Microfinance Focus April 19, 2011: The Social Performance Start-up Fund to support national microfinance networks in Africa, Asia and Eastern Europe, is scheduled to be launched in May, 2011. The project is funded by the Ford Foundation and will be implemented by the Microfinance Center (MFC).

The SP Start-up Fund committee is the strategic advisory body for the Fund Management and will provide an opinion on the strategic decisions taken, on service providers, and ensure the accomplishment of objectives.

The Social Performance (SP) Start-up Fund is a global facility to provide technical and financial support to country level and regional microfinance networks who want to move their activities towards Social Performance. The objective will be reached through the increase of microfinance associations’ capacity to work with their members on the standardized reporting dealing with SP and their adjustment to local contexts and Social Performance Managing.

The SP Start-up Fund will provide one-year grants of up to USD 50,000 for starting-up social performance related activities with its members. It will support in development and implementation of the network’s social performance plans and capacity building of the network staff and local consultants in fundamentals of Social Performance Management and SPTF/MIX SPS Reporting. Additionally, it will provide information brokerage on available SP related educational and networking opportunities and information brokerage on available technical assistance opportunities for networks and their members

By the end of the year 2012, the SP Start-up Fund plans to support at least 11 networks and educated 220 practitioners in fundamentals of SPM and SPTF/MIX SPS reporting. In addition, it also plans to build capacity of over 20 network staff and local consultants in promoting and carrying out start up SP activities, initiating SPM improvement related processes in over 50 MFIs and developing 11 case studies on SPM start up by networks.

Headquartered in Poland, Microfinance Centre (MFC) is a regional network for Europe and Central Asia. Since 2005, it has dealt with capacity building in SP management and reporting to over 10 microfinance networks and 150 MFIs. MFC is a member of Imp-Act Consortium and Social Performance Task Force.