Author: Mariel Vincent Rapisura

The strategic planning course addresses the issues of strategic and operational planning that are vital to the successful development of microfinance institutions. The course uses the right to left planning approach as the framework for the strategic planning process. This approach involves careful analysis of an organization’s vision, mission, objectives and goals. The course aims to shed light on the institutional values, as well as generate winning strategies, programs and activities. The strategic planning course also aids MFIs in clarifying their niche and differentiation in the competitive industry they are in. The course offers various methods in conducting internal and external analysis that aids an MFI in positioning itself in the microfinance industry. Another topic to be discussed in the course is financial modeling. Various forecasting techniques will be used to aid participants in crafting financial projections for their strategic plans.

Social mission is one half of the dual mission of a microfinance institution. Aside from measuring the financial performance of an organization, it is as important to measure its social performance. This training aims to give participants a broad understanding of social performance in microfinance. The starting point for many MFIs has been their mission and commitment to providing access to the poor and helping them improve their social and economic conditions. But while the microfinance industry over the years has adopted a set of financial indicators with clear reporting standards and guidelines to determine the financial health of institutions, there exists no corresponding set of social performance indicators. Recently, the microfinance industry’s widespread interest in complementing financial assessments of MFIs with assessments of their social performance has blossomed into a number of different tools for this purpose. At the end of the workshop, the participants will be able to understand the different components of social performance management, as well as social performance indicators and how these indicators can be adopted to the context of the MFIs.

The risk management, internal control and audit course aims to help microfinance institutions identify the different kinds of risks they are facing in the organization. The course provides guidelines for establishing operational activities that assist the MFI in identifying vulnerabilities, designing and implementing controls and monitoring the effectiveness of controls. Special emphasis is given to problem prevention, early problem identification and control. The course also highlights problem resolution and installation of proper information systems as a means for risk management and internal control. The course also provides in-depth discussions on how internal and external audits are conducted, and how they could be used to the advantage of an MFI. At the end of the course, it is hoped that participants could develop strategies and programs for improving the quality of their risk management processes.

This course will cover an advance area of delinquency management. Specific strategies in fighting delinquency will be discussed with the participants. Actual delinquency cases in MFIs will be used as learning materials for the training. This will result to thematic strategies that will address client, MFI, and externally initiated causes of delinquency. Portfolio management will also establish a systematic process of knowledge sharing between field staff and branch manager, and among branch managers themselves as well. One of the highlights of portfolio management focuses on addressing the issue of MFI’s effective implementation of the removal of ‘tapal’ system and transition to individual liability.

Assessing the health of an organization is important to make sure that it’s performance is enough to achieve its vision and mission. Organizational appraisal is the diagnosis of microfinance institution’s overall performance. It diagnoses an organization’s financial performance, human resource management, information systems, products and services, governance structure, marketing strategies, and general operations. The course aims to train microfinance managers and staff in conducting organizational appraisals. Participants are expected to learn the various ways of assessing an organization’s performance, as well as the tools and methods that can be used to conduct these assessments. The various aspects of the appraisal that will be covered in the course are impact assessment, organizational development assessment, social performance management and financial performance ratings.

Monitoring and evaluation involves activities that assess an organization’s performance vis-à-vis its set targets. It is an activity often overlooked by organizations, but is important for reviewing the effectiveness and sustainability of the organization. This course tackles basic monitoring and evaluation reports, as well as the different activities involved in monitoring and evaluation. This includes review of targets and objectives, strategic planning workshops, impact assessment, review of policies and procedures, information systems, and incentive schemes to motivate staff. The course is helpful for an organization’s board of directors, top and middle managers, as well as for supervisors and field staff.

The mid-management training is a customized training designed to provide microfinance managers with a holistic understanding of the various areas involved in managing microfinance operations. The course is intended to give microfinance managers a brief background on microfinance and some important topics necessary to maintain an organization’s financial sustainability and social performance. The course covers topics such as fundamentals and methodologies of microfinance, delinquency management, risk management, financial analysis, management and supervisory skills, and communication skills. The training includes workshops on computing delinquency and financial measures, writing letters, memos and other communication skills that are helpful for microfinance managers.

The poor are most vulnerable with external shocks and risks. The course on Microinsurance for microfinance clients will discuss how the poor can protect their families when confronted with unexpected events that create problems for them. Participants will discuss about what they already do in such situations and how they can do better. Examples of such mitigating techniques include having savings accounts for emergencies, some hide money away, some belong to mutual aid groups. Participants will also learn about a financial product that offers protection. This product is called “insurance”. In this training, participant will learn what insurance is and how it works. They will know enough to be able to make their own decision about whether they will purchase insurance if they have the opportunity.

Marketing is the most neglected management function in the microfinance industry. Most MFIs do not brand their products properly and fail to communicate their competitive advantage effectively. This course emphasizes the need for effective marketing in enabling microfinance institutions to serve their clients better and achieve improved financial performance in the process. The course will introduce participants to the marketing mix: Product, Price, Place, Promotion and People. The course also includes activities on crafting marketing plans, designing communications and advertisements, and conducting marketing audits. In addition, the course also emphasizes that the best marketing strategy is to have satisfied clients. Therefore, other topics that will be discussed include customer care and customer protection.

This course is designed for microfinance institutions who wish to expand their operations in other areas. Market research is a necessary step that all organizations must undertake to understand the environment in which they wish to operate. It examines the needs of current and potential clients, and the organization’s ability to deliver products and services that will respond to these needs. In this course, the various types of market research will be presented with steps and strategies on how the organization can conduct research. The training will discuss specific activities that are commonly used in market research, such as area mapping, market survey and other research methods and techniques. Participants will be given tips on how to conduct these activities from the development of tools to data processing, data analysis and reporting of results.