Research funding compliance with King’s College London

Andy discussed how UKRI has enhanced its approach to risk awareness, adopting a more mitigative protocol to minimise threats. This includes new principles that require more extensive due diligence, particularly when working with global partners in regions like Africa, Southern Asia, and South America. The initiative aims to protect research integrity, intellectual property, and the reputation of both the UK and institutions like King’s College London. Compliance with UKRI’s international due diligence guidelines is now essential, which includes assessing sustainable deliverables and evaluating organisations based on risk.

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Why Dartmouth College trusts Xapien for reputational risk checks

Dartmouth College’s 200-year-old reputation was at risk when it engaged with a donor offering a substantial restricted capital gift. The donor was frequently targeted by demonstrators who would follow them around the country during engagements. Any public association with the donor risked similar demonstrations and negative publicity for the College. This led its Associate Vice President (AVP) of Development, Operations, and Performance to establish a framework for assessing reputational risk and create a process to manage it with the right tools and systems.

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Customer story: WaterAid

Ethical and reputational due diligence is a critical component of WaterAid’s organisational strategy. Given WaterAid’s reliance on partnerships with various donors, suppliers, and collaborators, maintaining a robust process for identifying potential risks and opportunities is essential. This need has become even more pronounced with growing global attention on sustainability, financial crime, and governance issues. To address these challenges, WaterAid implemented Xapien to provide ethical checks and streamline information gathering across various departments.

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Webinar: Dartmouth College case study

Reputational risk at Dartmouth College became a significant concern around 2018-2019, following high-profile cases like the Sackler family. These incidents highlighted the need for better management of philanthropic gifts to avoid negative associations. Dartmouth sought to establish clearer guidelines for reputational risk, initially looking at what other organisations were doing. Their first major experience involved a donor who disclosed that demonstrators often followed him, raising potential publicity risks. However, at the time, tools to assess reputational risk were limited. Dartmouth hired a company that provided a lengthy, expensive dossier, but the process was inefficient. Over time, they explored other tools but continued seeking a more efficient, confidence-building solution to identify red flags and risks associated with potential donors. Then, they found Xapien which has since centralised and streamlined reputational risk management.

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King’s College London

Xapien is continuously evolving and improving its product. As the tool develops, so do the use cases. KCL’s adoption of Xapien provides a great example of how an institution can effectively leverage the AI-powered tool to support a variety of departments across the university.

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Mercy for Animals

Foundations are a key area for the Mercy For Animals research team. They spent days manually searching, analyzing, and summarizing information about past philanthropic initiatives and foundation directors to build prospect profiles for outreach.

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Webinar: Prospect development—preparing for a world with AI

This webinar explores the evolution of prospect research and the transition from traditional methods to modern technology. Initially, researchers relied on manual data entry. But advancements in technology, particularly search engines and AI, have transformed the efficiency and accessibility of information. Despite these changes, the core mission of prospect research—maximising fundraising potential for nonprofits—remains unchanged. AI has simply enabled researchers to provide timely insights to fundraisers. They’re evolving from just information gatherers to strategic partners, collaborating with fundraisers to develop effective engagement strategies.

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Anglia Ruskin University

Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) faced challenges in maintaining a consistent due diligence process for international partnerships, which posed potential risks for the organisation. Due diligence was carried out manually, resulting in time-consuming efforts that often got deferred until the final approval stages. As a result, the university felt compelled to carefully evaluate the relationship, given the substantial time and effort already invested.

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ClientEarth

ClientEarth is a global charity which litigates against organisations doing harm to the environment. The philanthropy team had received approval to launch a new corporate fundraising strategy. However, partnering with the wrong corporation is ClientEarth’s most significant reputational risk, so they needed to conduct stringent due diligence.

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