How to find the right lender for you needs

It’s easy enough to say a lender is someone who lends, but it’s not always that simple. Not every lender provides the same loans. One lender might make only business loans, while another lender makes only consumer loans. It’s not much of a challenge to find a lender who makes loans only to people who have stellar credit, but finding a lender who makes loans to someone who’s “credit score challenged” can be a different matter altogether.

So, how to you find the lender who’s right for you? There are three ways to narrow the field.

• You could call around to local financial institutions, asking what type of lender they are, and what their terms and rates might be for someone with your needs and credit history.
• You could ask friends or other business owners for recommendations. Ask where they’ve gotten loans in the past, and if the lender was someone they would use again.

• You could go through a loan-consulting firm that will analyze your needs and credit history and either present your application to a lender that specializes in loans like yours, or will advise you on what type of lender to use and how to maximize your chances of getting a loan with satisfactory rates and terms.

It hasn’t always been so, but today almost anybody can find a lender will to make a loan. Even someone with a low credit score can find a lender, if the borrower is willing and able to pay more for the loan.

There is no shortage of short-term lenders, cash advance storefronts, payday loan providers and pawnshops. It’s not hard to find a lender online with minimal requirements for income and credit, and most are able wire the loan to the borrower with a bank account within 24 hours—many can do so within an hour.

The one caveat that should be heeded when accepting loans of this type is to make payments on time; failing to do so can result in high penalties and higher interest rates. Though much has been written and said about how payday lenders take advantage of borrowers with limited options, the truth is that a short-term lender is often the only lender and the only option available. In addition, for a borrower who repays the loan on time, the option can be a lifesaver.

"The measure of a life is not its duration, after all, but its donation."  Corrie ten Boom

Eighty-nine percent of Americans donate money to churches and charities. Americans gave an average of $1,620 each in 2008, the most recent figures available, according to the National Philanthropic Trust, and even that is 2% less money than they donated in 2007.

If you ever doubt humankind’s generosity, consider that more than $644 million has just recently been donated in the aftermath of the earth-shattering January 12 earthquake in Haiti—an unprecedented amount of money, according to the Chronicle of Philanthropy. The average amount of money per donor is less than was donated in the wake of the 2004 Indonesian tsunami, but there have been millions more people donating. The advent of donating money by texting from mobile devices has likely contributed to the number of donors—12 million donors chose this method—but clearly, there is something more at play than convenience.

The Bible’s Old Testament demands a “tithe,” literally, 10% of one’s income. The New Testament, however, is clear that Christians should give money to the church to further the gospel, but the emphasis in on a freewill gift without a specific formula for determining how much money should be given. Orthodox Jews follow the Old Testament law and donate 10% of income to charity.

Alms-giving is one the Five Pillars of Islam, and though the amount of money to be donated isn’t specified, Muslims must donate at least a small percentage of their surplus income to the poor, or risk that their prayers will no be heard.

The tradition of charitable giving is universal, and in many European countries, there are compulsory taxes for money to be given to churches and charities. There is no such tax in the United States, but the importance of charity is clear in our tax code that provides tax credits to donors.

Is charitable giving a moral obligation? Is it evidence of innate compassion? If it is a moral obligation, what is the “right” amount of money to give?

There are two schools of thought regarding how much we should give to help others. One is that we should give until it hurts; we should make a sacrifice. The other thinking is that we should give until it feels good, and when giving feels good, maybe that is evidence of our innate compassion.