RESOURCE CENTER

Walking the talk on the triple
bottom line. First, do no harm.
But don’t stop there.

Advancing social and environmental performance management for inclusive finance.

Cerise+SPTF is a joint initiative of two leading global organizations dedicated to social and environmental performance management—a way of doing business that puts people and the planet at the center of every decision. Our signature product, the Universal Standards for Social and Environmental Performance Management, has defined best practices since 2012. All of our tools—audits and self-assessments, data and benchmarking, technical assistance financing, working groups, and more—reflect the real-world perspective of inclusive finance stakeholders. Cerise+SPTF believes in the power of getting started. Wherever you are on your social and environmental performance management journey—curious, unsure where to start, stuck on a certain point, or determined to grow from good to great— we will meet you where you are. And we will bring the tools you need to succeed.

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Front Page News

Below are a few highlights of the many activities Cerise+SPTF has been busy with. To view all our latest news and events, check out our newsletters page and our events page.   

E-learning Course

Introduction to Responsible Digital Financial Services

This course introduces the Management Standards for the Responsible Provision of Digital Financial Services (DFS).

You will learn why standards are important to help financial service providers strengthen their financial sustainability and achieve their customer-centric goals. You will discover the main risks and harms that DFS customers are currently experiencing, what management practices the DFS Standards recommend, and how to use the DFS Standards Evaluation Tool to assess your organization’s current level of implementation of the DFS Standards.

This course is free and takes about 45 minutes to complete! Once you finish it, you can listen to our complementary two-part webinar series for assessors.

Go to the Course

E-learning Course

Get Started on Environmental Performance Management

New E-learning Course on Environmental Performance Management

This new introductory course is for anyone interested in Environmental Performance Management. It is suitable for novices and experts who wish to discover or deepen their knowledge of the Universal Standards and the related audit tools and resources on SPI Online.

The course is self-paced and available anytime, with great online resources: videos, interactive presentations, and quiz.

The access is completely free!

Go to the Course

 Ce cours sera disponible en français d’ici juin 2025 !

 ¡Este curso estará disponible en español en junio de 2025!

Stay informed

CONFERENCIA REDCAMIF 2025

Capacitaciones de Cerise+SPTF antes de la Conferencia

El 24 de junio de 2025, un día antes de la XI Conferencia Centroamericana y del Caribe de Microfinanzas 2025 de REDCAMIF y REDCOM, en San José, Costa Rica, Cerise+SPTF organizará dos cursos de capacitación de un día:

  • Taller Cómo Desarrollar una Estrategia Ambiental – de 9:00 a 17:00, con Cara S. Forster;
  • Taller Estándares Gerenciales para la Prestación Responsable de los Servicios Financieros Digitales – de 9:00 a 16:00, con Oricel Caminero.
FORMULARIO DE INSCRIPCIÓN

Para más información sobre la XI Conferencia Centroamericana y del Caribe de Microfinanzas 2025 de REDCAMIF y REDCOM, visite el portal.

Portal de la conferencia

Filling needs for clear standards and practical support

Need 1

Financial service providers seek real-world guidance

They are challenged to manage their businesses in ways that meet social strategies

What are we doing about it

Universal Standards, Client Protection Pathway, Working Groups, technical assistance, co-financing, communities of practice

Need 2

Donors and impact investors need assurance

They are mandated to ensure that their funding advances social and environmental strategies and customer outcomes

What are we doing about it

Data and benchmarking, ALINUS, and related tools

Need 3

Missing guardrails

Many purpose-driven organizations work in markets with loose regulations and weak infrastructure

What are we doing about it

Collaboration with policymakers’ associations and regulators​

Need 4

General public is unaware or skeptical 

Other stakeholders and the general public need education on the effectiveness of social and environmental performance management

What are we doing about it

Show, don’t tell. We use our global collective voice to inform and inspire, with data-backed evidence.​

Testimonials

Financial service providers, impact investors, researchers, and thought leaders are all part of the global movement for social and environmental performance management. Read what they have to say about the work of Cerise+SPTF.

If you’re about a social mission, measure it. Look at it. Think about how your changes affect your social outputs.
John de WitSmall Enterprise Foundation
John de Wit
We don’t think of social performance as a trade-off in any way. Social performance, when it’s done well, makes good business sense, because you know your clients
David DewezIncofin
David Dewez
The success of the Universal Standards in the Philippines is an example of self-regulation influencing national policy. It has shaped the entire market system by providing the blueprint for the regulatory framework governing microfinance NGOs in this country.
Allan SicatMicrofinance Council of the Philippines, Inc. (MCPI)
Allan Sicat
We use the Universal Standards with our investees because they are specific and operational and not just principles.
Lone SøndergaardNordic Microfinance Initiative
Lone Søndergaard
You can’t just assume that because people are repaying their loans, that means you’re doing great and you don’t actually need to follow up and see how those people are doing.
Refilwe Mokoene
Refilwe Mokoene
In the impact investment space, “the Universal Standards are an island of coherence in a sea of chaos.”
Tris LumleyNew Philanthropy Capital
Tris Lumley
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An integrated service offering

Universal Standards for Social and Environmental Performance Management

Our signature product. First published in 2012, the Universal Standards are now in their third edition and reflect the collective real-world wisdom of financial service providers from all over the world.
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Client Protection Pathway

Client protection is not the whole of social and environmental performance management—but it is one very important element. The Client Protection Pathway is a three-step roadmap with a set of practical resources and recognition for hitting milestones.
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Audits and Assessments

A social audit is the first step to holding an organization accountable to its social mission—because you can’t manage what you don’t measure. Cerise+SPTF works with a range of clients on the inclusive-finance value chain to understand their current state and chart the path to the desired future state.
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Data and Benchmarking

Our social audit tool, SPI, lets financial institutions assess their practices against the Universal Standards. SPI has been used to generate more than 4,000 social audits to date and has generated one of the most robust bodies of data in the world about social and environmental performance management.
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Co-Financing and Technical Assistance: The Responsible Inclusive Finance Facilities

With generous support from donors, SPTF delivers hands-on training and co-financing for social performance management projects through our Responsible Inclusive Finance Facilities, or RIFFs. Organized by region, the RIFFs currently operate in Sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia, and Central America/Caribbean.
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Working Groups

Cerise+SPTF uses our global convening power to facilitate working groups organized around impact investing, customer empowerment, digital financial services, and other timely issues. Our working groups are active and engaged, and facilitated by experts in their respective subject areas.
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Webinars and Trainings​

Cerise+SPTF hosts frequent webinars and training sessions on a wide range of topics related to responsible inclusive finance. Sessions are usually held in English, French, or Spanish and are free of charge. E-learning courses are also available in multiple languages.
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Learning Series​

Through interviews with practitioners on how they are successfully managing their social and environmental performance, each session presents practical guidance on how to implement the Universal Standards' practices.
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View All Tools and Resources

Videos

MORE VIDEOS

Practical Dreamers

Cerise+SPTF are practical dreamers. Since our origins in the late 1990s-early 2000s (when inclusive finance was better known as microfinance), there has been steadily growing interest in social performance: in making sure that vulnerable low-income clients are not exploited, and that products and services help create better lives. Many organizations have published high-level principles and frameworks. Cerise+SPTF translate those aspirations into concrete, practical actions.
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Cerise+SPTF is a joint venture between SPTF | US, SPTF | Europe, and Cerise. Cerise+SPTF pursues a common strategic plan and shares resources under a Memorandum of Understanding. For legal purposes, we remain three separate entities incorporated in, and subject to the laws of, our respective home countries.