title: Evaluating mission drift in microfinance: lessons for programs with social mission.
abstract: The article contributes to a better understanding of implications of scaling up on the social mission of microfinance programs. It proposes a methodology to measure the extent, if any, to which a microfinance program with a poverty alleviation mission drifts away from its mission during rapid scaling up and presents findings from a field research using the proposed methodology at Activists for Social Alternatives (ASA), a microfinance organization that serves poor women in rural India. The findings indicate that mission drift is not a result of deliberate decisions by the management or board but rather is a result of the challenges posed by the scaling-up process. At times, changing trends in social outcomes were not obvious, and management was not aware of the changes indicated by the proposed measures of social performance.
authors.affiliation: Mennonite Economic Development Associates. gaamaa@ideasnet.org
authors.forename: Gaamaa
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Hishigsuren
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003625:Data Collection; D005260:Female; D005376:Financial Management / Q000191:economics / Q000639:trends*; D017144:Focus Groups; D006798:Housing; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D009937:Organizational Objectives; D011203:Poverty / Q000517:prevention & control*; D016730:Program Development; D012935:Social Justice; D012946:Social Welfare / Q000191:economics*; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors