MICROCAPITAL STORY: Toronto's MasterCard Foundation Grants $604,473 to Six Global Microfinance Training Institutes

Through the equivalent of USD 604,473 in grants, Toronto-based MasterCard Foundation recently initiated the Scholars Program to provide 200 scholarships for microfinance leaders in developing countries. The Foundation aims to increase access to management and professional development courses via six institutes: the Boulder Institute of Microfinance, the Frankfurt School of Finance and Management, the HBS-ACCION Program for Strategic Leadership in Microfinance, the Microfinance Centre, the Microfinance Management Institute and the School of Applied Microfinance. Each organization will receive a grant of the equivalent of USD 100,740.

The MasterCard Foundation, a private charitable foundation, was established in 2006 when Mastercard Worldwide Financial Institution offered 13 million shares of its stock during its initial public offering. While the Foundation holds MasterCard in high regards for its generosity, scholar Victor Fleischer suggests in his Harvard Negotiation Law Review article “The MasterCard IPO: Protecting the Priceless Brand,” that the donation of stock suggested “genuine altruism” as “an ancillary goal.” MasterCard has continued its relationship with the Foundation, most recently with a USD 20 million contribution in 2007 (p 10). According to the Canada Revenue Agency’s profile on the Foundation, it had total assets of the equivalent of USD 1 billion as of December 2006.

Boulder Institute of Microfinance, is a nonprofit of Boulder Colorado founded in 1995. With a focus on professional development programs and microfinance education, Boulder Institute’s main “product” is its Microfinance Training (MFT) program. In 2007, MFT was held in three sessions, with a total of over 300 participants from 90 countries. Sixty percent of the Boulder Institute alumni are “practitioners of microfinance”. The next MFT will be held in Turin, Italy this upcoming July. Boulder’s self-reported total assets were USD 123,548 and it had expenses of USD 122,482 for its program services as of December 2006.

Frankfurt School of Finance and Management, originally Bankakademie, was founded in 1957 by German business publisher Gabler. As a private business school with 86 German regional centers, the school offers on the job training, executive education, seminars and degree courses. As part of its International Advisory services for financial institution managers, Frankfurt organizes the Micro Banking Summer Academy. This summer, microfinance professionals will be given options of course offerings in “Microfinance Principles”, “MFI Management in a Changing Environment” and “Commercial Microfinance in a Competitive Environment”. Frankfurt plans to use the MasterCard Foundation grant to provide 25 partial scholarships and five “high level” scholarships of more substantial amounts to organizations with financial need to encourage attendance at the Micro Banking Summer Academy.

The Harvard Business School-ACCION Program on Strategic Leadership in Microfinance was established in 2006 as a partnership between the Harvard Business School and ACCION International, a private, nonprofit microfinance organization. With the aim to train high level management through executive microfinance education, the program lasts for seven days, this summer from June 15 to 21. According to Harvard Business Schools 2007 Annual Report, last year’s program had 70 microfinance specialists in attendance. The 2008 program will be different from those in 2006 and 2007 because course offerings will pertain to all types of financial institutions, as long as they finance underserved clients. The grant from the MasterCard foundation will be used for partial scholarships. MicroCapital reported on the Program on Strategic Leadership here.

The Microfinance Centre for Central & Eastern Europe and the New Independent States (MFC) was established in Warsaw in September 1997. Its membership is comprised of 110 institutions from a total of 27 countries, the majority of whom are microfinance institutions. MFC’s main services include training, research and a Legal and Regulatory Program. MFC’s training services provide programs for “microfinance practitioners”, a team of consultants for microfinance institutions (MFIs) and an e-Training program to be done online. According to its 2007 Annual Report, the closing balance for the MFC’s financial education programs was the equivalent of USD 56,736 and MFC’s total assets for year end 2007 were the equivalent of USD 1.8 million (p 4). Its most recent conference was the May 2008 11th MFC Conference of Microfinance Institutions held in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.

Microfinance Management Institute (MFMI) is a nonprofit organization based in Washington D.C. CGAP (the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor) initiated MFMI in 1998 as the Skills for Microfinance Management Program. The institute was officially established by both CGAP and the Open Society Institute, a private foundation, in 2004. MFMI’s membership includes 58 member organizations from a span of 25 developing countries and includes 25 universities and academic institutions. It aims at educating trainers, management and field level donor staff using peer-to-peer networks, regional training workshops, research and its Course for Microfinance Funders. MFMI plans to use the grant from the MasterCard Foundation to provide 100 scholarships to 33 of its members in order to enable broader attendance at training events. The next MFMI training course for funders, will be held in September 2008 in Dubrovnik, Croatia.

School of Applied Microfinance (sam) was founded in 2005. As a two-week program, it provides practical and analytical training in microfinance for MFIs in East Africa. Sam forms its curriculum from toolkits from both CGAP and MicroSave, a Kenyan organization that does microfinance research and curriculum development. Sam will next be held in Mombasa Kenya in September 2008.

By Sarah Knapp, Research Assistant

Additional Resources

Boulder Institute of Microfinance: Microfinance Training Program, Tax Return 2006

Frankfurt School of Finance and Management: Micro Banking Summer Academy

Harvard Business School–ACCION Program on Strategic Leadership in Microfinance

MasterCard Foundation: Background, Canada Revenue Agency Profile, Home, Scholars Program

“The MasterCard IPO: Protecting the Priceless Brand.”, by Victor Fleischer, Harvard Negotiation Law Review: 2007

MasterCard Worldwide Financial Institution: Annual Report 2007

The Microfinance Centre for Central & Eastern Europe: Annual Report 2007

Microfinance Management Institute: Course for Microfinance Funders

School of Applied Microfinance: Microsave Toolkit