Camilla Fitzgerald: How ClientEarth launched corporate fundraising with Xapien

ClientEarth is a global charity that litigates against organizations harming the environment. Its Philanthropy Manager, Camilla Fitzgerald, received approval for a corporate fundraising strategy and needed to establish a due diligence framework. Their biggest reputational risk is partnering with a company whose actions don’t align with their mission. With a small team to manage that risk, finding a tool to execute their due diligence framework to a high standard was crucial.

Corporate due diligence at scale 

The fundraising team use Xapien to identify both direct and indirect risks. They use the report’s ESG section to explore a wealth of information about a company’s environmental and sustainability initiatives. This includes their policies, certifications, and governance issues. A key benefit of Xapien is that it only gathers information from publicly available sources. This is important for ClientEarth since many AI tools pose significant GDPR risks. 

Even the most complex reports are generated in under 15 minutes. The next step is to add recommendations in the report’s notes section. This includes the most significant risks the team has identified and the indirect ones worth flagging. Since the reports are time-stamped, there’s a clear audit trail for when due diligence was done.

Unlocking hidden opportunities 

ClientEarth’s fundraisers also use the philanthropy section to learn whether an organisation has a CSR program or has been involved in past philanthropic initiatives. Xapien also surfaces information about other organisations they work with or causes they support. There’s a section on key associates as well, which can help fundraisers open doors. Since Xapien reports are stored in the cloud, they can easily be shared with others in the team. When they need to send a report to a senior decision-maker, they can share the reports with restricted editing access.

Scaling the fundraising team’s capacity

Xapien has significantly expanded the fundraising team’s capacity. With Xapien managing the research, fundraisers can independently create prospect profiles and initiate outreach much faster. By conducting corporate due diligence upfront, fundraisers can concentrate on suitable opportunities, greatly reducing the time between stewardship and gift acceptance. 

Speak with our philanthropy team to see how Xapien can support your organisation.