Grameen Bank, the microfinance bank in Bangladesh, is well known for its use of peer groups: Self-formed clubs of five to 10 people, usually women, share responsibility for microloans. Most companies trying to do business with the 4 billion people who make up the world's poor follow a formula long touted by bottom-of-the-pyramid experts: Offer products at extremely low prices and margins, and hope to generate decent profits by selling enormous quantities of them. MORE

A few weeks ago, I attended a lecture about microfinance, and got sucker-punched. Expecting to hear a litany of pros and cons about the business, and an exploration of good and bad models, I was instead greeted with a knockout punch: Microfinance doesn't work, at least not in the way we think it does. The pugilist-presenter was David Roodman, a fellow at the Center for Global Development and the author of a new book, Due Diligence: An Impertinent Inquiry into Microfinance. MORE

A critical part was adapting a proven model in a related field: microfinance. By increasing or jump-starting these institutions’ housing microfinance lending, Habitat aims to create robust markets for this financing that can continue on their own. MORE

The microfinance industry has in just a few years gone from making headlines for the Nobel Peace Prize to stories about limited impact, allegedly abusive tactics, client suicides, government crackdowns, major lenders struggling with insolvency and the forcible removal of Mohammed Yunus as Managing Director of Grameen Bank. But we shouldn't ignore how the microfinance industry made itself vulnerable to attacks with a political motive. MORE

Shameran Abed, who runs BRAC's microfinance program, explains what happened: "In the first couple months, a lot of our borrowers would send the money through their mobile phones and then physically show up at the branch to check with the accountant that the money had turned up.". MORE

Popular games also tend to spawn communities who share information and strategies about how to overcome hurdles, suggesting that peer to peer education is also possible (this has been seen in microfinance). Bank marketing materials focus on the dreams, anxieties and goals of consumers. Risk management processes don't — but they should. Most audits and regulations of banks are focused on certifying the integrity of data and controls. MORE

On this 100th International Women's Day , it is right to reflect on how women have become the heart of the microfinance industry. It is easy to forget that the initial motivation for microfinance roughly 30 years ago was, to a great extent, gender neutral. The pioneering microfinance institutions sought to provide credit to poor entrepreneurs who had no assets to pledge as collateral and, consequently, were denied access to capital by the formal banking sector. MORE

She's spending the summer in Dhaka doing microfinance. Some of today's top CEOs were history, political science, sociology, chinese and music majors in college. They are leading global airline, chemical, healthcare, pharmaceutical, and financial companies, among others. MORE

Firms are realizing what microfinance has known for a while: Local self-policing groups, or village headmen who police honor codes, can hedge cash flows in far-flung places. Fatigue may be setting in for some Western investors’ interest in African innovation, particularly those that have yet to reap rewards to brag about. MORE

Social entrepreneurs have also been some of the most attentive followers of the academic debate between the likes of Mark Pitt and Jonathan Murdoch about whether microfinance really helps reduce poverty. MORE

Sasikala, a Block Development Officer (BDO), talked to the Kodapattinam villagers about microfinance , only Shantha, of all the villagers, saw the opportunity and took action. To participate in a microfinance campaign, the village had to form a Self Help Group (SHG) of about 20 people, with each member contributing a certain amount of money every month. Undeterred, Shantha persisted until she persuaded the required number of people to sign up for the microfinance project. MORE

Commercial microfinance organizations are perhaps the best-known hybrid organizations, but social entrepreneurs now use hybrid models to address a diverse set of social issues that includes hunger, healthcare, economic development, environment, education, housing, culture, law, and politics. MORE

One of his main tasks was to structure a hedging derivative that negated foreign exchange risks so that Microfinance institutions could take safer loans from the developed world. This is a guest blog by Chia Han Sheng, Brown University '14, co-founder of MedInternational. MORE

We wanted to do this because we recognize that small enterprises are a very significant engine for development; they create employment, which tends to be more sustainable and better paid than you would find in the more informal microfinance sector," says Oxfam's Nicholas Colloff. Some microfinance organizations are also moving out of the purely micro and toward larger lending. MORE

The Grameen model of microfinance gained a great deal of attention in the international development field after early data showed that it was associated with high repayment and low default. For the 2.5 billion people who live on less than $2 per day , shocks such as illness, crop failures, livestock deaths, farming-equipment breakdowns and even wedding or funeral expenses can be enough to tip them, their families, or even an entire community below the poverty line. MORE

Experiment #5: Microfinance Institutions. In emerging markets, microfinance has been a key economic engine in helping low-income households fund businesses and other important purchases in daily life. Prem, a BioLite Burner on our West India team, gives a HomeStove demonstration to a group of customers at a microfinance branch in Rajasthan. MORE

This makes sense to Milaap.org , a social enterprise in Bangalore that crowdsources low-cost capital for microfinance institutions through its online platform. MORE

Microfinance has come under fire in the past 18 months, triggered in part by SKS Microfinance's IPO. Critics complain that the institutions supporting microfinance have become too greedy, and many are using this as an argument to deeply regulate or, even more, cut support to microfinance operations. Dr. Muhammad Yunus introduced the concept of microfinance in 1983; in 2006, he won the Nobel Prize for his pioneering efforts. Such is the power of microfinance. MORE

The microfinance industry is a rare D and E success story. Microfinance banks, which provide desperately needed loans to low-income consumers, draw mainstream investors because of their attractive returns. Mexico-based Compartamos , a microfinance bank that sold 35% of the company for $450 million in 2007, generates a NIM of around 60%. MORE

Upon graduation, the governments, nonprofits, or (more recently) microfinance companies give them loans to buy tools and opens shops. On December 2-3, the United Nations will host a seminar in Sierra Leone on "Strategies and Lessons Learned on Sustainable Reintegration and Job Creation: What Works in West Africa?" It will bring together government, civil society, and private sector representatives from Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. MORE

We allowed microfinance and the venture capital industry the time and space to develop over a few decades. Impact investing has captured the world’s imagination. Just six years after the Rockefeller Foundation coined the term, the sector is booming. MORE

We're a network of microfinance organizations; we exist to share practices and develop the leadership skills required by a sector that has grown up fast. And as you might be aware, microfinance is a phenomenon that, while it did not set out to be "for women," has mainly turned out to be. It's vital to reverse the trend and help microfinance institutions attract, train, and retain talented women. Diversity Gender microfinance WWB MORE

Rupert is the CEO of the foundation for International Community Assistance, a leading microfinance institution. The Social Entrepreneur’s Handbook by Rupert Scofield is written to guide the aspiring social entrepreneur through the full range of activities of starting, building and running a social business. Review by David Stephens FCMI. You are not watching this post, click to start watching MORE

Over 1,900 beneficiaries have established micro-enterprises for which microfinance has been facilitated. With a majority of its population living in villages, rural poverty is a major problem in India. The disparity between the urban and rural incomes is also on the rise. This leads to migration to urban areas resulting in urban blight as well. Therefore addressing the problem of rural poverty assumes urgency. MORE

Shameran Abed, who runs BRAC's microfinance program, explains what happened: "In the first couple months, a lot of our borrowers would send the money through their mobile phones and then physically show up at the branch to check with the accountant that the money had turned up.". MORE

And if you need access to money, crowdfunding platforms and microfinance options make that easier than ever. MORE

My solution was to found a microfinance organization that puts women in a position to create their own destinies and achieve their full potential. This question is at the heart of Jacqueline Novogratz’s inspirational book, The Blue Sweater. MORE

Six years ago, David and Donna Allman approached Opportunity with an idea that fell outside our traditional microfinance model: to build a Community Economic Development (CED) program in Nicaragua. It called for leveraging the profits of the global microfinance institution, and coupling them with private investments from the Allmans and their donor network. We know that microfinance alone will not break the poverty cycle. MORE

Career paths are not one-size-fits-all, yet in emerging markets, it's often assumed that microfinance — the use of small loans to foster self-reliant small businesses in a community setting — is the only path for women seeking economic opportunity. Microfinance has accomplished tremendous things and helped millions of women launch their own businesses; however, it is not a complete means of economically empowering women. Microfinance was one issue that we considered. MORE

Following Abed's twist on Schumacher — "small may be beautiful, but big is necessary" — it now touches the lives of an estimated 126 million people with healthcare, education, enterprise development, microfinance and a slew of other programs. Forty years ago, British economist E.F. MORE

When those in the group that had the job givers question pulled off their masks, they discovered that Muhammad Yunus , a Nobel Prize winner for his microfinance work, had been with them, listening carefully to all their suggestions. C2 Montréal’s outdoor plaza at night. MORE

These colossal “beltway bandits” work everywhere from Afghanistan to Zambia and purport to offer expertise in everything from microfinance to micro-irrigation. Here are two surprising facts. First, the average American estimates that over 25% of the U.S. MORE

Successful examples of this approach are still rare; most people point to microfinance. MORE

This week''s post is by Andy Posner , Co-Founder & Executive Director of Capital Good Fund ( CGF ), a non-profit microfinance organization targeting the root causes of poverty through innovative micro-loans and personal financial coaching. MORE

So far, the Andhra Pradesh (AP) microfinance crisis has largely been viewed as a local issue, with relatively little impact beyond AP or India's borders. Other microfinance crises, in Bolivia, Nicaragua, Nigeria, and Bosnia, have not spread beyond the borders of a particular country. In a recent paper, Jonathan Morduch and Jonathan Conning explain the role of debt and equity financing in the microfinance industry. MORE

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Intercontinental Ballistic Microfinance from Kiva Microfunds on Vimeo. What happens when 620,000 lenders fund 615,000 entrepreneurs, students, and other microfinance borrowers around the world? MORE

Or consider Kwabena Darko of Ghana, who helped found that country’s microfinance sector by forging a collaboration between global NGO Opportunity International , his national startup Sinapi Aba , and a myriad of village- and town-based trust groups. Social enterprise in the U.S. is a fast-growing, but fragmented, movement. MORE

Peer-to-Peer Microfinance: A Sustainable Solution to Poverty. Twitter. LINKEDIN. The Modern Servant Leader Servant Leadership & Technology. Leadership. Technology. Resources. Other. Archives. September 20, 2011 Servant Leadership. Servant Leadership Intro. Servant Leader Posts. Assessment. MORE

Currently, impact can mean anything from venture investments in new health technologies to microfinance loans in Peru; from affordable housing in the US to renewable energy in India; from social impact bonds to private equity funds that create jobs. MORE

She's spending the summer in Dhaka doing microfinance. Some of today's top CEOs were history, political science, sociology, chinese and music majors in college. They are leading global airline, chemical, healthcare, pharmaceutical, and financial companies, among others. MORE

We are proud to have made early investments in the work of Andrew Youn, who founded One Acre Fund; Wendy Kopp, who founded Teach for America; and Vikram Akula, who founded SKS Microfinance. "Would you take a look at my business plan?". MORE

” Microfinance and other market-based interventions don’t generally reach them. Ending extreme poverty by 2030 is the BHAG – the big, hairy audacious goal – of our generation. MORE