Category: Microfinance

Social Enterprise Development Partnerships, Inc. (SEDPI) is now an accredited professional service provider for the projects under the Program Beneficiaries Development (PBD) of the Department of Agrarian Reform. The department posted the result on their website last March 13, 2012.

The accreditation includes SEDPI to the pool of development service providers eligible to bid for projects that will provide services to the Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries (ARBs) of DAR. The components of PBD include the Social Infrastructure and Local Capability Building (SILCAB), Sustainable Agri-Business and Rural Enterprise Development (SARED), and Access Facilitation and Enhancement Support (AFAES). In addition, DAR recently launched the Agrarian Reform Community Connectivity and Economic Support Services (ARCESS) project. Through developing synergy between entrepreneurship and social responsibility, this project aims to create an environment that will transform ARB organizations into sustainable agricultural enterprises.

The services SEDPI is accredited to provide nationwide are the following; Production and Technical Management Services, Financial and Organizational Management, and Progress Monitoring. Through this opportunity SEDPI will share its knowledge on rural finance and social entrepreneurship for the benefit of the ARBs.

The People’s Development Trust Fund renewed its accreditation to the Social Enterprise Development Partnerships, Inc. (SEDPI) as a service provider effective for two years. This is the third renewal of SEDPI as a service provider since 2008. The renewal is a sign of continued trust of PDTF to SEDPI’s quality delivery of services.

As an accredited service provider, PCFC and PDTF grantee institutions may tap SEDPI’s services. Grantee institutions, such as microfinance institutions, local government units, micofinance councils, networks and basic sectors, requiring funding for training and capacity building services.

Several organizations tapped SEDPI as service provider in the past years such as the Abuyog Saint Francis Xavier Credit Cooperative (AFCCO), Agricultural and Rural Development for Catanduanes, Inc. (ARDCI), Community Rural bank of Catmon (CRBC), Mount Carmel Rural Bank (MCRB), and Progressive Bank, Inc. (PBI).

“An innovative and caring bank that fosters economic transformation of its clients.” This is Community Rural Bank of Catmon’s (CRBC) vision statement as a result of its strategic planning workshop. SEDPI facilitated the workshop in Catmon, Cebu on March 9-10, 2012.

The strategic planning workshop was a bottom up approach. During the internal analysis, the result of various consultations with majority of its management staff regarding their sentiments and future plans were presented. An impact assessment of the clients as well as the overall organizational performance was presented as well. CRBC’s board of directors, top management and key officers attended the actual workshop. SEDPI provided the external analysis that contains recent trends in microfinance.

CRBC’s President, Mrs. Armida Caguitla, said, “the workshop is an opportunity for the bank to determine where the organization is at present and what path it will take in the future.” Key management officers of the bank have added that a strategic plan is imperative to the growth of CRBC since it will determine what the organization will do and is the foundation of crucial decisions that the management will make in the years to come.

During the workshop, CRBC was able to provide a unique character to its vision and redefine its mission. The bank will provide financial products and allied services for the economic transformation of its clients. The objectives include increase in outreach through expansion, provision of allied services, and ensuring both the financial and organizational sustainability of the bank. Moreover, CRBC was able to generate a set of strategic options steered towards achievement of its objectives. Such strategies focus on market consolidation, product innovation and organizational development.

With the new strategic plan, CRBC will remain true to its core values to set itself unique from its peers. Through this, the institution hopes to play a significant role on the economic transformation of its clients.

The Social Enterprise Development Partnerships Inc. (SEDPI) and the Community Rural Bank of Catmon (CRBC) of Catmon, Cebu recently inked its partnership for the establishment of the training hub in Cebu. It is SEDPI’s third training hub in the Visayas.

The Community Rural Bank of Catmon is a rural bank in the municipality of Catmon in the north of Cebu City. The partnership with CRBC started in 2010 as a capacity building and technical and mentoring assistance (TAMA) partner. In early 2011, talks were conducted about the proposed training hub in Cebu City. It was inked late 2011. The partnership is SEDPI’s answer to the need for capacity building services for microfinance institutions and organizations in the region.

Microfinance courses to be held in the Cebu training hub are already on schedule. Courses offered this March are Fundamentals and Methodologies of Microfinance (March 26-28) and Customer Care for Microfinance Institutions (March 29-31).

For details, you may contact SEDPI at (02) 4338795.

SEDPI (Social Enterprise Development Partnerships, Inc.) inked a partnership with Nueva Segovia Consortium of Cooperatives (NSCC) on February 2012. The institutional partnership, in line with shared vision of eradicating poverty, hopes to foster development of cooperatives in Northern Luzon.

The Archdiocese of Neuva Segovia organized NSCC in 1992 to create a viable and integrated program that would catalyze development of cooperatives and its members in the Ilocos Region. The consortium was formally registered with the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA) in the same year. Since then, NSCC has widened its area of operation to include the whole of Luzon. NSCC currently serves 15,000 microfinance clients and has 66 cooperatives under its network.

The collaboration covers several components. These shall include SEDPI’s provision of capacity building services to the staff members of NSCC. SEDPI aims to provide NSCC its grassroots experience in providing technical and mentoring assistance to cooperatives. Through this, NSCC is hoped to develop its human resources for more sustainable operations. The partnership also includes the establishment of a training hub for the Ateneo Microfinance Capacity Building Program in the north. The training events that will be delivered in the hub shall focus primarily on standard cooperative courses. NSCC and SEDPI target to run the courses by second quarter of the year.  In addition, SCCI will place PhP20 million developmental deposits to the cooperative. NSCC will use this to support the growth of its members and fund its development programs.

On February 2012, SEDPI and SCCI marked its partnership with Nueva Segovia Consortium of Cooperatives (NSCC). The institutional partnership, in line with shared vision of eradicating poverty, hopes to foster development of cooperatives in Northern Luzon.

NSCC was organized in 1992 by the Archdiocese of Neuva Segovia to create a viable and integrated program that would catalyze development of cooperatives and its members in the Ilocos Region. The consortium was formally registered with the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA) in the same year. Since then, NSCC has widened its area of operation to include the whole of Luzon. The membership of the cooperative now includes over 15, 000 clients in at least 66 organizations.

The SEDPI-SCCI-NSCC collaboration covers several components. These shall include SEDPI’s provision of capacity building services to the staff members of NSCC. SEDPI aims to NSCC its grassroots experience in providing technical and mentoring assistance to cooperatives. Through this, NSCC is hoped to develop its human resources for more sustainable operations. The partnership also includes the ADMU-SEDPI Microfinance Strategic Partnership Innovation which established NSCC as an ADMU-SEDPI training hub in the north. The training events that will be delivered in the hub shall focus primarily on standard cooperative courses. NSCC and SEDPI target to run the courses by second quarter of the year.  In addition, SCCI will place PhP20 million developmental deposits to the cooperative. NSCC will use this to support the growth of its members and fund its development programs.

SEDPI, SCCI and NSCC are positive that this partnership will produce fruitful results for the progress for all stakeholders.

The  People’s Development Trust Fund (PDTF) – a government initiated program centered on capability building of microfinance institutions and microenterprises – approved Abuyog St. Francis Credit Cooperative’s (AFCCO) the grant proposal. The grant aims to facilitate development of AFCCO to match the growing and evolving needs of its stakeholders.

AFCCO is focused on further strengthening its microfinance operations. The grant fund will be used to develop financial products that will meet the needs of its members. The cooperative sought the assistance of Social Enterprise Development Partnerships Incorporated (SEDPI) for product development. AFCCO and SEDPI’s partnership started in 2008. Since then, the two organizations implemented several programs and strategies that provided strategic direction to AFCCO and streamlined its microfinance operation.

This renewed partnership, along with the fund provided by PDTF, is hoped to provide AFCCO with financial products that will capture the needs of its members. Through this, the cooperative is expected to reach out to more number of people in Leyte and Southern Leyte.

SEDPI once again proved the effectiveness of its capacity building services after a partner microfinance institution (MFI) detected and solved fraud in its ranks. SEDPI delivered Technical and Mentoring Assistance (TAMA) to its partner MFI. TAMA is delivered on a mentor-learner approach as SEDPI social entrepreneurs closely supervise and monitor an institution’s progress towards sustainability. MFIs that undergo TAMA show marked improvement in their financial performance and organizational development.

According to the institution’s internal auditor, TAMA helped a lot in detecting fraudulent activities. He particularly identified several procedures like zoning and color-coded bookkeeping system (CBS) as the most helpful in their crusade against fraudulent activities in their institution. SEDPI also assisted the MFI partner in crafting policies to mitigate the risk as well as put in place systems and policies to avoid fradulent events to happen again.

“It’s really helpful because it becomes easier for us to track down the performance of our account officers in collecting loans. Through zoning, a single account officer does not handle an account alone because there will be rotations from time to time” the Auditor expressed, as he explains how the fraudulent activities were traced and discovered.