Crowd Sourcing in Micro-Finance (Skills Based Volunteering)

Crowd Sourcing is the act of using the power of community or a group of people to accomplish a specific task. The group completes the task with complete disregard for any financial or monetary compensation.People usually provide their time, skills and services pro bono for that task. One great example of a crowd sourcing product is Wikipedia, whose content is totally volunteer driven. Its a complete online encyclopedia made by the "people" for the "people".

Crowd sourcing has been introduced in microfinance by Grameen Foundation as an effective tool to utilize skills of various professionals in completing important tasks. Grameen Foundation recently launched the "Bankers without Borders" initiative, a pilot volunteer program, which believes in strategic placement of volunteer skilled professionals in various domains to reduce costs and allow micro-finance institutions to operate more effectively in alleviating poverty. Instead of the traditional approach of supervising volunteers, these skilled professionals are allowed to act on their own as managers and use their skills in poverty alleviation.

"For projects that stretch over a longer time frame, Bankers Without Borders has volunteers contribute hours incrementally. Eight employees from MasterCard, for example, worked over a six-month period to create a market entry strategy to support the Grameen Foundation’s program expansion in Colombia."

"What is motivating so many professionals to do this voluntary work? The top three reasons cited by Bankers Without Borders registrants are a desire to help the poor, a strong belief in the work of the Grameen Foundation, and interest in microfinance."

One of the important factors in contributing to scaling up of this project was that volunteers often work remotely. Most of the volunteer hours registered were off the field. Due to the analytic nature of the tasks, most of the professionals can provide consulting work without being physically present on the field. "One remote project involved 10 finance professionals who created a country risk assessment framework for 30 developing countries on behalf of the Grameen Foundation."

Bankers without Borders intends to replicate this volunteer assistance model in other regions through a global network of in country organizations.Each organization will get seed capital and operational support to help them mobilize volunteers in donating their time as consultants for the micro-finance institutions and social enterprises in those regions.

Some of the questions that come to mind are

1. How can this model be standardized so that its effectively replicated in other regions?
2. What role can governments play in promoting and streamlining this model in their respective countries?
3. What is the required institutional restructuring for micro finance institutions and social enterprises in other regions to accommodate this model in their daily operations?

Links

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crowdsourcing
• http://www.grameenfoundation.org/sites/default/files/SSIR_Summer%202011_WhatWorks_Brozek.pdf
• Stanford Social Innovation Review

Using principals of Microfinance to do things other than offer loans

At the core of microfinance is providing opportunities for credit that would normally be unattainable through conventional means, such applying for a loan. Much of the recent reading focused on microfinancing as a means to an end, whether that was building a sustainable home for low-income people at the bottom of the pyramid, or financing insurance for people in developing countries at affordable premiums. But if we can use the model of microfinance to power access to transportation.

Whenever possible, I try to promote local social innovation in Pittsburgh. In this case it happens to be a peer-to-peer car sharing company co-founded by my brother, Robert Hampshire, who is also a Professor at Heinz College along with Craig Gates a graduate of the Tepper School of business. There efforts are allowing people to access cars, that are rented out by owners.

Below is a quote from Mr. Gates, after winning the McGinnis Competition in New York.

“There are over 237 million private vehicles owned and operated in the United States today, many of which sit idle much of the time,” said Gates. “We tackled the problem of why there are so few car-sharing services in smaller cities or neighborhoods. TransportCHAIN’s analytics will enable people who leave their cars idle for most of the day a way to recapture some of their investment—to become mini-entrepreneurs themselves. We can make car-sharing a cost-effective, environmentally-friendly alternative to vehicle ownership.”

Their business model represents a win-win for everyone involved. This is proof that collaborative efforts exemplified by microfinancing can be applied to other areas of need. What other ways can you think of to adapt the model of microfinancing to address social needs that you are most passionate about.