Social ratings: An Impetus for Institutional Change

Social ratings provide an objective opinion on an FSP’s degree of success in translating its mission into practice. Raters analyze a provider’s country context, social performance management, client protection, depth of outreach, quality of services, and outcomes. These organizations have received a social rating with high marks by one of the following rating agencies: Microfinanza Rating, MicroRate, M-CRIL.

Vision Fund Ecuador discusses (in Spanish) the challenge of client overindebtedness in the local market and the role of the board and management in keeping SPM front and center on the institution’s agenda.

Friendship Bridge Guatemala explains how a mediocre rating report in 2012 led them to create an SPM Department that focuses on keeping the organization on track to achieve its social goals. An excellent 2016 rating score revealed that the institution’s hard work paid off.

In this video, Opportunity Bank Serbia explains how collecting social data has helped the bank understand their clients better, which has positively impacted their client retention rate.

Client Protection Certification: The New Standard for Consumer Protection 

 As of April 2016, certified institutions are serving over 35 million clients worldwide. Here are the institutions that are currently Client Protection Certified by The Smart Campaign. These global organizations have been found to meet all of the Smart Campaign’s standards of care in the treatment of their clients.

Read the certification report summary for ASKI, Philippines, and learn more about getting on the pathway to certification.

Read the certification report summary for Opportunity International Colombia and a short piece on their SPM protection practices, including an innovative home improvement product.

The SPI4 Social Audit: Take the First Step

The SPI4 is a practical tool for understanding social performance. It assesses a provider’s practices against the full set of Universal Standards.  

Khushhali Bank jump-started their SPM efforts by using an SPI4 as a self-assessment then launching a multi-year effort to strengthen the gaps identified by the SPI4. Read about it.

JAIDA, a Moroccan microfinance fund, uses the SPI4 to analyze sector performance, showcase the performance of specific investees, and communicate the performance of their portfolio to investors. Read about it (in French).

Social Investors: Committed Investors Publish Social Performance Reports 

Several social investors have taken the extra step in managing and reporting the social impact of their work. Below are some of their investment reports, listed chronologically.

Grassroots Capital Management – Steps taken to Measure What Matters, all align with their belief that good intentions must be followed up with rigorous output and outcome reporting.

Bridges Impact + and Skopos Impact Fund 2016 More than Measurement Report. 

Triple Jump 2016 Impact Report.

BBVA Microfinance Foundation 2015 SPM Report.

Bamboo Finance 2015 Impact Report.

Incofin IM 2015 SPM Report.

Oikocredit 2015 Social Performance Report.