specific country, via a specific local field partner. That makes our promise easy to verify.

Question 7

Does the Chrome extension track me?

Accepted Answer

The extension only activates on the partner merchant domains it needs to. It doesn't read browsing history, doesn't sell data, and doesn't run third-party advertising trackers.

Question 8

Why are some loans listed as 'defaulted' or 'ended with loss'?

Accepted Answer

Microloans are real lending — sometimes they don't get fully repaid. The site shows exactly how much was lost across the donations Jharis has made, rather than hiding it.

Question 9

How often does the loan ledger update?

Accepted Answer

Whenever the underlying Kiva export is regenerated and redeployed, typically alongside each monthly payout. The footer shows the date of the most recent loan in the dataset.