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Wokai was an organization that allowed people to contribute directly to
microfinance Microfinance is a category of financial services targeting individuals and small businesses who lack access to conventional banking and related services. Microfinance includes microcredit, the provision of small loans to poor clients; savings ...
institutions in China, which in turn lend the money to entrepreneurs in rural China.Tiny loans, big difference at Bay Area Web site
/ref>"Role-reversal: Americans provide loans to Chinese - World Blog - msnbc.com"
/ref> It was a
501(c)(3) A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of the 29 types of 50 ...
non-profit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...
based in
Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...
, with core operations in
Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
, supported by individual donors, corporate sponsors, fundraising events and grants."About" on Wokai.org
/ref> As of May 2012, Wokai concluded operations due to funding roadblocks and the need for a new CEO.


History

Wokai was founded in March 2007 by Casey Wilson and Courtney McColgan after they met studying at Tsinghua University in Beijing.China Calling : Facebook for China's Farmers
/ref> Wokai grew to a leadership team of five, a board of directors, and an Investment Committee in addition to numerous volunteers, part of chapters in cities including in Beijing, Boston, Hong Kong, Los Angeles, Nanjing, New York, San Francisco, Seattle, Shanghai, Toronto and Washington, D.C., London, Singapore, Bristol, Dallas and Atlanta."Team" on Wokai.org
/ref> Wokai also maintained a fellowship program called "Wokai Fellows", which allowed selected individuals to work directly with one of Wokai's field partners in rural China. Wokai's blog featured updates from the field through Wokai Fellows, profiles of Wokai volunteers from around the world, personal glimpses of rural Chinese life, and commentary about current developments in rural China and the microfinance sector. In May 2012, Wokai announced that it was concluding operations due to a variety of factors.


Activities

Wokai allowed accredited
microfinance Microfinance is a category of financial services targeting individuals and small businesses who lack access to conventional banking and related services. Microfinance includes microcredit, the provision of small loans to poor clients; savings ...
institutions in China, called "Field Partners", to post profiles of qualified local
entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values th ...
s on its website. Wokai had two Field Partners, the Association for Rural Development of Yilong County (ARDY), which is based in Sichuan, and Chifeng Zhaowuda Women's Sustainable Development Association (CZWSDA), in Chifeng, Inner Mongolia. Lenders browse and choose an entrepreneur they wish to fund. Wokai aggregates loan capital from individual lenders and transfers it to the appropriate Field Partners to disburse to the entrepreneur chosen by the lender. The average loan is around $300 and is used by low-income entrepreneurs to invest in simple business improvements such as adding additional livestock or buying new products for dry goods stores. As the entrepreneurs repay their loans, the Field Partners remit funds back to Wokai and the lender is alerted of this repayment."Bay Area Microfinance Reaches Rural Chinese : AsianWeek"
/ref> Once the loan was repaid, the Wokai lenders could redistribute it to another entrepreneur, up to a total of three loan cycles. Donors' funds were transferred to Wokai through
Google Checkout Google Checkout was an online payment processing service provided by Google aimed at simplifying the process of paying for online purchases. It was discontinued on November 20, 2013 and the service moved to Google Wallet (now called Google Pay). ...
."Help Center" on Wokai.org
/ref> Wokai's Field Partners charged interest rates between 15% and 20%. Field Partners used the interest from borrower loans to cover staff salaries, transportation, and operating costs.


Shutdown

As of May 1, 2012, Wokai is no longer in business. The organization sent letters to all the donors and posted a message on its website detailing the reasons for the shutdown. These included funding road blocks and an unmet need for a new CEO.


See also

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Microcredit :''This article is specific to small loans, often provided in a pooled manner. For direct payments to individuals for specific projects, see Micropatronage. For financial services to the poor, see Microfinance. For small payments, see Micropayme ...
*
Social entrepreneurship Social entrepreneurship is an approach by individuals, groups, start-up companies or entrepreneurs, in which they develop, fund and implement solutions to social, cultural, or environmental issues. This concept may be applied to a wide range of o ...
*
Kiva (organization) Kiva (commonly known by its domain name, Kiva.org) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization headquartered in San Francisco, California, that claims to allow people to lend money via the Internet to low-income entrepreneurs and students in 77 count ...


References

{{Reflist


External links


Wokai
- Official web site. Microfinance organizations Charities based in California Peer-to-peer charities Organizations established in 2007 Organizations based in Oakland, California Foreign charities operating in China