Taking Stock of the Microcredit Summit Campaign What Worked and What Didn't Work 1997-2006? What is Needed 2007-2015?

Abstract

The Microcredit Summit Campaign (˜the Campaign") has played a lead role in advocating for microfinance as one of the most important strategies to reduce poverty. This paper is the first of what the authors hope will be many initiatives to study the Campaign and its impact, and offers key insights about how a citizen-led process successfully establishes and meets a collective, global goal. It takes stock of the Campaign by evaluating what worked and what didn't work from 1997-2006. Results from interviews and a survey reveal that the Campaign represents more than a single organization and that its impact extends far beyond its original '100 million goal.' They further suggest that the Campaign has become a social movement that has markedly advanced the microfinance field over the past 10 years and fostered a productive learning community. The Campaign's advocacy has helped to build scalable, sustainable financial institutions that serve people living on less than $1 day, a majority of which are self-employed women - arguably producing a 'tipping point' for the microfinance field. Accordingly, projections and recommendations for the Campaign's next undertaking from 2007 to 2015 build on a vision of how to realize even more challenging goals.

Keywords: microcredit, microfinance, summit, campaign