summary This article discusses the arguments for and against the inclusion of ‘non‐target’ households in BRAC's Rural Development Program (RDP). Using data collected from Matlab Thana in Bangladesh, the article finds that a sizeable proportion of members are officially ‘non‐target’. These ‘non‐target’ households are part of the ‘marginal farmer’ group who join after poorer ‘target group’ households have entered the programme. There is no evidence that these ‘non‐target’ households affect the borrowing behaviour of ‘target group’ members. The article argues that the inclusion of ‘non‐target’ households is not necessarily a programme weakness. The latter depends on the proportion of ‘non‐target’ households, the extent that they are ‘non‐target’, the extent that they benefit relative to, and at the expense of, ‘target’ households and the relative importance of reducing poverty incidence versus severity.