The organizations listed below are microfinance institutions that provide loans, and in some cases other financial services, to clients in developing countries. In total we considered 114 institutions which stood out for submitting a social performance report to Mix Market (out of over 1,400 institutions listed on Mix Market), and contacted 43 promising ones. 11 of these provided us with enough information to complete a full review. We identified these organizations through our process for identifying promising microfinance charities. For reference:
Organization | Rating | Rank (within cause) | Focus on dropout | Interest rates (monthly/APR/EIR) | Repayment rate (Collection rate/PAR>30/Write-off) | Clients' standard of living | Room for more funds |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Small Enterprise Foundation | Silver | 1 | Excellent | 7% / 84% / 126%*** | 99%*** / 1% / 1% | Very poor** | $1.1m for lending programs |
Chamroeun | Silver | 2 | Above average | 4-5% / 51-61% / 65-81%*** | 99%*** / | Poor*** | $564k for lending and non-lending |
CUMO | Notable for basic transparency | 3 | Above average | 13% / 156% / 354%*** | N/A / 3% / 0% | Poor* | Possible for lending programs |
MicroLoan Foundation | Notable for full transparency, monitoring | 4 | Moderate | 12% / 144-149% / 304-326%** | 98%*** / | Very poor* | $600k for lending programs |
ID-Ghana | Notable for basic transparency | 5 | Limited | Not asked (see note below) | N/A / 4% / 27% | Very poor** | For lending programs |
DAMEN | Notable for basic transparency | - | Moderate | 3% / 35% / 41%** | N/A / 5% / 2% | Less poor* | $520k for lending programs |
FMFB | Notable for basic transparency | - | Limited | Insufficient information | N/A / 1% / 1% | Less poor* | $1m for lending and non-lending |
FINCA Peru | Notable for basic transparency | - | Moderate | 69-80% "effective" annual interest* | N/A / 2% / 1% | Less poor* | Possible for non-lending programs |
Fundación Paraguaya | Notable for basic transparency | - | Moderate | Insufficient information | N/A / 6% / 3% | Less poor* | Not for lending programs |
MicroDreams | Notable for basic transparency | - | Limited | Insufficient information | Not explored due to other remaining questions | We have not seen information on this | About $1m for lending programs |
Progresar | Notable for basic transparency | - | Unknown | 10-13% / 128-151% / 237-341%* | N/A / 5% / 2% | We have not seen information on this | $101,000 for lending programs |
AMK | - | Strong | 3% / 30-37% / 34-45%*** | 97%* / 3% / 0% | Poor** | Likely does not need additional donations |
Notes:
We have considered the following U.S.-based microfinance charities. As discussed on our blog, these are large organizations that partner with a variety of microfinance institutions in developing countries. With the exception of Kiva, most of their activities consist of consulting or “technical assistance,” rather than founding, directly supporting or investing in microfinance institutions. (What do our ratings mean?)
Organization | Rating |
---|---|
Accion International | Notable |
FINCA International | - |
Grameen Foundation | Notable |
Kiva | - |
Opportunity International | Notable |
Women's World Banking | - |
Kiva, "Field Partners," http://www.kiva.org/partners (accessed December 2, 2010). Archived by WebCite® at http://www.webcitation.org/5ugDXFpk6.