Resource ID: INDIGO-ARES-0150
Link: https://sptf.info/images/usspm_impl_guide_english_20171003.pdf
The Universal Standards for Social Performance Management to guide Microfinance Institutions towards a double bottom-line. Developed through broad industry consultation, the SPTF Universal Standards for Social Performance Management (‘Universal Standards’) are a set of management standards and practices that apply to all microfinance institutions pursuing a double bottom line.
Meeting the standards signifies that an institution has ‘strong’ social performance management (SPM) practices.
The original purpose of microfinance was to improve user welfare, but for the last two decades many institutions have focused more on financial sustainability than on the needs of clients. We now understand that institutions that manage only their financial performance will almost certainly be driven only by financial outcomes, so institutions that also have a social purpose must also manage their social performance. By defining and promoting strong SPM, the Universal Standards contribute to refocusing institutions on the client.
Impact goal: Development poverty reduction
Internal/external: Internal
Leader: French Social Performance Task Force (SPTF)
Method: Observation, Operational data, Mission alignment
Output format: Qualitative only
Scale: Meso
Sourcing: Self driven
Time frame: Ongoing, Retrospective
Type: Reporting standards
Used in sectors: Development, Microfinance, Social enterprises
Who: Third sector, Public sector, Private sector
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