Number of Active Group Members

This indicator counts the total number of members of all the “collective action groups” that were supported by a project. “Collective action” groups is a term used for any groups of people who collaborate in order to gain certain financial, social or other benefits (e.g. access to loans, opportunities to learn new skills, strengthen self-confidence, etc.). It includes, for example, savings and loan groups, farmers’ groups, women’s groups, self-he

Determine the indicator's value by using the following methodology:

1) Define several criteria based on which it is possible to decide whether a person can be considered as an “active member of a collection action group”. These can include, for example:

- In the past 6 months, the person attended at least two thirds of the group’s meetings

- The person regularly takes part in at least some of the group’s key activities

- Other criteria defined based on the focus and activities of the group

Decide whether all of the criteria must be met in order for a person to be considered as “active” or whether it is acceptable that, for example, only certain criteria are met. Avoid being overly ambitious about the number of criteria a group member should meet.

2) Based on the criteria, either:

- Prepare relevant survey questions and include them in a questionnaire that will be used among a representative sample of the target group members; OR

- Prepare checklists that can be provided to the heads of all the collective action groups, asking them to indicate (either in the checklist or verbally to a data collector) which criteria each of the group members meets

3) Collect the required data, using the questionnaires OR checklists described in the point above.  

4) To calculate the indicator’s value, you can either:

A) If you conducted a survey using a representative sample of group members, follow these four steps:

- Count the number of surveyed respondents who met the minimum number / types of criteria – i.e. can be considered as “active members”

- Divide the number of active members by the total number of surveyed members (exclude respondents for which you have incomplete data or who refused to respond)

- Multiply the result by 100 to convert the number to a percentage

- Multiply the percentage by the total number of members of all the supported groups (e.g. 50% multiplied by 10,000 members = 5,000 active members)

B) If you asked the heads of all the collection action groups to indicate in a checklist which criteria each member meets, you can just count the total number of members that meet the minimum number / types of criteria (i.e. those that can be considered as “active members”).

Disaggregate the data by gender and the duration of the saving groups’ operation (e.g. less than 1 year, ≥ 1 year, 2 or more years, etc.) and any other relevant criteria.