FAQs
Here we list the frequently asked questions about SEEP. If you have additional questions about SEEP, please Contact Us.
General Membership Questions:
Working Group Inquiries:
Regional and National level Microfinance Associations/Networks:
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Does my organization join SEEP, or do I join as an individual?
All individuals gain membership through their organizational affiliation. The organization applies to SEEP and every quarter the Board of Directors reviews applications. When SEEP grants membership to an institution, its staff receives the member benefits.
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What are the roles and responsibilities of the Official Representative?
The Official Representative is SEEP’s main point of contact with each member organization. The major responsibilities of the Official Representative are to:
· Process membership renewals at the beginning of each year.
· Collect working group interest from staff members.
· Vote for new Board Members at the Annual General Meeting during the SEEP Annual Conference; if the Official Representative is unable to attend, he or she must choose a proxy to vote in his or her place.
· Disseminate news, events, and programs to staff members that may be of interest to them.
SEEP wants employees at every level of the member organization to participate in SEEP programs and events, but with 82 members it is difficult to communicate directly with individuals. The most important role of the Official Representative is to make sure that the information that we pass to along flows to the people in the organization who would benefit the most from it.
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Is my membership renewal due on the anniversary of the date I joined, or is the membership term based on the calendar year? Do I pay the full amount of dues for the first year, or a pro-rated amount?
Membership renewal takes place at the same time of year for all members, regardless of when you joined; renewal season lasts from January to March of every year.
Members that join SEEP after May pay 50% of the annual dues for their first year. Members that join in September pay 25% of the annual dues, and members that are approved at the Board Meeting during our Annual Conference in November do not pay dues until the next calendar year.
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Where can I find a list of all SEEPs members?
Contact information for all SEEP members can be found in our online directory.
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I’ve left my current position to begin work at another organization. Can I maintain my SEEP membership?
Since SEEP membership goes through the institution, once you leave the member organization you are no longer considered a SEEP member. If you begin working for another organization that is also a SEEP member, you can simply update your online user profile and contact SEEP to make sure we have your correct email address and contact information.
If you are leaving to work for a non-member or as an independent consultant, but are actively involved in a working group, we would permit you to remain on the current project so as not to interrupt the working group’s progress.
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What is a working group?
Working groups are the primary method by which SEEP promotes practitioner-driven learning. Representatives from SEEP’s member organizations participate in these learning networks via internet, telephone, and in-person meetings to research topics that are of great interest to microfinance and microenterprise practitioners in the field. Professional facilitators guide the process, and final outputs include published tools and documents that are disseminated around the world. To find more SEEP resources, follow the link below:
http://communities.seepnetwork.org/edexchange/resources
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How do working groups form?
Working groups form in several different ways, and their formation has varied depending on the topic. Typically SEEP member organizations approach SEEP staff with topics that are important to practitioners. SEEP then gauges interest among other members and seeks a qualified consultant to facilitate the working group. Some working group topics, such as Financial Services, have existed since before SEEP was even an official institution! Others form because of an industry change that forces SEEP’s members and other practitioners to re-think their methodology and/or programming. For example, the Poverty Outreach working group was prompted by the Microenterprise for Self-Reliance Act, which mandated that half of all USAID microenterprise funds reach the very poor. What is essential to the start-up of a working group is that the topic is introduced by members and driven by their needs.
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What are the current SEEP working group topics and learning initiatives, and who are the facilitators?
Financial Services
Microfinance Reporting Standards
HIV & AIDS and Microenterprise Development
Market Facilitation Initiative
Poverty Outreach
Social Performance
Savings-led Financial Services
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How do you join a working group and who can join?
Staff members at any level within a member organization can join a working group. We also encourage staff from the field offices to join when feasible. During membership renewal (January through March), official representatives collect staff interest in the various working group topics and send the information to SEEP’s Member Services Coordinator to have their staff added to the online workspaces. However, at any time of the year anyone from the member organization can contact the Member Services Coordinator, or the working group facilitator, and request to be added to the working group’s workspace and listserv.
Sometimes individuals from non-member institutions or experts on the working group topic will be invited to join to the working group. This is determined on a case-by-case basis and must be agreed upon by the other SEEP members in the group. Often times, the expertise of a non-member is necessary in order to add value to the learning, as well as the tools and publications being produced by the working group.
Specifically, in the instances of the Microfinance Reporting Standards and the Practitioner Standards for Economic Recovery after Crisis, SEEP integrated experts from other fields to provide technical content and create buy-in for the projects. In order for these initiatives to succeed and be relevant to a broader range of stakeholders, SEEP needed to engage non-members.
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What is my expected time commitment to the working group?
Participation in working groups varies; please note that SEEP does not currently require any specific time commitment. Below are a few examples of how people normally interact with working groups. Usually the level of commitment is based on how the organization views the working group as adding value to its work:
· Very active: facilitator role: In some cases an organization will find a working group topic so integral to its own programs and research that the organization will offer a staff person’s time to facilitate the working group (MEDA, Practical Action, and CARE USA have all done this in the past). Often the organization will build these responsibilities into the staff person’s job description. SEEP will either pay the organization for the individual’s time or share the cost with the organization.
· Very active: For the same reason described above, the member organization will commit a staff person’s time to be actively involved in working group activities and use the activities as professional development opportunities for the individual. SEEP does not pay these individuals, but usually they are helping to write, research, or engage others in the working group; they play an integral role in advancing working group learning and relevant products.
· Active: People often find working groups useful, but they cannot take time out of their current job to focus on working group activities; however they are as involved as possible and participate and contribute when they can (this could include editing a publication or participating in online conferences). The primary difference is time commitment from the individual and his or her respective organization.
· Observer: Many people will sign up for working groups just to be on the listserv or be able to peek in when something exciting is happening. They want to stay in the loop, but they decide when and how they want to actually engage.
It’s common for an individual to sign up for three or four working groups, but only actively participate in one.
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Can more than one person from the same organization be involved in the same working group?
The more the merrier! There is no limit.
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When can I join a working group?
During membership renewal season (January through March), official representatives collect staff interest in the various working group topics and the Member Services Coordinator adds those individuals to the online workspaces. However, at any time of the year anyone from the member organization can contact the Member Services Coordinator, or the working group facilitator, and request to be added to the working group’s workspace and listserv.
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What is the forum for working groups (online vs. in-person)?
Each working group will collaborate in various ways throughout the project life-span. Facilitators use a combination of forums to be as inclusive as possible for members, especially those not physically located in Washington, DC.
At a minimum, there is one in-person meeting during the SEEP Annual Conference. We also encourage Member organizations to host meetings when they can. However, with members located all over the world, sometimes in-person meetings are not the best forum for discussion, and facilitators rely on conference calls and online discussions. SEEP provides all working groups an online workspace in which they can store relevant documents, have discussions, and post news for the working group. Apart from the workspace, SEEP also supports the frequent use of conference calls and web meetings for our working groups to gather. When Skype is not sufficient, SEEP provides facilitators with conference call numbers for working group meetings and the use of our GoToMeeting account so that individuals can share documents and presentations.
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What other regional and national microfinance networks are SEEP members?
All India Association for Microenterprise Development
Association of Ethiopian Microfinance Institutions (AEMFI)
Association of Microfinance Institutions – ASOMIF
Association of Microfinance Institutions of Uganda (AMFIU)
Azerbaijan Micro-finance Association (AMFA)
China Association of Microfinance
Consortium ALAFIA
International Network of Alternative Financial Institutions / Latin America – INAFI/LA
Malawi Microfinance Network (MAMN)
Microfinance Centre (MFC) for Central and Eastern Europe and the New Independent States
Microfinance Council of the Philippines, Inc.
Pakistan Microfinance Network (PMN)
The Palestinian Network for Small and Microfinance “Sharakeh”
ProDesarrollo, Finanzas y Microempresa
Red Centroamericana de microfinanzas (REDCAMIF)
Red Financiera Rural
Russian Microfinance Center
Zimbabwe Association of Microfinance Institutions (ZAMFI)To read more about our network members visit the Network Development Exchange
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Are there network-specific working groups?
Although most working group topics are of interest to microfinance networks and their members, SEEP also has a capacity building arm of the organization that specifically builds the internal capacity of international and regional microfinance networks. The Network Development Services team focuses on topics that are more specific to networks and produces tools and publications specifically for network consumption. To view network resources visit the Network Development Exchange Resources site.
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How can I communicate with other network members of SEEP?
All network members are added to SEEP’s online membership directory. You can find basic contact information for all SEEP members there. In addition, once a network becomes a SEEP member, Official Representatives are added to a listserv exclusively for network members, as well as an online workspace. The Network Development Services team also maintains a network-specific directory. All network members are added to SEEP’s online membership directory. You can find basic contact information for all SEEP members there. In addition, once a network becomes a SEEP member, Official Representatives are added to a listserv exclusively for network members, as well as an online workspace.
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