This book reflects the implications of a social performance management agenda for the perspective of twelve partners from Asia, Africa, Latin America and Europe, who participated in a three-year microfinance action-research programme known as Imp-Act. It features contributions from MFI staff who worked with Imp-Act directly, as well as from members of Imp-Act’s academic team, who worked closely with the partners. The book reflects each MFI’s unique, contextualized approach to measuring and monitoring the social impacts of microfinance, emphasizing the role played by this work in improving delivery of services; increasing client satisfaction and reducing drop-outs from microfinance programmes; and increasing impacts on poverty.Running through the book are three interlinked stories: the story of Imp-Act, an action-research partnership responding to particular concerns within the microfinance industry; the story of organizational systems and learning around social impacts, and the resulting changes to service provision and working practices; and the story of changes in clients’ lives.The book communicates that Imp-Act is not only about proving impact or improving services, but is also about MFIs rediscovering their mission goals and instilling a sense of purpose in their staff and clients.

Prelims (Contents, Acknowledgements, List of figures, List of tables, List of abbreviations and acronyms, Contributors)
1. From service providers to learning organizations: microfinance practitioners’ experiences of social performance management
Alyson Brody, James Copestake, Martin Greeley
2. Delivering inclusive microfinance with a poverty focus: the experience of the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC)
Imran Matin
3. Institutionalizing a social performance management system at Lift Above Poverty Organization (LAPO), Nigeria
Stanley Aifuwa Garuba
4. Cost-effective impact management: the case of the Small Enterprise Foundation (SEF), South Africa
Ted Baumann
5. Methodological and organizational lessons from impact assessment studies: the case of SHARE, India
Marie Jo A. Cortijo, Naila Kabeer
6. The challenge of sustainability in India’s poorest state: the case of the Centre for Youth and Social Development (CYSD)
Anup Dash, Naila Kabeer
7. Institutionalizing internal learning systems: experiences from Professional Assistance for Development Action (PRADAN), India
D. Narendranath
8. Measuring and managing change in Bosnia-Herzegovina: Prizma’s steps to deepen outreach and improve impact
Sean Kline
9. Achieving the double bottom line: a case study of Sinapi Aba Trust’s (SAT) client impact monitoring system, Ghana
Lydia Opoku
10. Institutionalizing feedback from clients using credit association meetings: the experience of FOCCAS, Uganda
Regina Nakayenga, Susan Johnson
11. Microfinance networks and the evaluation of social performance: the case of FINRURAL, Bolivia
Irina Aliaga, Reynaldo Marconi, Paul Mosley
12. The potential of regional networks to stimulate innovation in microfinance: lessons from the Microfinance Centre (MFC) in Eastern Europe
Katarzyna Pawlak
13. Client assessment lessons learned from the Small Enterprise Education and Promotion (SEEP) Network, USA
Gary Woller
Back matter (Notes, References, Index)

Alyson Brody Alyson Brody was Programme and Communications Coordinator for Imp-Act at IDS and has published in anthropology|Martin Greeley is a fellow at the Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex, UK. His research and publication are concentrated particularly on poverty assessment, rural development and development finance in South Asia and East Africa.

Martin Greeley Martin Greeley is a fellow at the Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex, UK. His research and publication are concentrated particularly on poverty assessment, rural development and development finance in South Asia and East Africa.

Katie Wright-Revolledo Katie Wright-Revolledo is Senior Researcher at INTRAC. She has extensive fieldwork experience in microfinance in Latin America and has published a significant amount on microfinance.