ACCION Ranked World's Most Effective Microfinance Nonprofit by Philanthropedia

BOSTON, Sept. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- ACCION International, a pioneer and leader in microfinance, is pleased to announced that it has been ranked the No. 1 microfinance nonprofit globally by Philanthropedia, an organization devoted to improving and measuring nonprofit effectiveness.

To create its ranking, Philanthropedia surveyed 131 international microfinance experts, including foundation executives, researchers, nonprofit senior staff and government officials.  These experts identified 12 top microfinance nonprofits and rated them on the basis of impact in the field.  Of the 131, 57 agreed that ACCION had the most impact.

In their assessment, the experts cited the scalability and sustainability of the 34 microfinance organizations with whom ACCION partners; ACCION's innovation in client protection, through its leadership role in the Smart Campaign for consumer protection; its commitment to serving excluded populations (evidenced by its new ventures in the Amazon, Inner Mongolia, Cameroon, and Bihar, India); and good governance.  

Comments included:

• "They are good industry teachers, have good financial performance, are good in product development, and are pushing the frontiers in microfinance."
• "They have a leading role in consumer protection."  
• "They have successful and sustainable microfinance institutions and are growing and serving excluded populations in different environments."
• "They have impressive growth and sustainability."
• "They are the founder of microfinance."

"At the end of the day, we believe that the impact a nonprofit is having on the lives of the people it's reaching is what's most important," said Erinn Andrews, Philanthropedia's COO.  "We hope donors will reward ACCION for their superb efforts and other nonprofits will follow the good example they're setting."

"It's particularly gratifying to be so highly considered by colleagues – those who are in the best position to assess the full range of our efforts to build double-bottom-line microfinance institutions," said Michael Schlein, ACCION's president and CEO.

About ACCION International

ACCION International is a private, nonprofit organization with the mission of giving people the financial tools they need -- microenterprise loans, business training and other financial services -- to help work their way out of poverty.  A world pioneer in microfinance, ACCION was founded in 1961 and issued its first microloan in 1973 in Brazil.  Over time, ACCION has helped build 62 microfinance institutions in 31 countries on four continents.  Those institutions are currently reaching 4.9 million clients.  In the United States, the U.S. ACCION Network is the largest microfinance network in the country and has served over 24,000 clients with nearly $277 million in loans since the inception of its pilot program in 1991.  For more information, visit www.accion.org

SOURCE ACCION International