The FIELD division (www.fieldus.org) of the Aspen Institute has served as the research arm of the microenterprise industry since its inception. In fact, the Aspen Institute and the Corporation for Enterprise Development (www.cfed.org) were the catalyst for the industry. FIELD has developed two sets of research making the case for doing microenterprise development work and funding microenterprise development work:
The Business Case
Making the Case
Microenterprise Industry in the U.S
Moving the Microenterprise Field Forward: Priorities, Strategies and Roles (2009)
This “white paper” summarizes discussions by microenterprise leaders who met in early 2009 to explore ways to strengthen and expand the industry, in light of the opportunities presented by the advent of new presidential and congressional leadership and by a changing economy. In addition to pinpointing a set of priority strategies needed to respond to today’s environment, participants also identified – and committed to – specific action steps to advance the field’s progress. Those strategies and actions are detailed in the paper. In addition to attending the meeting, participants used a wiki to share ideas and comments that are summarized in a supplemental document. Download PDF
Funding the Work
Opening Opportunities, Building Ownership: Fulfilling the Promise of Microenterprise in the United States (2005)
This publication takes a comprehensive look at the now 20-year-old microenterprise field — its accomplishments, weaknesses and future potential. It describes the current economic context for self employment; explores the development and performance of the industry; examines the value of microenterprise to low-income Americans; and concludes by recommending eight directions that can help transform the industry and position it for long-term growth and sustainability. Download Executive Summary or Download Full Publication or Order Printed Copy (for bulk orders contact fieldus@aspeninst.org)
Why funders should support microenterprise development organizations (MDOs)?
Issue 1: Fulfilling the Microenterprise Promise: Background for Funders, sets the context for today’s interest in self-employment and describes how microenterprise development programs are responding. (2 pages) Download PDF or Order Printed Copy
Issue 2: Microenterprise: Making a Difference, explores the microenterprise industry’s accomplishments in relationship to poverty alleviation, local economic development, asset development and ownership, and increased access to financial services. (4 pages) Download PDF or Order Printed Copy
Issue 3: Moving Forward: Industry Challenges, Funder Opportunities, examines the microenterprise industry’s twin challenges of increasing scale and sustainability. (2 pages) Download PDF or Order Printed Copy
Issue 4: Performance Counts, describes what constitutes high performance within the microenterprise industry and explains how donors can support and provide incentives for high performance among microenterprise programs. (4 pages) Download PDF or Order Printed Copy
Issue 5: Microenterprise Development Programs: The Entrepreneur Within, explores the need for programs to become more entrepreneurial in order to achieve greater sustainability and suggests ways donors can support such efforts. (4 pages) Download PDF or Order Printed Copy
Issue 6: Scaling Up, Achieving More, explores the various factors that affect an organization’s ability to reach scale and offers recommendations for funders interested in this issue. (4 pages) Download PDF or Order Printed Copy
Issue 7: Going Faster and Farther: Harnessing Technology for Microenterprise, explores innovative ways that technology can be used by both microenterprise development programs and microentrepreneurs. Included are profiles of programs that have invested in technology, and donors that have provided support. (4 pages) Download PDF or Order Printed Copy
Issue 8: The Emerging Immigrant Market and Microenterprise, looks at how microenterprise programs are assisting immigrant entrepreneurs and what funders can do to advance those efforts. (4 pages) Download PDF or Order Printed Copy
Issue 9: Making the Economic Development Connection, examines how microenterprise development programs and the enterprises they assist can further economic development strategies. (4 pages) Download PDF or Order Printed Copy
Issue 10: Microenterprise Programs as Asset Builders, details some of the strategies being used by microenterprise development programs to help low-income families improve their financial footing, acquire assets and build wealth. (4 pages) Download PDF or Order Printed Copy
Issue 11: Social Enterprise and Microenterprise: Understanding the Connection, explores how the microenterprise industry is connecting with the emerging social enterprise field. It takes an in-depth look at a number of microenterprise programs that have started social enterprises, identifies the lessons learned from their experiences and pinpoints specific investment opportunities for donors. (4 pages) Download PDF or Order Printed Copy
Issue 12: Saving for Microenterprise Development explores Individual Development Accounts (IDAs), matched savings account that that some microenterprise programs are offering to clients to help them accumulate savings that can be used to purchase business assets. Examined are the accomplishments and challenges of IDA programs and ways funders can help improve and expand the use of this asset-development strategy. (4 pages) Download PDF or Order Printed Copy
Issue 13: Encouraging Entrepreneurship: A Microenterprise Policy Agenda for a New Political Era, provides a summary of the policy agenda created by members of the Microenterprise Anti-Poverty Consortium in 2008, describes some of the philanthropic initiatives that support the underlying policy ideas, and outlines how funders can support policy development. (4 Pages) Download PDF or Order Printed Copy
Issue 14: Microenterprise Programs as Credit Builders, explores the new roles that microenterprise programs are taking on to build the credit of entrepreneurs. Co-authored with the Credit Builders Alliance, the guide explores key challenges in building credit, describes new products being offered by microenterprise programs, and identifies opportunities for funders. (4 pages) Download PDF or Order Printed Copy
