Field building – does the field matter?

I’ve written a lot about field building and read even more. Nowadays, the word “industry” is often substituted for field. I suppose I could take some credit for this – since a chunk of my 2004 book addressed the issue of philanthropy as an industry – and, as an idea that was ahead of its [...]

Virtual Seminar: Can online investing end poverty?

This discussion will focus on MicroPlace as a breakthrough innovation in microfinance. Sponsored by The New America and Calvert Foundations. Join the webcast on March 19 at 1 pm pacific, 4 pm eastern by logging in here. Those in DC can attend in person at the Ronald Reagan International Trade Center Rotunda, 1300 Pennsyvlania Ave. [...]

Microcredit – more on when its less

I posted last week about some of the limits of microfinance. I hope you were able to catch last week’s episode of NOW on PBS. I’m looking at the downsides of microfinance partly because I am busy finishing reading A Billion Bootstraps: Microcredit, Barefoot Banking and the Solution to Ending Poverty, (Phil Smith and Eric [...]

Microfinance – its not all good

The most recent episode of the PBS Series NOW, Enterprising Ideastook a look at some of the controversy in the microfinance world.The episode looks specifically at the controversy surrounding a successful social entrepreneur in Mexico. Compartamos is a microfinancecompany that once lent small sums of money to poor, indigenous Mexicanwomen to start businesses and is [...]

Everyone is an adviser

Boing Boing, a blog about technology, is running a story on “how to be a successful micro lender.” It pulls from a longer piece in WIRED on micro credit. I’ve written at length about the “unbundling” of philanthropic services. What do I mean by this? Once upon a time a donor could put her financial [...]

eBay buys microfinance

No, I’m not talking about Kiva or Prosper. According to Symbiotics, a Geneva-based professional services firm for microfinance investors and fund managers, eBay has purchased MicroPlace, a microfinance marketplace that will let individuals invest in microfinance institutions. The article raises some important questions about a deal like this: “MicroPlace will soon launch an eBay style [...]

Microfinance debate goes mainstream

Newsweek – as mainstream media as it gets – has an article on the pros and cons of microfinance. Tim Freundlich covers it here on xigi. Now that the discussion is out in the general media, it is even more important that we recognize the cross-sector dynamism that makes any strategy work – philanthropic, market-based [...]

Philanthropic success…with a twist

The Economist has a bold claim in its March 17 issue – microfinance has shown it can succeed, philanthropists deserve the credit, they should take it, and move on to the next frontier. This is the kind of claim one would think foundations would love to hear – a major independent media outlet gives them [...]

A wealth of wealth builders

Microfinance has gotten a lot of (mostly-deserved) attention lately. But it isn’t the only strategy that philanthropists (and others) support to address the breakdowns in financial systems that keep the poor poor. Issue Number One 2007 of Ford Reports called “Saving’s Grace: Building Financial Assets” is a good, quick read on a subset of the [...]

Virtual conference on microfinance

CGAP, which is doing very cool work on mobile finance, is hosting a virtual conference on the future of microfinance. Check it out here. Tags: philanthropy, microfinance