Require MFIs to Post Profiles at The MIX Market

[Guest]

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[RichardF]

It seems to me one way to objectively and fairly address the expectation for well-run, sustainable and responsible lending practices for Kiva entrepreneurs is to require all Kiva Field Partners to post MFI Profiles at The MIX Market. This posting requirement also should include at least a 3-diamond rating (including financial data) with a plan to work with Kiva and others to attain a 5-diamond rating (including ratings and evaluations), if needed.

As far as I can tell, only about a quarter of the current field partners have MIX profiles online (see List of Kiva Microfinance Institutions).  At the very least, using the types of financial data on MIX profiles for basic reporting and comparisons on Kiva Field Partner pages would help lenders and other interested parties make more informed decisions about where to lend their support, financial and otherwise.

[BenElberger]

Richard,

Couldn't agree more.  We're currently doing this with our partners and we have a staff member working with our partners directly on this.  We have a strong relationship with the MIX and hope to have all of our partners up there by the end of the summer.

Thanks!
Ben

[BenElberger]

As an FYI, ratings can cost thousands of dollars and are probably out of the range of some of our smaller partners.  However, we will be asking them to post up their financial and outreach data as a minimum.

Ben

[RichardF]

Thanks, Ben.  I agree on the costs of getting up to a 5-diamond rating.  Maybe that could be an area for pursing grants, etc., as long as you all see real value in doing it. 

[BenElberger]

Richard,

Absolutely, we're definitely pursuing grants on that.  I'd be curious to see if there was lender interest (and individual $$$) in providing funds to a "Institution Building" fund that would be used to perform ratings, match the costs of audits, etc.  This would be a fund that would be particularly interesting in that people would know that their $$$ were used to leverage thousands more in loan capital.

Thoughts, reactions, etc?

Ben

[AccountAbility]

Maybe this could be a second option offered when each loan is funded by a lender.  Hopefully this wouldn't result in diverting funds donated directly to Kiva.
It would take a bit of education though, for the average lender to understand the value of the concept.

[RichardF]

Ben & AccountAbility,

I fully support an earmarked fund for "Institution Building" grants!    I agree you could add it as an option on the "donations" page with a link to a fuller explanation on an "About" page.   

[RichardF]

Hey, I just noticed a few "stealth links" to the MIX Market profiles for a handful of the Kiva partners!    If you go to some partners with a profile, like SEED Development Group, and you click on the MFI's logo, you're sent to their MIX Market page.  This doesn't work for everyone with a profile, and the partner image link doesn't always work, but it often goes to a page that is not mentioned in the narrative!    It's like playing scavenger hunt without even knowing it! 

[RichardF]

Richard,

Couldn't agree more.  We're currently doing this with our partners and we have a staff member working with our partners directly on this.  We have a strong relationship with the MIX and hope to have all of our partners up there by the end of the summer.

Thanks!
Ben

Is summer over yet?   

[BenElberger]

Richard,

Thanks for following up on this!

Over the summer, a number of our partners have submitted to the MIX.  Others have been slower and Kiva Fellows will hopefully work with them to post up. 

(Complicating all of this is that the MIX has its own approval schedule that can take some between an organization submits their profile for posting and when it is up on the web).

We'll keep working on this and hope to have all of our partners up on the MIX.

Ben