Glossary
- ABOP
- Absolute Bottom of the Pyramid (“poorest of the poor”)
- APL
- Above Poverty Line
- Beneficiary (vs. client)
- A client is the person who takes out a WaterCredit loan directly. A beneficiary is anyone who might benefit from the use of WaterCredit loan funds (such as family members, children, etc.). For example, if a woman takes a WaterCredit loan out to construct a toilet, and five family members have access to safe sanitation as a result, there is one client and five beneficiaries. Water.org and our partners track both client and beneficiary outreach.
- BOP
- Bottom of the Pyramid (or Base of the Pyramid)
- Borehole
- A narrow shaft drilled into the ground in order to extract water.
- BPL
- Below Poverty Line. This is a benchmark for the poverty threshold in a given country and is used to identify economically disadvantaged individuals and households.
- Capital deployment
- Capital that has actually been on-lent or otherwise put to use by WaterCredit clients.
- Capital leverage (ratio)
- The amount of additional capital that is attracted to WaterCredit partners as a result of Water.org’s smart subsidy investment. In the case of WaterCredit, the ratio indicates the power of catalytic philanthropy and the demand for additional growth capital to the WSH sector.
- Capital mobilization
- Attracting additional capital for a specific purpose, such as making WaterCredit loans. Mobilized capital is available for use, though it may or may not have actually been deployed at a given point in time.
- Catalytic Philanthropy
- An approach to philanthropic investment that focuses on achieving measurable impact by funding multi-sector campaigns, uses information to motivate change, and may include a more hands-on role for funders as “catalysts” of system change.
- CBO
- community based organization
- Civic Capital
- Capital and related resources that are provided by civic and other public entities, such as local, state and national governments. Civic contributions may take many forms, from investment of public sector funds, to establishment of agencies focused on a particular need (such as WSH), to public-private partnerships, to advocacy and regulations that are favorable for a particular need such as WSH to be more effectively addressed.
- Commercial Capital
- Capital that is provided by commercial and commercially-oriented entities, such as banks and traditional investment funds.
- CSR
- Corporate Social Responsibility
- Disposable income
- The net cash surplus that remains within a household at the end of each month, after all household expenses have been accounted for. Positive disposable income means that a household has savings, can purchase or invest in other assets, and/or pay for other activities or emergencies. Negative disposable income implies that the household is unable to meet its expenses through income and may be overly indebted.
- FI
- Financial Institution
- Grameen lending model
- Also known as solidarity lending and linked to the well-known Grameen Bank in Bangladesh. In this model, borrowers belong to five-member groups and each borrower is responsible for ensuring that any loan made to any group member is repaid. If a group member cannot repay her loan, the entire group (rather than only the individual member) is liable. This model relies heavily on social collateral, which is effectively social pressure from and within the group to support one another and repay the loan, in order to benefit the group as a whole.
- HH
- Household
- ICT
- Information and Communications Technology
- IGA
- Income Generating Activities
- IGL
- Income Generating Loan
- M&E
- Monitoring & Evaluation
- MDG
- Millennium Development Goal
- MFI
- Microfinance Institution
- NGO
- Non-Governmental Organization
- Panchayat
- A system of local governance in India, in which “gram panchayats” are the basic unit of administration at the village level.
- PPP
- Public-Private Partnership
- R&D
- Research & Development
- RLF
- Revolving Loan Fund
- SHG
- Self-Help Group
- Smart Subsidy
- The term for the type of funding provided to WaterCredit partners by Water.org. This grant funding is termed “smart” because it is deployed specifically to correct market distortions and create new markets. Typically WaterCredit smart subsidy capital is provided to fund the “software” costs of watsan loan product development, which may include conducting market research, designing loan products, staff with watsan expertise, and (in certain cases) credit enhancement. This type of catalytic grant capital subsidizes the start-up costs of the MFI partner to develop WaterCredit, and not the MFI client; this structure enhances both efficiency and responsible lending practices by our partners.
- Social Capital
- There are many definitions of this term which relate to specific political, economic, historical and cultural contexts. For the purposes of WaterCredit, social capital is the type of investment capital that is provided by social investors in seek of social return. It seeks both sound investment quality and also to benefit society as a whole (as opposed to benefiting only the individual investor). It often has a longer time horizon – hence, is also often termed “patient capital” – and may have more flexible terms in order to ensure that social return objectives are met.
- Social Investment
- An investment made with social capital and with an expectation of social return.
- Social Return
- Also called Social Return on Investment (SROI). This type of return differs from traditional financial return on investment (ROI) only, in that it factors in a broader set of variables as a way to report value creation, recognizes that many key metrics are not included in traditional profit and loss accounts, and addresses the need to focus on outcomes alongside outputs. It takes into account developments in corporate sustainability and environmental impact analysis. Examples of social return include improved health, jobs creation, women’s empowerment, higher education levels, reduced environmental impact, enhanced social cohesion or community development, and more sustainable business practices.
- Triple Bottom Line Investment
- An investment which serves three objectives and seeks to provide three different types of returns: social return; environmental return; and financial return.
- Tubewell
- A type of water well in which a long tube or pipe is bored into an underground aquifer. The lower end of the tube or pipe is fitted with a strainer, and an electric pump at the top lifts water.
- Venture Philanthropy
- An approach to philanthropic investment that focuses on scaling up effective non-profit organizations by funding their capacity building to increase programmatic and overall organizational effectiveness.
- WSH & WASH
- Water, Sanitation and Hygiene
- Watsan
- Water and Sanitation
