CHF International’s mission is to be a catalyst for long-lasting positive change in low and moderate-income communities around the world, helping them improve their social, economic, and environmental conditions.

A key area of focus for CHF is to provide microfinance services to entrepreneurs and households enabling them to grow their small businesses and increase their level of income.  As part of its long term strategy for growth in microfinance, CHF International has established the CHF Finance Group (the Group), a holding company owned by CHF that will manage CHF’s most commercial microfinance subsidiaries. IFC is a minority investor in the Group.  The Group is seeking a CONSULTANT to serve as the Internal Auditor of CHF’s Office of Development Finance Group and work with each microfinance subsidiary’s internal auditor to build local capacity and strengthen audit functions in each country of operation.

DUTIES:

• Oversee the internal audit functions of four microfinance subsidiaries, including reviewing the annual work plans and budgets, developing and training local internal audit staff, presenting potential new areas of risk to the CHF Finance Group Board, and overseeing the internal audit reporting function to the Board.  The Internal Auditor will assure that all areas of operational risk are covered in the annual work plans of the subsidiaries.
• Conduct regular visits to the subsidiaries, making field visits with local internal audit staff and conduct audit tests, as a way to support the development of the internal audit staff at these subsidiaries.
• Conduct training of local management and internal audit staff through regional seminars and working groups.
• Assess operational risks of the subsidiaries and make recommendations to the Board on how to improve internal controls in lending and non-lending functions.
• Serve on the subsidiaries’ Board Internal Audit Committees as a representative of the CHF Finance Group, thus contributing to the committees’ direct experience in accounting, risk management, internal control systems, and information security.
• Monitor compliance with previous audit recommendations and provide input to update policies and procedures at the subsidiary level.
• Ensure that operational risks are monitored and mitigated at the holding company level, including that all policies and procedures are met, that there is compliance with all policies and guidelines from lenders and investors, that all requirements are met with local tax and state authorities.
• Assist the work of the External Auditor during annual audits as needed at the holding and subsidiary levels.

Required Skills:

• Bachelor’s degree, preferably in related field, and a minimum of five years of auditing and accounting experience. Specific experience with internal controls.
• Internationally recognized accounting and/or auditing designation. Experience in US GAAP and IFRS a plus.
• Banking or microfinance sector experience.
• Strong written and verbal communications skills.
• Honest, principled, and objective.
• Fluency in English required; Arabic language skills a plus.
• Based in headquarters in Silver Spring, MD, with 35% annual travel to the international field offices.
• U.S. Work Authorization.

Source: SimplyHired

ACCION International, a pioneer and leader in microfinance, is pleased to announced that it has been ranked the No. 1 microfinance nonprofit globally by Philanthropedia, an organization devoted to improving and measuring nonprofit effectiveness.

To create its ranking, Philanthropedia surveyed 131 international microfinance experts, including foundation executives, researchers, nonprofit senior staff and government officials.  These experts identified 12 top microfinance nonprofits and rated them on the basis of impact in the field.  Of the 131, 57 agreed that ACCION had the most impact.

In their assessment, the experts cited the scalability and sustainability of the 34 microfinance organizations with whom ACCION partners; ACCION’s innovation in client protection, through its leadership role in the Smart Campaign for consumer protection; its commitment to serving excluded populations (evidenced by its new ventures in the Amazon, Inner Mongolia, Cameroon, and Bihar, India); and good governance.

Comments included:

• “They are good industry teachers, have good financial performance, are good in product development, and are pushing the frontiers in microfinance.”
• “They have a leading role in consumer protection.”
• “They have successful and sustainable microfinance institutions and are growing and serving excluded populations in different environments.”
• “They have impressive growth and sustainability.”
• “They are the founder of microfinance.”

“At the end of the day, we believe that the impact a nonprofit is having on the lives of the people it’s reaching is what’s most important,” said Erinn Andrews, Philanthropedia’s COO.  “We hope donors will reward ACCION for their superb efforts and other nonprofits will follow the good example they’re setting.”

“It’s particularly gratifying to be so highly considered by colleagues – those who are in the best position to assess the full range of our efforts to build double-bottom-line microfinance institutions,” said Michael Schlein, ACCION’s president and CEO.

About ACCION International
ACCION International is a private, nonprofit organization with the mission of giving people the financial tools they need — microenterprise loans, business training and other financial services — to help work their way out of poverty.  A world pioneer in microfinance, ACCION was founded in 1961 and issued its first microloan in 1973 in Brazil.  Over time, ACCION has helped build 62 microfinance institutions in 31 countries on four continents.  Those institutions are currently reaching 4.9 million clients.  In the United States, the U.S. ACCION Network is the largest microfinance network in the country and has served over 24,000 clients with nearly $277 million in loans since the inception of its pilot program in 1991.  For more information, visit ACCION

Here are the Top 5:

View the rest here.

For more information about the study, read the Research Report.

Source: PR Newswire.

ACCION San Diego is a mission-driven non-profit organization that is committed to increasing income and job stability for San Diego’s self-employed men and women who lack access to traditional forms of business credit. ACCION accomplishes this by providing support services and business loans ranging from $300 to $35,000 to these small business owners, formally known as microentrepreneurs.

Qualifications/Requirements:

• Bilingual in English and Spanish
• Excellent computer, communication and organizational skills
• The ability to work independently, manage multiple tasks simultaneously and successfully meet deadlines.
• Detail-oriented, flexible
• Team Player
• Experience working in a lending/financial environment preferred
• Passion for non-profit and/or microfinance work

Responsibilities:

• Handle the administrative aspects of a small busy office. This Includes: receptionist duties, filing, special events, customer service, ordering supplies.
• Support 8 staff members with daily tasks.
• Process all client invoices twice a month.
• Submit client collateral documentation; input and track the data on an excel spreadsheet and in an in-house database.
• Discuss the program with potential clients who call and come into the office.
• Send application to client and provide the client with the necessary information to begin the loan process or refer them to a community partner to obtain the services they need.
• Input each potential client’s information onto inquiry slip and assist the Customer Service Representative with follow-up and client questions.
• Assist in translation of bilingual documents.
• Coordinate letters to ACCION clients regarding loans and special projects.
• Build the agenda for the weekly staff meetings.
• Assist staff with various projects including annual report mailing, quarterly board meeting preparation and special events/projects.
• Assist lending department with NSF letters and reference calls.
• Input loan withdrawals and denials in customer database and create denial letters.
• Conduct other duties as necessary.

To Apply:
Please email cover letter and resume to info@accionsandiego.org
Or see the position listed on our website.

I was reading a couple articles today about microfinance when I randomly came across CatchAFire.org. CatchAfire.org is a social business that is putting together a concept that a lot of people in the microfinance community have talked about.  Although CatchAFire doesn’t only serve to microfinance non-profits, it does reach out to quite a few of them.  I think it’s a great idea that will really help all sorts of non-profits.  Here’s some more info about CatchAFire:

Catchafire’s mission is to improve the quality of the volunteer experience by providing the opportunity for people to volunteer their skills in a powerful way.  Their vision is to make it easy for every professional to volunteer their skills if they want to and to make it easy for every nonprofit and social enterprise to access and effectively use skills-based volunteers.  They believe in providing efficient, effective, and meaningful volunteer experiences for both volunteers and the organizations with whom they work. They believe that a good volunteer experience can transform someone’s life, and also know that a bad one can turn someone away from giving their time forever.  Catchafire matches professionals who want to volunteer their skills with nonprofits and social enterprises that need their help. They match volunteers and organizations based on a variety of characteristics including skills, cause interests, and time availability.  They help organizations identify their needs as short-term, discrete, and individual-based projects. Our projects are structured in this way to make it easy for professionals to find time to volunteer in the midst of their busy daily lives. Check out our projects here.  They charge nonprofits and social enterprises less than 5% of the cost that they would normally pay for the professional services our volunteers provide. Our service is free for all professionals willing to donate their time. They also help corporations offer our skills-based volunteer opportunities for their employees.

Although CatchAFire reaches out to various non-profits, here’s a current list of the microfinance organizations that they work with:

They Often Cry Outreach
They Often Cry Outreach (TOCO) is a 501(c)(3), U.S.-based not-for-profit organization founded by St. Lucian artist Taj Weekes and is dedicated to improving the lives of underprivileged, at-risk and orphaned children in the Caribbean through sport, enrichment, educational and wellness…

MediaGlobal
MediaGlobal is an independent international media organization, based in the United Nations, creating awareness in the global media on social justice and development issues in the world’s least developed countries. Launched in 2006, MediaGlobal is a 501(c)3 media organization headquartered…

UNDP Equator Initiative
The Equator Initiative is a partnership that brings together the United Nations, governments, civil society, businesses, and grassroots organizations to build the capacity and raise the profile of local efforts to reduce poverty through the conservation and sustainable use of…

Network 355
Network 355 is a New York City based network of socially responsible women entrepreneurs who volunteer their expertise to raise public awareness about humanitarian and cultural causes. Mission: Network 355′s mission is to promote women as a powerful force for…

Barefoot MBA
Barefoot MBA aims to provide people with the knowledge they need to make better business decisions. The Barefoot MBA teaches business concepts to undereducated entrepreneurs through a collection of simple, contrasting stories. As students at the Stanford Graduate School of…

The ESB Group, LLC
MENASA Social Enterprise Consulting Co-founder of a privately held microfinance start-up and for-profit social enterprise (FPSE) geared towards economic development and poverty alleviation in Africa & South Asia. We specialize in offering social enterprise consulting and micro-equity, non-interest financing services…

Youth Challenge America
Youth Challenge America is a leading global youth development organization that promotes youth innovation to drive positive change. YCA is the American affiliate of Youth Challenge International based in New York city. Building on YCI’s more than 20 years of…

United Prosperity
United Prosperity helps you to combat poverty by multiplying the impact of your money through loan guarantees. We are the world’s first peer-to-peer loan guaranteeing website. How it works: Choose an Entrepreneur; Guarantee a loan; Get Repaid 1) You browse…

Operation HOPE
Operation HOPE, Inc. (HOPE) is a non-profit, public benefit organization, founded immediately following the civil unrest of April 29, 1992 in Los Angeles. HOPE is America’s leading provider of economic tools and services. HOPE is an effective facilitator, lender, advocate…

Global Cocoa Project
The Global Cocoa Project is a high impact poverty alleviation initiative that supports cocoa farmers around the globe by supplying them with the basic tools they need to improve the quality of their cocoa production. Additionally, basic needs will be…

PoverUP
PoverUP is a student grassroot movement created to raise student’s awareness on the power of microfinance in high schools and universities on a global scale. Dedicated to lifting people living on less than $2 a day out of poverty through…

Africa Volunteer Corps
Africa Volunteer Corps (AVC) is a Moshi-based NGO that will match Tanzanians with local, grassroots NGOs and provide stipends for the duration of their contract. The goal of Africa Volunteer Corps is to provide employment experience as well as travel…

ioby
ioby (eye-OH-be) stands for “in our backyards” and the belief that environmental knowledge, innovation, action, and service begin and thrive at the local level. We are a NYC-based nonprofit and, for now at least, NYC-focused. Our online platform combines the…

BRAC USA
BRAC USA shares the same mission and vision as BRAC. Our vision is a world free from all forms of exploitation and discrimination where everyone has the opportunity to realize their potential. Our mission is to empower people and communities…

I was just taking a look at Wokai as a result of a post on Facebook (linking to this post about moving Wokai to the cloud) — and noticed a feature I absolutely LOVE when I signed in. Contribution Plans!

Uploaded with Skitch!

The feature allows a registered member of Wokai to set up a recurring contribution (to entrepreneurs in China) and/or donation (to Wokai overhead) that will be billed either monthly or quarterly to a credit card. For instance, I just set up a donation of $25 every three months with a $10 donation to Wokai. It’s not much, but every little bit counts. I’ve long been a supporter of the organization and would have donated more often had this feature been in existence since the beginning. But now, I can no longer use the excuse that “I forgot” when it comes to donating — but unfortunately I’ll have to use that one for my lack of donations over the past couple years

This is an unbelievably smart feature on Wokai’s part, and one that not even Kiva has implemented yet (if I’m wrong on that, let me know). It’s a fact that donors around the globe are being bombarded from all angles with pitches to help NGO A, NGO B, and NGO C — but now, if Wokai can win their attention once (no small task), they have the ability to sign up recurring donors rather than relying on email marketing to bring donors back to make additional transactions. I have no idea the actual numbers, but I’m betting a recurring donor is at least 10x as valuable to Wokai (since you have to factor in donor acquisition costs) than a one time donor.

To access and set up a Wokai contribution plan for yourself, just login and click the “Contribution Plan” option within your “My Wokai“.

I’m willing to bet that more peer to peer lending platforms, and other non profits for that matter, will start implementing this feature in the near future.

Happy [continual] contributing!!

Over the last couple of days, there have been a couple great articles about big microfinance organizations that I thought would be worth sharing:

Vittana Makes a Commitment at the Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting to Help 10,000 Students Across Africa Go to College.
NEW YORK, Sept. 23  /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Vittana is pleased to announce its Commitment To Action in the Education category, which will bring student-lending programs to Africa. The announcement was made at this week’s annual meeting.  Through its initiative, Vittana/Africa: Bringing Student Loans to Africa, Vittana will partner with some of Africa’s finest microfinance institutions to launch one of the first lending programs to specifically target young people, helping fund their post-secondary education. These loans will help 10,000 students complete the “last mile” of their education by the year 2015…[read more]

Grameen Foundation and YouChange Foundation Announce New Collaboration to Expand Microfinance Services in China
HONG KONG, Sept. 22  /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Grameen Foundation and the China Social Entrepreneurship Foundation (also known as YouChange Foundation) have formed a landmark collaboration designed to increase access to microfinance for millions of poor people in China. Beijing YouChange PuRong Information Advisory Co. Ltd. (YouChange PuRong) is a social business that represents a unique partnership between the development sector…[read more]

Kashi and Emergen-C Partner With Whole Foods
In an effort to raise money to fight global poverty, Kashi Co. and Emergen-C are partnering with Whole Foods Markets’ nonprofit Whole Planet Foundation. For every box of its new Emergen-C Planet…[read more]

ACCION USA Partners Up with Count Me In!
Those that know ACCION  USA know that we love to partner!  Strong partnerships are critical to advancing our mission of lending, supporting and inspiring small business owners.  Recently, we announced a new great partnership with Count Me In, a not-for-profit organization that aims to promote economic independence and the growth of women-owned businesses.  Count Me In, like ACCION USA believes that entrepreneurs thrive with a combination of access to financial resources, education and support…[read more]

International citizen’s advocacy organisation RESULTS UK is looking for an intern to coordinate an important research project to support the activities of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Microfinance for which RESULTS UK acts as Secretariat.
Applicants must be able to commit to working on the project for a minimum of two days per week for at least six months (November 2010 to April/May 2011) and  should have excellent research and writing skills and a prior knowledge of microfinance.
This is a voluntary role but a small stipend will be provided to cover expenses. Background: The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Microfinance is a cross-party group comprising of MPs and Peers from all political parties who are committed to raising awareness of microfinance and the role it can play in reducing poverty particularly in the developing world.  The APPG on Microfinance will launch an inquiry in Autumn 2010 to tackle the question of whether microfinance needs to be pro-poor to eradicate poverty. The findings of this inquiry will form the basis of a report to government with recommendations to the Department for International Development on how it should target its future support to microfinance.

Responsibilities will include:

• Collating written evidence from external stakeholders.
• Conducting desk-based research of existing reports and evidence on the topic.
• Gathering information on UK microfinance spending and the impact of programmes to date.
• Identifying experts to provide oral evidence to the inquiry.
• Compiling primary and secondary evidence into a report with recommendations to the UK government.
• Support the APPG Coordinator with other related areas of work as required.

Skills required:

• Knowledge of/interest in international development and the field of microfinance.
• Excellent writing and editing skills.
• Strong research skills.
• Ability to motivate self and others.
• Ability to work both independently and as part of a small team.

Please send your CV and a cover letter to Louise Holly at louise.holly@results.org.uk  by noon on Friday 15 October 2010. In your cover letter, please explain in 250 words or less what contribution you think that microfinance can make to achieving the Millennium Development Goals.

Source: Charity Job

I was talking to Bhalchander Vishwanath, the founder and CEO of United Prosperity, and he mentioned a couple big milestones that I wanted to highlight:

1) Guarantee Repayments
United Prosperity is ready to start the repayments on the guarantees. These repayments will be done every quarter. Most of people have already received the repayments which are now credited into their online account with UnitedProsperity.org.  Please recycle your funds to support more entrepreneurs and  make a difference to their lives.

2) 1000th Entrepreneur Got Funded
Since the launch in May 2009, United Prosperity has been growing steadily and, on August 27 2010, they funded their 1000th entrepreneur – Nirmani Devi and group from Bhavanipur. Read their stories here.

3) Crossed $200,000 in Loans
A few days later when Suchitra Devi and her group from Balidih got funded, United Prosperity crossed $200,000 in loans. Read their stories here.

Additionally Bhalchander wrote a post on their blog about the loan repayments.  He goes into details:

“We initiated repayments on loan guarantees this weekend and have returned nearly $20,000 in repayments to individual loan guarantors.  This is a major milestone for us. During repayments the amount of guarantee that is returned is proportional to the percentage repaid on the loan tranche from the bank to the microfinance institution. Thus in case of the earliest loans of June 2009 the repayment is around 40% of the guarantee amount, while for the latter loans in May/June 2010 the lowest repayment is around 9%. Loans in the intermediate period will have repayments between 9% and 40%. To many individual loan guarantors, the repayments are a validation of the guarantee model. There is also a validation of the guarantee model at the human impact level that I am most delighted to share. A year back at the peak of the financial crisis Ajiwika, our first microfinance partner was finding it very difficult to raise funds from banks. Based on United Prosperity’s guarantee support a large Indian bank agreed to lend a little over $200,000 over…[read more]“

If you haven’t been to their site and given a loan, check them out.

Microfinance Opportunities is a market leader in financial services for the poor. They provide a voice for consumers at the bottom of the pyramid, providing research to understand their financial needs and behaviors, shaping appropriate financial products, equipping them with financial capabilities to manage their money and evaluating programs. For more information, please visit the  website at www.microfinanceopportunities.org. Microfinance Opportunities Financial Education work focuses on three main activities: 1) disseminating its curriculum around the globe through various delivery channels, including mass media (e.g., television, radio, print) and leading workshops to equip trainers with the skills and content knowledge to train end users in sound financial management; 2) developing new financial education resources (most recently, Youth, Consumer Protection, Remittances, and Home Improvement); and 3) measuring outcomes of financial education programs.

Job Description:
Microfinance Opportunities is seeking a Spanish speaking Program Officer to work on a new high profile project in Latin America and other parts of the world to promote low-income households’ financial capabilities and use of new technologies (e.g. cell phones and bank cards) to access financial services.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Organize and lead financial education workshops, including assessing target market needs, customizing curriculum to meet those needs, and working with local co-trainers.
• Manage the design and production of financial education materials (e.g., comic books, radio programs), leveraging market research and working closely with local designers, translators and other subcontractors.
• Assist in new business development.

Qualifications:

• Ten years or more of technical expertise in curriculum design, training, non-formal education for adults, microfinance and/or behavior change communications.
• Strong training skills in international contexts with adult learners in low-income markets
• Experience in social marketing, from identification of key messages to design of educational materials, piloting of these materials and implementing social marketing programs
• Masters degree in international development, education, marketing or related field
• At least five years experience working in international development/microfinance/financial education
• Fluent in Spanish and English
• Pro-active work style and ability to work independently
• Excellent computer skills
• Strong writing and editing skills
• Strong attention to detail
• Flexibility and willingness to work in a fast-paced environment
• Ability to travel 30% or more

All interested applicants must be authorized to work in the U.S. at time of application. Position is full time. Travel is required. Salary is commensurate with experience.
How to Apply:
Send a resume and a letter of interest by mail, fax or email to the address below. Please indicate “Program Officer, Financial Education” on subject line, and let us know in the letter that you found this posting through Idealist. Due to the high volume of applicants, we cannot respond to individual inquiries. No phone calls please.

Microfinance Opportunities
1701 K St. NW, Suite 650
Washington, DC 20006
Fax: 202-721-0010
Email: info@mfopps.org
www.microfinanceopportunities.org

Source: SimplyHired.com

Kiva just added student loans to their site, according to TechCrunch. You can now go on Kiva and lend to students to attend higher education in a variety of countries.

Obviously, I’m a huge fan of lending to students in the developing world — hence the reason I’m such a huge fan of Vittana. One question I’m wondering is if Vittana and Kiva are working together on this at all? This seems like an ideal project for Vittana and Kiva to partner on.

Regardless, congrats to Kiva for this announcement — more students having access to higher education can never be a bad thing.