Cerise+SPTF is a joint venture between two of the global leaders in social and environmental performance management. Founded in 2005, the Social Performance Task Force, or SPTF, developed, and regularly updates, the Universal Standards for Social and Environmental Performance Management (the Universal Standards).
First issued in 2012, the Universal Standards, like all SPTF’s efforts, guide impact-driven financial service providers in making finance safer and more beneficial for low-income customers. A membership organization, SPTF has more than 7,500 participating individuals from every region of the world. Cerise, a French nonprofit created in 1998, pioneered the implementation of social performance management, working with committed microfinance institutions to launch the Social Performance Indicators initiative in 2001. As a social innovator, Cerise works with actors in inclusive finance, social business and impact investing to co-create social standards and social assessment tools that are free to all. Cerise also offers fee-based consultancy services to all types of impact-driven organizations, equipping them with the skills and tools they need to define and achieve their impact goals.
As the developers and champions of interdependent and complementary tools and products, Cerise and SPTF have worked closely together since the mid-2000s. We formalized our cooperation via a Memorandum of Understanding in 2021, and now operate under a common strategic plan.
