Download - ILCUF - Social Performance
Introduction
Credit Unions and Credit Union Apex Bodies have a social mission. Like all cooperative organisations they seek to bring social benefits to their members and to the wider community.
In order to be sustainable and to achieve their social mission they must all be financially viable.
Credit Unions and their Apex Bodies are accustomed to applying very specific measurement tools to assess their financial performance. In this area they are supported and instructed by legislation and state supervision.
In the social area however they do not always have specific tools or processes for measuring or managing social performance.
This booklet aims to assist them to consider this area. It gives extracts from the wide sectors of Microfinance, where Social Performance Management has become very important in maintaining the sectors social mission.
It also contains extracts from work done by ILCU Foundation under the EC ACP ‘West Africa Credit Unions against Poverty Programme’ (WACUPP). This is the first formal research, training and study carried out by our partner countries in Social Performance Management.
This booklet contains
1. The Universal Standards for Social Performance, as developed by the Social Performance Task Force http://www.sptf.info/
2. Extracts from a study of the levels of Social Performance of Credit Unions in the Gambia. This study was carried out by the National Association of Cooperative Credit Unions of the Gambia (NACCUG)
3. The ILCUF designed Questionnaire to assess Social Performance of a Credit Union
4. The Progress out of Poverty Index household questionnaire which is used to measure household wealth in Ghana. http://www.progressoutofpoverty.org
ILCUF hopes that this knowledge will encourage and assist Credit Union movements
to continue to maintain a strong focus on social mission and to build their capacity in
this area.
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The Universal Standards for Social Performance Management is a comprehensive manual of best practices
created by and for people in microfinance
as a resource to help financial institutions
achieve their social goals. The Universal
Standards can unite the industry behind
a common approach to social
performance management and
enhance its reputation for
responsibly serving people's
financial needs.
UNIVERSAL
STANDARDS
FOR SOCIAL PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT
DEFINE AND MONITOR SOCIAL GOALS
TREAT CLIENTS
RESPONSIBLY
TREAT EMPLOYEES
RESPONSIBLY
BALANCE FINANCIAL
AND SOCIAL PERFORMANCE
DESIGN PRODUCTS,SERVICES, DELIVERY
MODELS AND CHANNELS
NEEDS AND PREFERENCES
MANAGEMENT, AND EMPLOYEE COMMITMENT TO
ENSURE BOARD,
SOCIAL GOALS
“There are almost as many tools and processes
as there are stakeholders. The Universal Standards
are the first and only resource that draws on the
many processes in the field to create a unified
structure and language for social
performance management.”
Jürgen Hammer, Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation
For more information, please visit: www.sptf.info
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A. The institution follows a
written Human Resources
policy that protects
employees and creates a
supportive working
environment.
B. The institution
communicates to all
employees the terms of their
employment and provides
training for essential job
functions.
C. The institution monitors
employee satisfaction and
turnover.
A. The institution sets and
monitors growth rates that
sustainability and client
well-being.
B. Equity investors, lenders,
board and management are
aligned on the institution’s
double bottom line and
implement an appropriate
of sources, terms, and desired
returns.
C.
undermine the long-term
sustainability of the institution
or client well-being.
D.
compensation to senior
managers that is appropriate to
a double bottom line
institution.
STANDARDS:
3. Design Products, Services, Delivery
Models and ChannelsThat Meet Clients’
Needs and Preferences
STANDARDS:
STANDARDS: STANDARDS: STANDARDS:
5. Treat
Employees
Responsibly
6. Balance
Financialand
Social Performance
2. Ensure Board,
Management,
and Employee
Commitment
to Social Goals
STANDARDS:
4. Treat
Clients
Responsibly
1. Define
and Monitor
Social Goals
A. The institution has a
strategy to achieve its social
goals.
B. The institution collects,
reports, and ensures the
accuracy of client-level data.
A. The institution
understands the needs and
of clients.
B. The institution’s products,
services, delivery models and
channels are designed to
institution’s social goals.
A. Prevention of
Over-indebtedness.
B. Transparency.
C. Fair And Respectful
Treatment Of Clients.
D. Privacy Of Client Data.
E. Mechanisms For Complaint
Resolution.
A. Members of the board of
directors hold the institution
accountable to its mission and
social goals.
B. Senior management
oversees implementation of
the institution’s strategy for
achieving its social goals.
C. Employees are recruited,
evaluated, and recognized
based on both social and
.
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The ILCUF Social Performance Questionnaire is designed to provide a rapid assessment of a credit unions social performance. The toolraises awareness of social performance within Credit Unions and establishes a baseline for individual credit unions. This is moreimportatnt than comparing scores between different credit unions. It is important not to overstate results because the credit union'sboard will primarily be interested in progress and trends, and this will be much harder to show if very high scores are given at the start ofthe process.
There are 6 categories under many questions in each category. It is not expected that credit unions attempt to deal with all the issuesraised in a short period of time. It may choose to work on one or two issue each year.
The tool is designed as follows. A series of questions are asked spanning six key areas of credit union social performance:A Outreach & InclusionB Member Benefit & WelfareC GovernanceD Responsibility to Staff & VolunteersE Community & EnvironmentF Cooperation Amongst Cooperatives
Notes on completing the questionnaire.
1. Under each heading there are a set of questions. These are in bold and represent different themes under each heading. The personcarrying out the interview asks this question to the respondent(s).2. Several possible answers are offered for each question. The respondents select the most appropriate answer . Once they have selectedthe answer that most closely resembles the situation in their credit union (it may not be a perfect articulation of their situation), theyclick on the cell next to the statement and insert 'Yes'.3. The credit union respondent(s) is also asked to provide a comment specific to their own credit union justifying their selected answer.This should explain in a short sentance why they chose the answer they chose. The answer should be based on experience to date in thecredit union and not on plans or aspirations.4. The scores are generated automatically. It is not necessary to do anything with the other columns to the right of 'Enter CommentsJustifying your Comments' (these columns are in red). In fact, it is important not to interfere with these cells as they are programmedwith formulae and entering any data into these columns will affect the programme.
Social PerformanceAssessment Questionnaire
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PPI Questionnaire
The Progress out of Poverty Index® (PPI®) is a poverty measurement tool for organisations and businesses with a mission to serve the poor. The PPI is statistically-sound, yet simple to use: the answers to 10 questions about a household’s characteristics and asset ownership are scored to compute the likelihood that the household is living below the poverty line – or above by only a narrow margin. With the PPI, organizations can identify the people who are most likely to be poor or vulnerable to poverty, integrating objective poverty data into their assessments and strategic decision-making.
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