The FINRURAL impact evaluation service – a cost-effectiveness analysis

Reynaldo Marconi | Paul Mosley

During the period of economic crisis from 1999 to date, when the Bolivian microfinance industry was undergoing turmoil and facing public hostility, the microfinance networking organization FINRURAL carried out (in 2002) impact evaluations on eight of its partner microfinance organizations
(MFOs). The evaluations went beyond measuring institutional performance to assessing the impact of the MFOs on their clients and even non-clients among their target group, using a range of over 30 performance indicators. This article briefly summarizes the impact on clients: better-off clients
generally experienced positive impacts on income, investment and employment, but some impacts on the income and investment of poorer clients were negative. The cost-effectiveness of the impact evaluation programme of FINRURAL is then assessed. This effectiveness was seen as particularly valuable
in terms of enabling organizations to broaden the range of services they offer and create publicity material. A further indication of the value placed on the service by the MFOs is that more of them are now willing to pay the unsubsidized charge for FINRURAL's services for the second round
of assessments, due to take place later in 2004.