Networks

Comment

Comment by Sharon D'Onofrio on April 2, 2010 at 7:28am

Dear working group members,

I wanted to give you an update on some of the activities of the working group. I am attaching the profile of the working group as a reminder to everyone of the priorities that were defined in our last meeting.

1) New member of steering committee. Sanabel has joined the steering committee as a regional representative for the middle east. Nancy Samy, Sanabel's Deputy Executive Director, is the network representative.

2) Draft of Donor guidance paper. The steering committee is reviewing a draft paper entitled "Strategies to Support Microfinance Associations in the Promotion of Social Performance". This paper is in response to the working group's interest in promoting more targeted technical assistance for associations. When the draft is finalized, regional representatives will be sharing the document with networks in their region to solicit more comment.
3) Outline for social performance tool kit- The steering committee is reviewing a draft outline for the social performance tool kit. This will be an electronic resource that will serve to organize and consolidated association specific materials for social performance.
4) Coordination with ImpAct/ Cerise capacity building workshop- members of the SPWG will attend a planning meeting with ImpAct/ Cerise prior to the SPTF meeting in Bern. We will be working on developing a coherent capacity building framework for associations working in social performance. We hope to share the outcomes of this meeting during the SPTF networks meeting.

Please contact me if you have any questions or comments.

Regards,
SharonProfile SPWG Networks.doc

Comment by Leah Nedderman on January 26, 2010 at 2:11pm

Sharon D'Onofrio raised a very good point regarding the use of the terms "network" and "association." The association memo will be edited to use the word "association" in place of "network association." The rationale for this change is provided below, by Sharon:

The term “network associations” does not make a lot of sense. As I think you know, I work with the SEEP Network Development Services program. We realized a couple of years ago that the network/ association terminology was confusing. SEEP has now formally decided to refer to these groups as associations. All recent and future SEEP publications will use this terminology with the exception of so called branded items such as “the SEEP network”, “network capacity assessment tool” and for the time being the “NDS” program.

The primary distinction we found between a Network and an Association is the role of members. Typically in the association model members run the organization. They occupy either all or the vast majority of board seats. They determine member criteria, form the organization’s by laws, participate and approve strategic plans, hire and evaluate the executive director etc. This is quite different than a FINCA network or Grameen Bank network of MFI affiliates. Of course the distinction is not perfect. There are definitely cases where they lines are a bit blurred. However, it seems the most straight forward approach for the SPTF is to refer to international groups with MFI affiliates as “networks” and the local member based organizations as “associations”.

Comment by Leah Nedderman on January 26, 2010 at 2:08pm

Thank you Masami. This document is from Masami Hayashi and includes her edits/comments on the associations memo: Masami.doc

Comment by Masami Hayashi on January 26, 2010 at 1:40pm

Hi Leah,
Thanks for the document. It looks very useful in general. I've sent you the file with my comments (I could not upload the document here). I look forward to hearing from other members!

Masami Hayashi
MicroFinance Network

Comment by Leah Nedderman on January 20, 2010 at 1:05pm

'Making the Case' Associations.doc'Making the Case' NGO Networks.doc

Comment by Leah Nedderman on January 20, 2010 at 1:04pm

Hello Networks Working Group,

My name is Leah Nedderman. I am a consultant to the SPTF. I have created 2 documents and I am requesting that you review them before the SPTF makes them public.

This purpose of the memos is to advocate the importance of social performance among two groups: 1) Microfinance Network Associations, and 2) NGO Networks.

I am requesting your input on the memos. Please review the short documents and provide edits/comments in track changes. Then, upload the document to this discussion board so that we can share in the review process. Or, send the document to me at Lnedderm@gmail.com. The deadline for input is January 30th.

If you have any questions, please contact me: Lnedderm@gmail.com

Many thanks in advance. Your participation is greatly appreciated!

Best,
Leah

Comment by Social Performance Task Force on November 25, 2009 at 5:33pm

SPNWG Meeting Minutes Nov 2009.docx

Comment by Social Performance Task Force on July 21, 2009 at 3:00pm

SPTF Network Working Group June Update.doc

Comment by Social Performance Task Force on July 20, 2009 at 3:15pm

SPTF Network Working Groups workplan.doc

Comment by Social Performance Task Force on April 29, 2009 at 7:54pm

Networks Working Group March 2009 Update: SPTF-090301-Networks Working Group of the SPTF.doc