Services
For Grantmakers Engaged Across Borders
Services
Paragon Philanthropy provides global funders with structured, evidence-based solutions to manage risk, ensure integrity, and advance responsible cross-border giving. Our services span the full grantmaking lifecycle, from early-stage vetting and legitimacy checks to governance, financial health, and anti-terrorist financing reviews, helping clients navigate complex environments with confidence. Our services help clients based in the European Union, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, and Australia fund effectively across borders and operate responsibly in diverse regulatory and cultural contexts. Whether conducting sanctions and PEP screening, verifying nonprofit status, or facilitating compliance workflows, Paragon delivers practical, defensible documentation that enables timely and secure grant decisions.
Our coordinated service framework combines due diligence expertise and structured risk assessment, while leveraging, as needed, deep issue-area and regional experience from our Senior Advisors. Each engagement can be tailored to the client’s operating context, risk profile, and philanthropic goals.
Four-Tier Due Diligence Framework
Our risk-based due diligence framework helps funders align vetting depth with risk.
Third-Party Risk
Paragon’s services are designed to reflect the varying degrees of risk involved in international grantmaking. Our third-party risk services help funders identify and address exposure to terrorist financing, financial crime, corruption, foreign influence, and reputational harm when working with grantees, partners, and intermediaries across borders. Through a coordinated suite of screening and due diligence tools—ranging from sanctions and PEP checks to adverse media monitoring, State-Owned Enterprise reviews, and country-level risk analysis—clients can secure proportionate, evidence-based insight into each organization’s integrity and exposure profile. The framework aligns with global standards established by the FATF, OECD, and other regulatory bodies, while remaining adaptable to local contexts and philanthropic objectives.
Anti-Terrorist Financing Screening
Establishes the baseline for cross-border due diligence by screening organizations, leadership, and banking relationships against global terrorism and sanctions lists to identify potential exposure and prevent diversion of charitable funds to terrorist or extremist networks.
Higher Risk Anti-Terrorist Financing Screening
Builds on baseline Anti-Terrorist Financing Screening by extending terrorism and sanctions screening through national and local lists, adverse media review, and state-ownership checks to identify heightened exposure in higher-risk regions.
Integrity Review
Builds on the Higher-Risk Anti-Terrorist Financing Screening to address corruption, governance, and reputational risks. Integrity Review applies PEP checks, adverse media screening, and policy analysis to evaluate a grantee’s integrity and detect vulnerabilities across leadership, partners, and financial channels.
Integrity Due Diligence
Builds on the Integrity Review by conducting registry-verified checks, litigation and enforcement record searches, and expanded ownership mapping to confirm authenticity and uncover corruption or financial crime risks in higher-risk or complex grantmaking environments.
Politically Exposed Persons Screening
We screen grantees and key individuals against global PEP databases to flag risks tied to political influence, corruption, and FCPA exposure—helping safeguard grants from hidden reputational and compliance threats.
Adverse Media Screening
We monitor global adverse media sources to detect historical or emerging reputational risks — including fraud, financial misconduct, discrimination, harassment claims, and other material issues — safeguarding your foundation’s credibility and funding integrity.
Country Risk Report
A data-driven assessment of financial crime and terrorism financing exposure within a given country, highlighting corruption, money laundering, and nonprofit sector vulnerabilities through sourced, jurisdiction-specific analysis.
Rapid Validation & Screening
Provides a rapid, no-contact verification of legal registration, leadership, and activity through registry checks, sanctions and PEP screening, and adverse media review to confirm legitimacy early in the grant cycle and surface potential risks before deeper due diligence.
Nonprofit Validation Service
Verification that an organization is formally recognized as a nonprofit in its country, based on official documentation such as registration certificates, tax-exempt status, or government listings—confirming it is active, credible, and serving a qualifying public purpose.
Financial Health & Controls Screen
The Financial Health & Controls Screen is a checklist-based review that flags financial and operational risks in nonprofits by analyzing submitted documents like audits, budgets, and governance records—helping funders make informed decisions.
Review of Foreign Country Requirements
Many countries impose restrictions on foreign funding of nonprofits—from registration requirements to outright bans. Noncompliance can expose grantmakers and grantees to fines, asset seizures, grant invalidation, and reputational harm.
Compliance Support for Cross-Border Grantmaking
Paragon helps funders navigate the operational steps essential for compliant cross-border grantmaking. For U.S. clients, we facilitate Expenditure Responsibility steps on behalf of our clients and coordinate the Equivalency Determination process by managing required documentation and grantee communications, with the final ED letter issued by an independent law firm. While we do not provide legal advice, our services support timely, efficient execution of key compliance workflows.
Equivalency Determination PLUS
We manage the full Equivalency Determination workflow — with an average turnaround of 4–6 weeks — coordinating with an independent Qualified Tax Practitioner to deliver the ED letter and detailed written analysis.
U.S. Only
Expenditure Responsibility PLUS
We facilitate Expenditure Responsibility steps — from pre-grant due diligence through post-grant reporting — helping you safeguard compliance while streamlining your workload.
U.S. Only
Strategic Grantmaking Support
Paragon Philanthropy draws on a distinguished roster of Senior Advisors with deep issue-area expertise and a global network of NGO and nonprofit partners, providing unique insight into some of the most effective and reputable organizations worldwide. Through these relationships, we help funders identify trusted partners, navigate complex contexts, and direct resources where they can achieve the greatest impact.
We equip global grantmakers to operate effectively in challenging and high-stakes environments, whether launching new portfolios, responding to crises, or engaging in fragile or post-conflict settings. Paragon supports foundations, corporations, DAF sponsors, and philanthropic institutions across the European Union, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, and Australia with strategies that are both pragmatic and mission-aligned.
Drawing on our curated database of more than 4,000 pre-vetted nonprofits, rapid vetting tools, and deep sector expertise, we help clients mobilize resources quickly, mitigate risk, and ensure funding decisions are informed, targeted, and aligned with each client’s global priorities and impact goals across all issue areas. Our Grantee Research & Portfolio Development services further enable funders to design and implement mission-aligned portfolios that reflect both global perspective and local understanding.
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Selected Clients
Greater Houston Community Foundation
The Rockefeller Foundation
Chicago Community Trust
Zoetis Foundation
Greater Kansas City Community Foundation
Marin Community Foundation
Douglas B. Marshall, Jr. Family Foundation
Rodan + Fields Prescription for Change Foundation
Whittier Trust
Communities Foundation of Texas