Year in Review: First Annual Report on PPI Use >

During its past fiscal year, Grameen Foundation’s Social Performance Management Center actively pursued its primary goal—to grow the use of the Progress out of Poverty Index (PPI) around the world. Our success is measured both in the number of new PPIs created (10) and updated (6), and the number of new microfinance users (43). The cumulative result at the end of the fiscal year: 27 PPIs and 73 PPI users, serving about 5 million clients.

It was also a year of building partnerships and sharing experiences that enriched the use of the PPI everywhere. We learned lessons about how to be more efficient and effective in expanding the tool, and how to collaborate with microfinance networks to leverage that growth. Here are some highlights from the year:

• We carried out our first global survey of PPI users and found that 83 percent of respondents were using the PPI after completing their pilots, and 47 percent were repeating collections in order to track poverty indicators over time.
• We beta-tested and piloted a new data management tool to help microfinance institutions collect, analyze and manage PPI data.
• We developed relationships with microfinance networks and national microfinance associations, resulting in 12 partnerships. Working with three partners in sub-Saharan Africa, we created a new model for training PPI trainers.
• We assisted in the development of local and national peer learning communities.
• We continued to create case studies and web tools to share best practices about PPI use.

Visit our Case Studies & Papers page to download/read the entire annual report.

Steve Wright is the Director of the Social Performance Management Center (SPMC) at the Grameen Foundation. Prior to joining us,  Steve was the Director of Innovation and Technology at the Salesforce Foundation. Steve has also been a high school administrator and teacher as well as being a Peace Corps volunteer in Micronesia. He is based in Oakland, CA.