Social Enterprise Development Partnerships, Inc.

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.

Human resource is the backbone of microfinance institutions. Creating a leading microfinance institution takes more than charging the right price and knowing how to design financial products. What sets apart leading MFIs from the rest is their ability to manage human resource properly.  This course offers various tools on how to assess knowledge and skills needed; hiring the right people; designing incentives and compensation package for staff; and creating a work environment that promotes employee commitment. The course centers on the new mandate of human resources – as strategic partner in strategy execution; as administrative expert; as employee champion; and as change agent for continuous transformation. The course also includes developing capacity-building programs and performance-based incentives schemes that benefits the organization’s employees and at the same time increase the profitability of the organization.

Business development services (BDS) is just one among the many interventions that development organizations to make markets work for the poor. The BDS terminology itself is evolving and is increasingly called business service markets, commercially viable solutions, and support markets. The course will focus on approaches that trace the activities from inputs to the delivery of products to end consumers. This includes subsector analysis, market linkages and value chain development. The course will also discuss market development principles; non-financial and financial interventions such as product and technology development; infrastructure; input supply; market access; management and organization; policy advocacy and alternative financing. The highlight of the course is the presentation of two case studies that demonstrate the effective ways on how to design focused, sustainable, demand-driven and cost-effective programs.

The tremendous growth and the maturity of the Philippine microfinance industry experience is manifested in the establishment of legal procedures to protect the sustainability of microfinance institutions amidst issues of delinquency. In 2008, small claims court was established. The act governs the payment of money lent that does not exceed a principal amount of PhP100,000. The course would allow MFIs to integrate small claims court procedure in its operation. Furthermore, the course will introduce to the middle managers the rule of procedures for small claims courts and present actual case on small claims processing. The middle managers will also be trained on the cost-benefit analysis for this legal option.

Effective information systems serve as the foundation for the operations of microfinance institutions, and financial institutions in general. The course offers decision makers specific points in evaluating their existing systems, determining current and future information system needs, and conducting cost benefit analysis when building, modifying or buying software. A framework on developing information system for an MFI will also be presented. The framework includes the following aspects: functionality, flexibility and expandability, usability, reporting capabilities, standards and compliance, administration and technical support, security, and costs. The information system training will also showcase a software (software sold separately) internally developed by SEDPI and a manual information system to strengthen internal controls.