Overseas China Education Foundation

Overseas China Education Foundation ("OCEF"), is an independent, non-governmental, non-political and non-religious organization. The sole mission of OCEF is to help underprivileged children in impoverished rural areas of China receive education and improve the quality of education in rural China. Operated primarily by unpaid volunteers, OCEF keeps operational costs at a minimal (~2%). To date, OCEF has helped more than 800 rural schools establish their own libraries and donated nearly half a million books in the process. In the meantime, OCEF has issued approximately 47,000 financial aid packages to elementary and secondary school students. OCEF has developed comprehensive operational procedures that ensure all OCEF funds are distributed diligently and transparently. OCEF operations in China are comprised of three main functions: (1) review of financial aid applications from students; (2) upon approval from the Executive Committee in the U.S. for funding, distribution of the approved funding; (3) follow-up inspections post distribution of funding. Inspectors conduct field trip regularly to visit beneficiaries and schools to monitor the fund distribution process. The majority of the local funding programs are inspected every other year. In 2011, ten inspectors visited 102 local funding programs in 14 counties and 7 provinces. OCEF members and donors are encouraged to participate in the operations of the foundation, including inspection fieldwork.