Synthesis Report on the AIMS/MFC Impact Assessment Project

The purpose of this report is to capture the details of the Impact Assessment project led by 'Assessing the Impact of Microenterprise Services' (AIMS) project and the Microfinance Center (MFC). Microfinance institutions (MFIs) in former Soviet republics and Eastern European countries such as Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) participated in the project. AIMS and MFC provided technical support towards impact assessment of microfinance programmes on the following lines:

• Making MFIs understand the objectives of impact assessment and the tools required for carrying out the same:
  • Conferences were held to expound on the objectives of the project;
  • Various tools with focus on survey tools were discussed to make MFIs conversant with the methodology of impact assessment;
  • Assistance was also provided to customize the design of the survey;
  • The tools, primarily sourced from the existing database of practitioner-led impact assessment with AIMS/MFC. were sufficiently modified to suit the area of testing.
• Assisting MFIs with analysis of data:
  • Knowledge about standard data analysis tools and their use was disseminated by holding another conference;
  • MFIs took help in constructing credit indices and designing a data analysis plan;
  • SPSS training was also provided.

The report states that as a result of the conference interactions with AIMS and MFC, four MFIs that volunteered to be a part of the project, designed their own questionnaires, finalized a sample for interviewing, collected data for their microfinance programs and analyzed the data. It states that the learning from these exercises provided models for further impact testing by the same MFIs and others in the region.

Further, the report compares, in detail, the impact assessment surveys carried out by all four MFIs across sampling methodology, client and control group profiles and the analyzed data.

The report concludes that:

• Analysis of data obtained through impact assessment surveys shows (pilot surveys) that microfinance programs have seen a positive impact on clients;
• The data provided by these surveys will be useful for subsequent impact assessment work to be done by MFC and other MFIs.