A Swing to SPM!

Social Performance Management

Two of MCPI’s member-institutions, People’s Bank of Caraga (PBC) in Agusan del Sur and the Cebu Micro-Enterprise Development Foundation (CMEDFI) in Cebu, completed their social audit as part of their social performance management (SPM) last February and March 2009 respectively. Social audit is a self-assessment tool for MFIs – NGOs, cooperatives and rural banks - to help them diagnose their operations towards improving and eventually managing their social performance. Microfinance Center (MFC) in Poland and MCPI teamed up in this project of conducting MFI social audits with the assistance of individuals and institutions in MCPI’s SPM resource pool.

Between January to July 2009, MCPI and institutional partners have organized the following activities:

• Promotional session with the regional councils in Palawan: Mar 4, 2009
• SPM - Peer Learning Community Meeting in Tagaytay City: Mar 26-27, 2009
• Training of Trainers (TOT) on the Quality Assessment Tool (QAT) for SPM in Mandaluyong City: May 4-8, 2009
• SPM Strategy Workshop for MFIs in Cebu City: June 22-26, 2009
• Quality Audit Tool (QAT) Training for MFIs in Makati City: July 29-31, 2009

Social Performance (SP) is defined as the effective translation of an institution’s mission into practice, in line with the organization’s accepted social values that relate to reaching the poorer and excluded clients, improving the lives of clients and their families and widening the range of opportunities for communities.

On the other hand, social performance management (SPM) is identified as the processes through which an organization defines and formalizes its social goals, designs the systems to put these intentions into practice, measures actual outcomes and uses these results to refine systems and improve practice.

Outgoing MCPI Executive Director, Edgardo F. Garcia urges MFI leaders to take heart in their venture towards SPM. According to him, the double bottom line is not an impossible goal for MFIs but a logical course for mission-driven institutions. He likened SP initiatives to education. “SPM has costs, the outlay is long-term but you just know that it is a sound investment,” Mr. Garcia said.

Facilitating Microfinance in the Countryside

Product Innovations Fund (PIF)

The Product Innovations Fund (PIF) continuously calls for proposals to design and pilot test innovations in microfinance. Innovations that meet the criteria set by fund donors receive grants that enable MFIs to pursue their product development plan. The PIF was established primarily to encourage microfinance institutions (MFIs) to come up with ideas on how to serve the agriculture and fisheries sector and remote hard-to-reach areas and actually try out these ideas.

The fund is a pilot initiative founded by the ICCO (a development agency based in Netherlands), the Microfinance Council of the Philippines, Inc. (MCPI), the National Confederation of Cooperatives (NATTCO) and Oikocredit Philippines.

According to the fund’s criteria, an innovation may be a new product or service appropriate to a target market. Innovations may also include changes in product features and/or changes in the process of delivering a service. The application of a new technology is also an innovation. However, the innovative concept or idea needs to show potential that it would lead to steady increase in the number of clients served in hard-to-reach areas and among poor households engaged in farm production or agriculture-related activities.

To date, the PIF has given grants to Eclof Philippines and CARD for their innovation proposals. MCPI and its partners encourage practitioners to come up with innovative financial products and services that benefit the poor and urge MFIs to submit proposals until September 30, 2009. The funding is open to both MCPI members and non-member institutions.