What is Truelift?

Creating a trust mark in micro!nance and beyond to signify commitment to positive and enduring change for people living in poverty

A mission about poverty

To recognize those micro!nance practitioners doing the most to reach poor people and to make a positive and enduring change in their lives

But a naming problem The Seal of Excellence for Poverty Outreach and Transformation in Micro!nance

Renaming Challenges
Length Complexity Word Choice Concept Adaptability Visual imagery

Social Performance

11 words!

Seal metaphor over-used? Oldfashioned?

De!nitions of Poverty

Povertyfocused Micro!nan ce Communit y of Practice

Micro!nance Industry Concepts

Poverty not a positive word for naming but need to keep poverty focus

The Seal de!nes the endpoint, but the journey is what we want to stimulate

Adaptabilit y to local and global contexts

Adaptability

Window test appeal to clients

of seals for other social missions

Appeal to MFIs and industry

Application outside of micro!nanc e

T-shirt test appeal to general public

The Truelift Mark

GREEN SWATH The green element of the logo speaks to the earth, agriculture and growth. Its angled application brings to mind a path or way forward towards progress. YELLOW SUN The Yellow element is representative of the life-giving rising sun and the promise of a new tomorrow PURPLE CRESCENT The purple element speaks to the dome of sky under which all things are possible. In this universe of possibility, the Truelift mark is the beacon for excellence.

What is Truelift?
Advocacy Pro-Poor Principles

Community of Practice

Recognition

Accountability

Collaboration

Truelift is Advocacy
Advocacy
Learning Agenda Accountability

Recognition

Standards

Operational Sustainability

Truelift is a pro-poor trust mark

just as Fair Trade is pro-producer and Rainforest Alliance is pro-environment

Truelift is Advocacy
Truelift is a global initiative to renew focus on the pro-poor objective of micro!nance.
Community of Practice Pro-Poor Principles Recognition Collaboration

Evidence, Data, and Decisions

Collects, shares, and promotes good practices

Simple framework

Good models, good products, and good organizations.

Highlights unknown organizations (as well as well-known ones)

SPTF

Smart Campaign

Truelift is Accountability
Advocacy

Learning Agenda

Accountability

Recognition

Standards

Operational Sustainability

De!nition of Poverty

Truelift is Accountability
The Fair Trade movement has driven attention to fair and equitable treatment of producers of co#ee beans.

Similarly, Truelift drives attention to true commitment to a pro-poor objective, as well as practices and decision-making that lead to real progress.

Truelift is evidence-based and strongly advocates for proper measurement and data collection to ensure outcomes are more than anecdotal.

Truelift supports social-"rst organizations that focus on poor clients to do more of their important work.

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Truelift is Standards
Advocacy

Learning Agenda

Accountability

Recognition

Standards
Operational Sustainability

The Pro-Poor Principles

1 Purposeful Outreach to People Living in Poverty 2 Products, Services, etc. that Meet the Needs of People Living in Poverty 3 Tracking Progress of People Living in Poverty

Truelift collaborates
Financial Sustainability and Responsible Financial Performance Client Protection (de!ned by the Smart Campaign) Social Performance Management (de!ned by the SPTF) 1 Purposeful Outreach to People Living in Poverty 2 Products, Services, etc. that Meet the Needs of People Living in Poverty 3 Tracking Progress of People Living in Poverty

What does pro-poor MFI look like?

At least some of its services reach people who are poor
by comparison to the great majority of their countrymen, even by comparison to the great majority of humanity. They can document this outreach because they actually measure the poverty of a representative sample or all of their clientsusing some reasonably accurate and credible measure of poverty. The measurement shows not only their success in reaching poor clients, but also their !rm intention to do so.

At least some of its services and products are designed speci!cally for poor people.
They show this by the evidence of their service and product design processes: They know who among their clients are poor; They study the needs and constraints of these poor clients; They design and test services and products speci!cally for these clients, and adjust according to the response of these clients until con!dent that the clients are using the services and products in ways likely to bring bene!ts to themselves and their families.

At least some of its poor clients are tracked over time

to assess the apparent in%uence of the services and products on their lives. This is not expected to be research that can attribute changes in lives to use of the services/products. It is simply the e#ort of tracking progress over time and responding to evidence of positive, negative or no change by asking deeper questions about what the service provider might do better for all clients. The provider keeps tracking and changing until it sees more positive change in the lives of poor clients and less evidence of being stuck or falling backward.

Truelift is a Learning Community

Advocacy

Learning Agenda

Accountability

Recognition

Standards

Operational Sustainability

Truelift is a Learning Community

Truelift involves diverse stakeholders. Truelift promotes sharing e#ective practices and collaboration to solve di&cult challenges. The multi-faceted initiative provides a strategic framework for povertyfocused micro!nance.

Truelift has a simple theory of change

Measure

Learn

Change

Micro!nance Providers
Look to Truelift for indicators of pro-poor micro!nance Look to Truelift for ideas to improve their practices

Look to Truelift for validation of their work with people living in poverty

Micro!nance Providers

Look to Truelift to highlight them to new investors, donors, and supporters

Networks and Associations

Look to Truelift to recognize member MFIs and promote successes on a global stage Look to Truelift for guidance on pursuing the pro-poor objective of micro!nance with their partner micro!nance providers. Look to Truelift to help strengthen their relationship with government regulators.

Networks and Associations

Social Investors and Donors

Look to Truelift for evidence Look to Truelift to identify and validate pro-poor Micro!nance Providers Look to Truelift to communicate pro-poor successes to their supporters

Social Investors and Donors

Truelift is Recognition
Advocacy

Learning Agenda

Accountability

Recognition
Operational Sustainability

Standards

Progress within Truelift

Commit
Join Community of Practice

Aspirant

Getting started

Emerging

Promising practices

Achiever

High marks in pro-poor micro!nance

Leader

Pro-Poor Seal of Excellence

Truelift is the Seal of Excellence

Trueliftwas initially conceived with the name Seal of Excellence for Poverty Outreach and Transformation in Micro!nance to recognize those institutions doing the most to help families lift themselves out of poverty. The Pro-Poor Seal of Excellence recognizes the highest level of veri!ed performance within its propoor framework, as it was always intended to be.

The MFI Test

Seal of Excellence Certi"ed Achievement in Poverty Outreach and Transformation

The Investor/Network Test

Kenya

Regulated MFIs NBFIs Credit Unions Truelift Recognized

The Window Test

The Window Test

Beyond Micro!nance

Truelift is ready
Advocacy

Learning Agenda

Accountability

Recognition

Standards

Operational Sustainability

What has already been done?

2010: 2011: 2012: 2013:
Founding, Concept paper, and Market feasibility Market feedback, Steering Committee established, Technical Committee, Alpha testing begins Indicators re!ned, Beta testing, Leadership elected, Team hired, Public awareness e#orts Assessment methodology and Pro-Poor Principles approved; Poverty-focused Micro!nance Community of Practice begins Public Launch of Truelift and the beginning of Implementation

June 2013:

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Leadership

Leadership
Steering Committee
Executive Committee: Carmen Velasco, Chair Larry Reed, Microcredit Summit Campaign Christopher Dunford Members: Alex Counts, Grameen Foundation Anne Hastings, FONKOZE Antonique Koning, CGAP Asad Mahmood, Deutsche Bank Frances Sinha, EDA Rural Systems Frank DeGiovanni, Ford Foundation Ging Ledesma, Oikocredit Isabelle Barrs, Smart Campaign John de Wit, SEF South Africa Kenlor Howells, REDCAMIF Laura Foose, SPTF Marten Leijon, MIX Market Sarah Gelfand, GIIN

Micro"nance Technical Review Committee

MTRC Chair: Frances Sinha, EDA Rural Systems / M-CRIL / Imp-Act Consortium Members: Anton Simanowitz Bobbi Grey, Freedom from Hunger Carmen Velasco Ccile Lapenu, CERISE Christopher Dunford Edouard Sers, Planet Rating Emmanuelle Javoy, Planet Rating Isabelle Barrs, Smart Campaign Lucia Spaggiari, MicroFinanza Rating Micol Guarneri, MicroFinanza Srl

Goals for the next 12 months

1. Increase participation in the Poverty-focused Micro!nance Community of Practice 2. Provide trainings on the Pro-Poor Principles 3. Launch self-assessment tool 4. Encourage MFIs to sign up for an assessment 5. Collect and disseminate e#ective practices 6. First round of MFIs recognized by Truelift at the Partnerships Against Poverty Summit in the Philippines in October 2013

Measure. Learn. Change.

Join us! www.truelift.org