Few microfinance institutions articulate what, exactly, their ultimate goals are and how to achieve them. If the goal of microfinance is to alleviate poverty, the authors say, then MFIs should focus on helping their clients build successful enterprises, rather than on making more and bigger loans.
How for-profit clinics are healing and enriching the rural poor in Kenya.
How the Union Bank of California attracts lower-income people to traditional banking.
Banks in Mexico say that microloans are helping the poor while boosting their profits.
Large-scale social change requires broad cross-sector coordination, not the isolated intervention of individual organizations.
With an understanding of these 10 funding models, nonprofit leaders can use the for-profit world's valuable practice of engaging in succinct and clear conversations about long-term financial strategy.
Few microfinance institutions articulate what, exactly, their ultimate goals are and how to achieve them. If the goal of microfinance is to alleviate poverty, the authors say, then MFIs should focus on helping their clients build successful enterprises, rather than on making more and bigger loans.
The microcredit industry needs to be regulated through policies that address high interest rates and abusive loan recovery practices.
The seven healthy habits of nonprofits most likely to survive the economic downturn.
