Shining A Light On WakaWaka’s Giving Strategy

WakaWaka is a socially responsible brand on a mission to end energy poverty before 2030. The stark reality is that we can’t get there without you. Your purchase of the world’s most efficient solar lamp and charger contributes significantly to lighting up the lives of people living a world away – families without access to electricity who suffer mercilessly from indoor pollution and kerosene burns.

Our strategy is twofold, and simple:

BUY ONE, GIVE ONE
Experience has taught us the most powerful tool to raise the funds for donating lights to the dark and often forgotten places in the world is through a ‘Buy One – Give One’ offer. Through our successful crowdfunding effort to develop the WakaWaka Power, the Buy One, Give One offer was up to 100 times more effective in delivering products to Haiti than requesting product donations.

ROBIN HOOD PRICING 
The price of a WakaWaka in the United States and Europe makes it possible for WakaWakas to be provided at more affordable rates for customers who don’t have access to electricity in Africa, India and elsewhere in the world. Instead of spending 20% of their income on kerosene fuel, we can make a WakaWaka available to people living in extreme poverty for a price which can vary from $0 to $30.  Western customers help us subsidize light and power there where it is most needed.

We made a deliberate choice to offer only high-quality products to our customers who are less fortunate than we are. In light of their dire need, they deserve the best the West has to offer – the exact same product used in Europe and the United States. By doing so, WakaWaka is providing an important energy solution – one that generates up to 80 hours of light or a full phone charge.

Reaching people who live on less than $2.00 a day in extremely remote areas is a formidable challenge. There is no quick fix to this problem. In addition to the Buy One, Give One and Robin Hood Pricing models, the WakaWaka Foundation goes even further than we can as a for profit company, specifically during times of crisis.

DIRECT GIVING IN TIMES OF CRISIS
When natural disasters strike or millions of refugees flee their homes to escape the outbreak of a war, access to light and power is a matter of life and death. The WakaWaka Foundation works directly with our partners, including leading humanitarian aid organizations, such as the International Rescue Committee to get our solar lamps and chargers on the ground – as many as we can, as soon as possible. WakaWaka’s solar powered devices provide immediate assistance as well as long-term relief and enables survivors and refugees to see and live after dark and to charge their phones to connect with family members and loved ones elsewhere.

To date, we have contributed over $1,500,000 in cash and in-kind contributions to the WakaWaka Foundation and its crisis aid projects. A minimum of 10% of our annual net profit is donated to the WakaWaka Foundation to help fulfill it’s mission to support international organizations in crisis situations and humanitarian disaster zones, provide small loans and training to women who would like to become micro-entrepreneurs, provide people living in extreme poverty with WakaWaka products at greatly reduced rates, educate children at the bottom of the pyramid about the benefits and importance of sustainable living. To learn more and find out how you can get involved with the WakaWaka Foundation, please check out www.WakaWakaFoundation.org.

Together, we can bring light to all the dark and forgotten corners of the world. WakaWaka’s Impact Map illustrates the difference we have already made, and at the same time that much more light is still needed. We want to hear from you. Can you help WakaWaka reach it’s goal of ending energy poverty in our lifetime? (actually before 2030) Do you have an idea that will help get more WakaWaka’s into the hands of families that desperately need them? Please contact us at info@waka-waka.com

Let’s Light Up the Planet Together!

Warm wishes,
Maurits Groen & Camille van Gestel
WakaWaka Founders