Due diligence playbook for nonprofits

Data-driven insights from our 2024 due diligence survey of 236 organisations across the UK, US, and Australia, in collaboration with BWF and Pyro.Solutions. Along with expert commentaries from King’s College London, Cambridge University, Dartmouth College, and others. Learn how they:

 

☑️ Cut donor research time from 8 hours to just 8 minutes.

☑️ Reduce report creation from 2 days to 10 minutes.

☑️ Spend less time on research, more time building a pipeline.

☑️ From zero due diligence capacity to launching a new strategy.

☑️ Due diligence on international partners in under 15 minutes.

Download now

Our contributors

What's inside

 

Structuring your due diligence

A structured due diligence process ensures consistency, scalability, credibility and rigour (something we build on over the following chapters). It should also be documented, accessible, and consistently applied. A formal policy defines when and how due diligence should be applied, eliminating ambiguity. It allows teams to follow clear steps, reducing the risk of subjective decision-making
and last-minute uncertainties.

Thinking institution-wide

Reputation management is a whole-organisation, leadership-level issue because third-party risks extend across the institution. As such, due diligence should not be limited to donor screening, but should be applied to corporate partnerships, board members, research partners, honorary degree nominees, guest speakers, and more, to safeguard institutional integrity. The damage from inconsistent decision-making can be as significant as accepting a high-risk partner.

Refreshing due diligence

Effective due diligence isn't a one-time process. It should be dynamic, ongoing, and adaptable. As external conditions change, organisations must reassess existing relationships. A donor, corporate partner, or research funder that poses no risk today may become a reputational liability tomorrow. Organisations that treat due diligence as a one-time check leave themselves vulnerable to emerging risks that can surface months or years later.