Microloans are great for helping budding entrepreneurs who lack access to capital, but they only meet one of the many need of microfinance. While it doesn't give you the direct connection with a person or group, investing in a microfinance institution also helps the development of banking systems for those who lack them.

This isn't for everyone and we are by no means any sort of financial advisors, but there are a lot of good microfinance institutions out there that people may not think to invest in. A couple of resources from Forbes, MixMarket, and Microcapital.org

This is where you can figure out what part of the world you want to impact and how your money will be used. While an investment for you, this will also be a way to really help those who need access to basic financial institutions, so you much balance the financial and social benefits.

We could use some people who have experience doing this discussing it on our discussion pages. Share you experiences with others using the site.