Stock Lending

I started buying stock in June 2025, so far I am up 1,300 and currently have a portfolio worth 4219 (Robinhood says I'm +45%). I add 100-250 per pay check, I'm maxing out my retirement so I'm not sure this is necessary but I figure it is a good habit to have. I'm learning along the way.

What is stock Lending? Robinhood pushes me a lot of notifications stating I'm not utilizing it. I don't entirely understand what it is, and everything I have read makes it sound like it is all reward with no risk (which is not how money works).

So what is it exactly? What are the risks? What are the benefits? With such a small stock account (relatively speaking, I understand 4k is a lot to a lot of people), does it benefit me or is it better to wait until my account grows to really get a reward that makes the risk(s) worthwhile?