Our Success and Results

Washington C.A.S.H. began fifteen years ago, when our founder was inspired by Grameen Bank’s work in providing small loans to groups of poor women. Since then, our nationally-recognized program has continued to evolve from its original microfinance inspiration, layering multiple program initiatives to address the most critical needs facing local, low-income entrepreneurs.

Washington C.A.S.H. offers a hand up to those who want to help themselves:

• Washington C.A.S.H. provided extensive microenterprise development services to 788 clients in FY2011, more than doubling our reach in three years. We conducted seven 8-week training courses in Seattle, four courses in Kitsap County, five to Latino entrepreneurs in South King County, two in Kent, one in Everett, and one each to the Somali, Amharic, and Vietnamese communities.

• The average Washington C.A.S.H. client supports a family of 2 on $21,600/year at intake. 100% of current clients are considered “low income” or lower by local HUD guidelines.

• 66% of current clients are women; 56% of current clients are people of color.

Results. Washington C.A.S.H. is remarkably successful at helping low- income individuals get businesses off the ground—despite a lack of resources many other entrepreneurs enjoy. Here’s what we’ve learned* from survey data taken 1.5 years after our program:

• Success: The majority of clients were in business—owning a business license & generating revenue—18 months after being served by Washington C.A.S.H. (63% in latest survey).
• Growth: On average, those who started the program with a small business more than quadrupled their annual revenue.
• Startups: Clients saw a $12,000 annual revenue increase (median) for businesses that were only an idea before Washington C.A.S.H.
• Jobs: 23% of client businesses reported employing others.
• Income: Clients reported a 44% median increase in household income.
• Government aid: Nearly 1/3 who were receiving public assistance were free from it.
• Impact: Clients reported over $5,000,000 in gross annual sales in FY2011. Since we began, Washington C.A.S.H. has helped develop over 1,320 businesses in the Puget Sound area.

* Survey data is from MicroTest—a microenterprise evaluation initiative by FIELD/ The Aspen Institute— and is a 5-year average of their annual longitudinal study (based on a random sampling of Washington C.A.S.H. clients) unless otherwise noted.