Wokai

Another one!  I might have to work up a checklist for the Kivaesque.  In fact, I'll do that right now.  If you're a Kivaesque microfinance organization, please put a check next to each of the following characteristics that applies to your non-profit organization:

1. Personal profiles of loans recipients
2. Green color scheme
3. Botanical logo
4. One word name that means something meaningful in a foreign language
5. All that other microfinancey stuff that I'm not going to go into right now

On that scale, Kiva of course scores a 5/5.  Vittana also gets a perfect score.  United Prosperity gets a 3.5/5 - they don't have the fancy name, and their financial model is different enough that they get a half a point.

Wokai works exclusively in China, getting loans to rural entrepreneurs.  It scores 4/5 on the Kivaesque Scale: the logo's green, the profiles are there, and the name means "I start" in Chinese, and the logo is almost perfectly generic.

Their actual process differs meaningfully from the Kiva model, however.  You make a loan, and once that loan's paid back, you can "redirect" it to another project.  You maintain this control over the money for three cycles, after which it disappears into the slavering maw of operational expenses.  Once you send in the money, you're not getting it back.  You do get to write it off on your taxes, though.

So . . . I don't know about this one.  Unless you're really eager to help out in China specifically, I don't see how Wokai's a better choice than any of your other alternatives.

One other thing I'm wondering about (and I took only a cursory look at the site, so maybe I missed it): what is this organization's relationship with the Chinese government?  They can't be doing this without official approval, and I gather that the central authorities are a bit touchy when it comes to the plight of their countryside.  We've all seen the travails Google's gone through in their dealings with the regime, and even the Ultimate Fighting Championship is skittish about it.  I'd be interested to hear how Wokai is dealing with that obstacle.

United Prosperity

Man, these organizations - collectively known as The Kivaesque - are popping up like mushrooms after a spring rain.  Except these are special mushrooms that have innovative solutions to the problems of the developing world.

Last time, it was Vittana, which is like Kiva but for education (and my man Jose Maria Muños Vera still needs $170, by the way).  Today we have United Prosperity (hat-tip to Triplepundit), which is like Kiva but more . . . I don't know, financey.

Green logo with a plant in it?  Check!

Basically, the way the thing works is you put up some money to guarantee a loan from a bank - your loan serves as collateral.  Once a certain amount of money is put up, a bank sends the recipient a loan that's bigger than the collateral.  On this one, for example, if United Prosperity can guarantee $508, a bank will lend $924.  If all goes well, all involved get their money back.  If the recipient can't pay back, you're out of luck.

Maybe they can explain it better than I can.

I haven't signed up for this one - don't want to spread myself too thin.  But if you do, let me know how it goes.