DreamSave Insights Glossary: definitions and formulas for terms and metrics on Insights

DreamInsights Glossary

DreamInsights Glossary

Definitions and Formulas for terms found in DreamInsights


Last Updated: February, 2026


Below is a list of terms (in alphabetical order) from DreamInsights along with their descriptions and formulas. If you can’t find what you’re looking for or have a suggestion, please submit a ticket here on the support portal!


Metric

Description

Formula


% of Members who Have Taken a Loan

Percentage of members who have ever taken a loan this cycle.

# of members who have taken at least 1 loan / total # of members * 100


% of Members with Outstanding Loans

Percentage of group members who are currently in debt.

# of members with outstanding loan/total # of members * 100


1 meeting not backed up

The latest scheduled meeting has not been synced.


2+ meetings not backed up

Two or more scheduled meetings have not been synced.


Age

Percentages of members' ages according to their registration.

# of members aged 18-34 / total # of members * 100 ; # of members aged 35-44 / total # of members * 100; # of members aged 45+ / total # of members * 100

All meetings backed up

Every scheduled meeting has been synced to this date. 


Assets

Capital and other things of value possessed by the group

loan fund balance + value of loans outstanding + social fund balance


Attendance in Person

Percentage of total members who attended in person, averaged over the previous 4 meetings

(# members attended in person / total # of members * 100) averaged over past 4 meetings


Attendance with Representative

Percentage of total members who were absent but sent contributions through a representative, averaged over the previous 4 meetings

(# members attended with a representative /total # of members * 100) averaged over past 4 meetings


Average # of Loans Given

Average number of loans given per group

# of loans given / total # of groups


Average # of Members / Group

Number of members in the average group

# of members / # of groups


Average Loan Size

Average amount of individual loans given to members (principal only)

cumulative value of loans given / # of loans


Average Savings per Member

Average amount each member has saved; includes savings contributions only, not any profit from group activities

cumulative savings / total # of members


Average Social Fund Payout

Average payout amount that groups give to a person, group, community, etc.

total amount of Social Fund Payouts / # of payouts


Backup Status

The estimated number of meetings that have passed since the last time a group backed up their data to the cloud. This assumes that a group follows the meeting schedule they set in their constitution. For example, if a group sets their meeting schedule for weekly meetings, Insights determines the date of the last meeting which SHOULD have been held and subtracts that from today's date.


Bank Balance

Amount of money the group has outside of the cashbox, e.g. in a formal bank or other institution

DreamSave doesn't currently record the bank balance


Country Data Access

The country/countries a user has permission to view. This was assigned by whoever invited this user and may be changed by anyone with a higher permission level.

n/a


Cumulative Savings

Total amount saved. Includes savings contributions only, not profit from group activities

sum of all members' current savings


Cumulative Savings, Annualized

Total amount saved, including savings contributions only, not profit from group activities. Annualized to account for groups in different phases of their cycle

Cumulative Savings * 52 / Average age of groups (in weeks)


Cumulative Value of Loans Given

Total amount lent to members (principal only)

Sum of all loan principals


Dormant

No meetings backed up 6 months or more after the registration date. 

Dream Star Leader Board

Groups with the greatest number of Dream Stars. Dream Stars are awarded to members for: contributing maximum savings, attending 4 meetings in a row, repaying loans on time, and repaying loans early.

It is the list of the top 5 groups with the highest aggregated number of Dream Stars.


Dropout Rate

Percentage of registered members who permanently leave their group after the first savings meeting (the group removes the member from DreamSave.)

# of members removed after a group starts saving / total # of members originally registered in that group * 100


Education

Members' education (broken down in percentage) according to their registration

# of "no formal education" / total # members * 100; # of "primary school"/ total # members * 100; # of "secondary school" / total # members * 100; # of "college"/ total # members * 100


Equity

Assets minus Liabilities

assets - liabilities


External Debts

The amount the group owes to external institutions, such as a bank or MFI

DreamSave doesn't automatically record external debts, but they can be manually recorded and tracked.


Gender

Members' genders according to their registration

# of female members / total # members; # of male members / total # members


Geolocation

A specific geographic location that identifies where the savings group is located or operates. This metric only works if the group has granted DreamSave access to their phone’s GPS.


Graduated 

Completely independent groups, which no longer receive any support from your organisation. 


Group Age 

The number of cycles a group has undergone, # of cycles.


Group Expenses

Any money spent from the loan fund, not including loans (e.g. funds used to start a group business, money used to buy a cashbox)

Sum of groups' "Total Expenses"


Group Goal Achievement

Percentage of members making "great progress", "good progress", or are "a little behind" in progress towards their established individual goal

# of groups classified as "great progress" / total # of groups; # of groups classified as "good progress" / total # of groups; # of groups classified as "a little behind" / total # of groups


Group Number

Alpha-numeric code generated by the DreamSave app when a group registers and syncs their account on the internet (e.g. ZM-123-456).

n/a


Group Income

Any incoming money to the loan fund not already accounted for as savings, fines, or loan interest (e.g. profit from a group business)

Sum of groups' "Total Income"


Group Status

A way your organization can further categorize groups, such as “supervised”, “self-managed”, and “graduated”. 


Groups Digitized

Current number of savings groups registered in DreamSave

count of all groups


Implementing Partner

Another organization or entity that is creating and/or supporting savings groups on your behalf; could be a sub-awardee, sub-grantee, etc.

n/a


Inactivity Rate

Percentage of registered members who haven't attended or saved in any of the last 4 meetings

# of members who were absent and didn't save from all of the last 4 meetings / # members


Insights Access Start Date

The date from which this user has access to Insights

n/a


Job Role

The role within the organization, assigned by another user. This is established at the time users are invited and is not an Insights-generated title.

n/a


Last Login

The last date and time (mm/dd/yy) and time that this user logged into Insights

n/a


Last Meeting

The group's most recently synced savings meeting, as recorded and backed up in DreamSave.


Liabilities

Money or other things of value that the group owes

sum of external debts


Loan Fund Balance

Amount of cash available to members for loans; excludes Social Fund and other money the group doesn't intend to lend to members

previous balance + savings for this meeting + fines + loan repayment + miscellaneous group income – loans given this meeting – miscellaneous group expenses


Loan Fund Utilization

The percentage of the available funds which is currently lent out to members

Value of loans outstanding / (value of loans outstanding + loan fund balance) * 100


Loan Repayment Rate

Percentage of loans that are repaid by the loan date (not counting current outstanding loans)

# loans paid on time or before loan date / # total loans given - current loans


Loan to Savings Ratio

The amount of loans given out in proportion to cumulative savings. Often, groups allow a member to borrow up to 3 times what that member has saved.

value of loans given / cumulative savings


Loan Types

The purpose members indicate when requesting a loan: Business, Education, Household, Medical and Other

# of "Agriculture" loan types / total # loans * 100; # of "business" loan types / total # loans * 100; # of "education" loan types / total # loans * 100; # of "household" loan types / total # loans * 100; # of "medical" loan types / total # loans * 100; # of "other" loan types / total # loans * 100


Location

The location assigned to this Insights user by another user. This is established at the time users are invited to register on Insights, and is not a precise geo-location.

n/a


Meeting Frequency

How often a group formally meets, as defined in their Constitution. Options are weekly, bi-weekly, and monthly.


Net Profit

Financial gain of groups, earned from loan interest, fines, and group income

Interest + Fines + Group Income - Group Expenses


Never backed up

No meetings backed up yet.


Number of Loans Given

Total number of loans given

# of loans given


Number of Members

Current number of registered members in groups. A member who has dropped out or was removed by the group would not be counted.

# of registered members


Overall Attendance

Percentage of total members who either attended in person or sent their contributions through a representative, averaged over the previous 4 meetings (Attendance in Person Rate + Attendance w/ Rep Rate)

(# members attended in person + # members attended with a rep / # total members * 100) averaged over past 4 meetings


Permission Level

The permission level set for this user; options are Owner, Country Level, Project Level, and Limited Access.



Personal Goal Achievement

Percentage of members making Great Progress, Good Progress, or are A Little Behind towards their established individual goal.

# of individuals classified as "great progress" / total # of members in group * 100

# of individuals classified as "good progress" / total # of members in group * 100

# of individuals classified as "a little behind" / total # of members in group * 100


Personal Goal Types

The types of goals members selected when registering: Business, Education, Household, Land, Livestock, Vehicle, Technology, Travel and Other.

# of "business" goals / total # members; # of "education" goals / total # members; # of "household" goals / total # members; # of "land" goals / total # members; 

# of "livestock" goals / total # members; # of "vehicle" goals / total # members; 

# of "technology" goals / total # members; # of "travel" goals / total # members


Portfolio at Risk

Portion of the loans given that are at risk of not being repaid

Value of loans past due date / Value of loans outstanding


Project

A selection of groups that your organization wants to analyze or report on as a collective unit. You can organize projects by country, by grants, by regions or in other ways.

n/a


Property at Start of Cycle

Amount of possessions groups collectively had at the beginning of their respective cycles (e.g. land, commodities, cashbox, etc.)

DreamStart doesn't currently record property


Property Now

The amount of possessions groups collectively has, such as land, commodities, cashbox, etc.

DreamStart doesn't currently record property


Registered Date Timestamp date (Group Created date) Timestamp date (Group Created date)


Savings Leader Board

Groups with the highest cumulative savings

It is the list of the top 5 groups with the highest cumulative savings


Self managed

Autonomous groups, which occasionally receive some support from your organization.


Social Fund Balance

Total amount of cash held by the group in the Social Fund.

total contributions into Social Fund (or funds) - payouts from the Social fund


Social Fund Utilization Rate

Percentage of the available money in the Social Fund(s) which has been paid out

Total Amount of Social Fund Payouts / Total Social Fund Contributions * 100


Start Date

The date that the Facilitator started working with the organization.

n/a


Supervised 

Groups fully supported by your organization with an assigned facilitator or field agent. 


Supervised By

Enter the person who oversees the user's/facilitator's savings group work


User ID

Every Insights user is assigned a four-digit User ID as a unique identifier that can be used to search for that user in Insights and help ensure duplicate users aren’t entered with different spellings, etc.

n/a


Value of Loans Outstanding

Amount owed to the group from loans given to members; includes the amount due from principal + accrued interest

total amount of remaining loan principal + remaining interest


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