Responsible Inclusive Finance Facility in Central America and Caribbean (RIFF-CAC)

Application Form

SPI4 Social Audit Plus

Overview of the Training

· Background information: The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and the European Investment Bank (EIB) fund the Responsible Inclusive Finance Facility in Central America and Caribbean (RIFF-CAC or FFRI-CAC in Spanish), which launched operations in November 2017 and is working to build capacity and improve practice in social performance management (SPM) in Central America and the Caribbean. The Social Performance Task Force (SPTF) is managing the RIFF-CAC, in collaboration with REDCAMIF. One type of funding that the RIFF-CAC offers is co-financing to financial institutions who would like to do an "SPI4 Social Audit Plus." [footnoteRef:1] [1: Doing a SPI4 audit alone does not require any external financing, as the SPI4 can be used as a self-assessment tool. ]

· Description of "SPI4 Social Audit Plus": The SPI4 Social Audit Plus involves a SPI4 audit plus a customized activity. For example:

· SPI4 audit + post-assessment mentoring. The financial institution conducts a SPI4 with a qualified SPI4 auditor.[footnoteRef:2] As with any accompanied SPI4 audit, the auditor works with management immediately following the assessment to prioritize areas for improvement and develop an action plan. The SPI4 auditor then works with the financial institution to facilitate implementation (build commitment, provide guidance, identify resources, one-on-one coaching, etc.). For example, you might like 5 days of coaching over a period of 5 months. You might also ask your mentor to provide individualized support to your institution's SPM champion or SPM committee. [2: CERISE oversees the training and qualification of auditors.]

· Pre-training + SPI4 audit. For financial institutions that are new to SPM, a qualified SPI4 auditor organizes an awareness-raising workshop on SPM first, and then conducts the SPI4 audit.

· Participatory SPI4 audit. For large financial institutions, a qualified SPI4 auditor dedicates a longer time to the SPI4 audit process, in order to include a wider range of stakeholders (staff at HQ, Board members, but also branch staff, clients, other external partners).

· Reporting requirement: All financial institutions who receive funding for a SPI4 Social Audit Plus must commit to report back to the RIFF-CAC on their experiences, to share what they have accomplished and lessons learned along the way.

· Duration: 8-14 days depending on the activity (see Annex I for further information on allocation of days)

· Eligibility: All are welcome to apply.

· Language: All SPI4 Social Audit Plus activities may be conducted in Spanish, English, or French. This application form will ask you for your preferred language.

· Cost: The cost of an "SPI social audit plus" varies depending on the daily rates and location of the SPI4 auditor (which would affect travel costs), as well as the specific elements of the "plus" activity that your institution chooses. Your institution will be responsible for 50% of this cost and the RIFF-CAC will co-finance the remaining 50%. Your share of co-financing may be in-kind rather than by spending money (e.g., using your own venue for training will count as paying for training venue rental; you can also count your staff time dedicated to the process).

· RIFF-CAC procedure to disburse co-financing grant: The RIFF-CAC will not disburse the co-financing grant to an institution on the date when its application is approved. Instead, it will wait until the institution begins paying for, or using in-kind contribution to implement, its 50% share of the cost. This is to avoid problems that might occur if the RIFF-CAC contributes 50% but the financial institution is ultimately not able to contribute its 50% share of the cost. Additionally, RIFF-CAC will pay third-party vendors directly. This means that a portion, or all, of the co-financing may be paid directly to a third party instead of deposited in the account of the institution. In cases where it is not possible for the RIFF-CAC to pay third-party vendors directly, the institution may pay those vendors directly and then submit receipts to the RIFF-CAC for reimbursement.

· Project start and end dates: To be determined. The questions below in this application form ask you for your preferred start date of the project, and also to describe any time constraints you have. SPI4 Social Audit Plus activities must be completed within six months of their start date.

· Deadline to submit application: None. RIFF-CAC accepts applications on a rolling basis.

Questions for the Applicant

1. Please provide the following information about you:

· First name:

· Last name:

· Email address:

· Skype name (optional):

· Phone number, with country code (optional):

· Country of residence:

· What is your preferred language to work in (please answer Spanish, English, French)?

· How many years have you worked in the responsible inclusive finance sector?

· Briefly describe your responsibilities at your current job (1-2 sentences):

2. Please provide the following information about the institution you work for:

· Name of your institution:

· Country(ies) where your institution works:

· Please list all networks or associations of which your institution is a member:

3. Organizational Information. Please submit information on your institution to the RIFF-CAC in any one of the following formats:

· Did your institution report to MIX last year? If yes, please submit the data you reported to MIX.

· Has your institution filled out a Factsheet/MICROFACT? If yes, please submit the Factsheet.

· Has your institution filled out the SPI4? If yes, please submit the information from the Organizational Information page of the SPI4.

· Did your organization receive a social rating last year? If yes, please submit the report you received from the rating agency.

· Have any of your investors asked you to provide them with information on your institution that answers the questions listed below? If yes, you may submit the information you sent to your investor.

· If you do not have any of the above available to submit to the RIFF-CAC, please answer the questions listed below:

· What is the legal structure of your organization (e.g., NGO, NBFI, bank)?:

· In what year was your institution founded?:

· What is your institution's mission?

· How many open savings accounts does your institution have?:

· How many active borrowers does your institution have? [NB: "active borrower" = borrower with at least one outstanding loan]:

· Products and services. Please list all types of products and services that your institution offers:

4. Social data: Have you reported data on social performance indicators to the MIX for the past year? If yes, please submit those data. If your institution also collects data on social indicators different from those monitored by MIX, please submit your data on these additional indicators from the past year as well. Write "not applicable" below if your institution does not collect social data.

5. Reason for your interest. Explain the reason(s) your institution is interested in an SPI4 social audit plus. How will it help your institution? How will it help your clients?

6. Persons responsible. Who at the financial institution will participate in the SPI4 social audit plus? Please write each person's name, title, and planned responsibilities related to the SPI4 social audit plus process.

7. Prior SPM assessments. Has your institution ever done an assessment of its client protection and/or SPM practices? If yes, please describe what type of assessment, in what year it happened, and who conducted the assessment.[footnoteRef:3]

[3: Possible types of assessments include but are not limited to the QAT, the SPI3, SPI4, Smart Campaign Getting Started Questionnaire, Smart Campaign accompanied self-assessment, Smart Assessment conducted by an external third-party, as well as more informal assessments such as comparing your institution's practices to the "essential practices" in the Universal Standards for SPM. To answer who conducted the assessment, please list whether it was a self-assessment, one you did in collaboration with an auditor or TA provider, or one conducted by an external auditor or TA provider. Please also list the names and organizations of the auditor or TA provider who worked with you, as relevant.]

8. Experience with SPM. To the best of your knowledge, please describe what SPM training or experience with implementation of SPM that your institution has had in the last three years.

9. General financial information. Please submit, along with your completed application form, copies of your institution's income statements and balance sheets for the past three years. If this will not be possible, please explain why:

10. Budget. Please create and submit, along with this application form, an itemized estimated budget for your SPI4 Social Audit Plus. Please also provide documentation (e.g., an email or a letter) from the SPI auditor you propose to use, stating his/her daily rate, confirming that s/he is interested in doing this work, and providing information on dates when s/he is available and unavailable to do it. See question 14 for more information on selecting a qualified auditor. See Annex I for guidelines for your budget.

11. Declaration of ability to co-finance. Explain specifically which funds or resources your institution will use to pay its share of the overall cost. Note that in-kind contributions are permissible.

12. When would you like to begin the SPI4 social audit plus? Please indicate your preferred month(s) and year:

13. Are there any weeks or months in the upcoming twelve months when you would not be available to participate in an SPI4 social audit plus? Please explain:

14. Qualified auditor(s). Please note that it is your responsibility to select and contact the SPI4 qualified auditor with whom you would like to work. See the SPTF website (http://sptf.info/resources/ta-providers) or contact CERISE (spi4@cerise-spm.org) for a list of qualified SPI4 auditors and their contact information. Please provide all information requested below:

· Name of the SPI4 qualified auditor your institution would like to hire. (You may name one person or submit a short list of candidates under consideration.):

· When is this auditor (are these auditors) available? Please ask them for times when they would potentially be free, and times when they know they are unavailable, and report their responses here. Note that this information is not binding, as RIFF-CAC understands that availability may change:

15. Learning from peers is a valuable tool to help the responsible inclusive finance sector advance practice throughout the world. For this reason, the RIFF-CAC will require all financial service providers who receive RIFF-CAC grants to commit to giving feedback on their experience implementing RIFF-CAC-funded activities. For an SPI4 social audit plus, the feedback mechanism will include both speaking to CERISE and/or to RIFF-CAC staff about your experiences, either virtually or in person, as well as submitting a brief narrative report at the end of the project to share what you accomplished and lessons learned. Please write your initials at the end of the following statement, to confirm you understand this rule and agree to it.

· I agree to provide feedback to CERISE and/or RIFF-CAC staff on my institution's experiences implementing RIFF-CAC-funded activities through two channels: conversations and written narrative report. [Your initials]:

16. Instructions for submitting the application:

· Please type (preferred) or write neatly answers to all questions in this application.

· Once you have completed the application, please email the following documents to ffric@sptfnetwork.org and put "Application to RIFF-CAC for SPI4 social audit plus" as your subject line:

· your application form, filled out

· your CV

· your institution's income statements for the past three years

· your institution's balance sheet statements for the past three years

· organizational information described in question 3 (NB: this will either submitted as a separate document, as explained in question 3, or you may provide the requested information directly in this application form in response to question 3)

· social data you have collected from the past two years (see question 6)

· an estimated budget for your social audit plus

· letter or email from the qualified SPI4 auditor you are considering hiring, stating his/her daily rate, potential dates of availability, and interest in doing the project.

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Please note that RIFF-CAC will reply to you upon receipt of your application, to confirm that we have received it. The RIFF-CAC steering committee meets quarterly to review applications. Therefore, you will receive notice of whether your application was approved no later than three months after the date when you submitted it. Thank you for your interest.

Annex I

Budget Guidelines for an SPI4 Social Audit Plus

Types of Costs Associated with the SPI4 Social Audit

The level of effort for the SPI4 auditor will depend on your institution’s experience with SPM, size, objectives, etc. The following breakdown is indicative.

· 5-8 days for the SPI4 auditor to do the SPI4 social audit (1 for prep, 3-5 to conduct the audit, 1-2 for action planning).

· NB: It is your responsibility to ask the specific auditor you propose to hire for his/her daily rate. You will use that rate in your budget.

· If the auditor is not local, you may need to include travel time (1-2 days)

· Travel costs for the auditor

· Lodging for the auditor (if not local)

· Per diem expenses for the auditor (if not local)

· Number of days for each of the employees of your institution who will participate in this process (the primary person may spend up to 5 days, other staff 1 day each to participate in an introductory meeting, interviews and results discussion)

· NB: You may use the salary of your employees to estimate a daily rate.

Examples of Types of Costs That May Be Included in a Budget for the "Plus" part of an SPI4 Social Audit Plus

· 3-6 days for the SPI4 auditor who will work on the project (ex., for the on-site awareness raising or extra preparation in the case of a large FI, for on-site or off-site mentoring post-audit).

· Lodging for SPI4 auditor

· Per diem expenses for the auditor

· Number of days for each person in your institution who will work on this project

· Cost of training/workshop: venue rental, audio/visual materials, food for participants

· Organization of client focus groups

If you have questions on estimating the level of effort for your proposal, please contact CERISE at spi4@cerise-spm.org

Page 6 of 8Updated 2020-09-10

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