Marian Doub, Program Evaluation Manager,
Women’s Initiative for Self-Employment

Do you, as microenterprise or microfinance practitioners or supporters, need the answers to the following questions?

How many people do we serve a year? How many training hours per client on average? Whom do we serve (what are their demographic characteristics)?
What is our business survival rate? What is our business growth rate? How many jobs have we helped create?
How have household incomes changed after training and business creation? How have assets and liabilities changed? Have clients achieved economic self-sufficiency?
We in microenterprise development are accountable to our clients, our field, other community-based organizations, donor agencies, and policymakers for program effectiveness. Any program—no matter what scale, location, or stage of maturity—needs internal monitoring and evaluation for outreach to new clients, reporting to funders, and improving its services. A high-integrity management information system (MIS) makes it possible to answer the above questions, and offers many other benefits as well.

MIS is a system that uses computer software and hardware and internal communication processes to turn data into useful information. You are not alone if you are daunted by the idea of managing software (such as databases) and hardware, let alone providing timely and accurate communication for your program. Luckily, if you are presently trying to create or strengthen your systems, there are now more resources, tools, and mentors available within the industry than just three years ago.

Building the MIS capacity of the microenterprise industry has been the goal of the Microtest MIS Advisory Group, managed by the Aspen Institute’s FIELD Program since February 2000. The group’s practitioners, researchers, and consultants have worked on both the supply and demand sides of the marketplace for MIS products to benefit the microenterprise community. The MIS project has worked systematically to increase the acumen of microenterprise program managers as planners, buyers, and users of information systems. It has also stimulated better software and database design by communicating with interested software developers about the information needs of the microenterprise field.

The FIELD MIS project has developed several products, briefly described below. For more information, visit www.fieldus.org or call (202) 736-2533.

MIS for Microenterprise: A Practical Approach to Managing Information Successfully. This manual by consultant Charles Waterfield is a step-by-step guide to understanding the elements of MIS and their relation to each other; what organizational factors influence how an MIS should be designed and managed; the process of defining information needs; how to assess the appropriateness of available software products to meet those needs; and how to implement an effective MIS.
2002 FIELD MIS Software Review Guide. This companion to the above manual contains detailed reviews of major commercial software designed for use in the microenterprise development field, applying the evaluative approach outlined in the manual.
Developer Services for interested software developers and vendors.
Training Workshops: a day-and-a-half workshop to equip practitioners with the skills they need to develop or manage MIS as outlined in the MIS for Microenterprise manual.
The remainder of this article describes Women’s Initiative’s (WI) experience and lessons learned during upgrading of our MIS. (For more detailed information about the organization and results of our improved MIS, please visit www.womensinitiative.org.)

WI embarked on this path in 1999 after assessing its information systems and its future needs. At the same time, WI also researched available software systems. Thanks to the work of the MIS Advisory Group, most organizations will not need to go down WI’s path of custom-designing a database system. A follow-up article in a future CAMEO newsletter will give examples of tools and recommendations from managers and staff about how to develop and use a high-integrity MIS.

In relating our experience, I hope to inspire others to start or improve their own MIS. Remember: you can complete this project, you are not alone, and you do not need to start from scratch.

Women’s Initiative for Self-Employment (WI) has served over 9,000 clients in the San Francisco Bay Area since it was founded in 1988. For the past several years WI has maintained three offices in the Bay Area, two of which target Spanish-speaking clients. WI began the Women's Initiative Database Enhancement project in Fall 1999, responding to a convergence of factors: the increasing pressure for WI to produce follow-up information for donors, a special FIELD grant to set up an outcomes evaluation system to track historical information about clients, and the unreliability of the existing database system (too many different designers, or ”cooks,” and different data entry practices over the years).

In 1993, WI began using Paradox database software. We converted to Microsoft Access 2.0 in 1997 and Access ’97 in 1999. When I started as Database Coordinator in 1998, Women's Initiative had the good fortune to have two talented computer experts ready and waiting to be of service. This team of a database systems analyst (or database developer) and a systems engineer was ready to make a sizable contribution of their time to Women's Initiative as volunteers. However, until my hire, there had been little staff time available to coordinate use of their expertise. After they assisted with my orientation, it took eight months to prepare: to get the gist of our organizational needs and complete a system upgrade (new computers, network, and software). They advised along the way during this preparation phase, but did not become fully involved until a year after I had started my job.

After a needs assessment and review of the very few existing database programs, Women’s Initiative decided to create a custom database to monitor its complex range of training and technical assistance services and track the data necessary for outcomes evaluation. As the design process began, the volunteer developer educated staff about the guiding principles of good database design during in-service, database task force, and staff meetings. This greatly improved dialogue between operations staff and the database developer.

In addition to doing much of the designing and programming, the systems analyst coordinated the contributions of all other project volunteers and interns. She did quality control on all pieces and aspects, and reviewed all changes and enhancements before incorporating them in the system. The database task force worked closely together over the next three years. As of May 2002, Women’s Initiative estimates that it received an in-kind donation of approximately 2,800 hours from the consultant team! During this process, the team learned the following lessons, equally applicable to any MIS enhancement project that employs volunteers, paid consultants or software vendors.

Be ready. Have a high degree of organizational readiness.

If possible, get a sanity check from a third party before committing to the project: is it realizable and cost-effective? The decision to undertake this process needs to be made by the Board of Directors and Executive Director based on organizational readiness, resources, and needs.
Have up-to-date computer technology (hardware, software, networking).
Provide enough staff capacity (time and knowledge) to communicate with the consultant and manage the project.
Know with clarity and finality what data need to be managed; have at hand all the hard copy data collection forms and reports used by the organization, as well as a clear explanation of how they work together.
Have a back-up plan if the consultant does not work out or if the project takes longer or requires more resources than expected.
Accept that these items change over time: components become outdated and are replaced, staff turnover happens,and data needs are constantly being refined.
Be available and responsive to the consultant’s need for information about organizational requirements and assumptions. Constant communication is a must for a successful outcome.

Dedicate a staff person dedicated to work closely with the consultant for the duration of the project, to advise and provide information from the “user” side.
Set up clear and consistent meetings with the consultant to monitor progress and manage priorities.
Constantly test and question assumptions as well as products.
Emphasize prioritizing, so that key components get done first.
We spent eight months building the system transferring data from the original database to the new Women’s Initiative Database System (WIDBS), which became operational in May 2000. The next year was spent designing and completing data entry forms and processes—inputting data while manually running queries to get the data out into reports. In the past year, we have updated and debugged the software and begun designing the reporting system. Currently we are increasing staff use of WIDBS by programming more automated reporting, documenting systems and procedures for users and administration, and linking the client-tracking database to the other databases in use: the Down Home Loan Manager, and Raiser’s Edge for resource development information. When all this is said and done, Women’s Initiative will truly be Managing Information Successfully.