Due diligence

The checks a funder runs on an organisation before awarding — legal status, financial health, governance, sometimes a site visit. On foundation grants it usually happens after a decision in principle and before the money moves.

Part of the GrantTrove grant funding glossary — one entry for every field the catalogue stores.

Also called Grantee due diligence · Pre-award review

In detail

The requests are predictable: audited financials, a board list, a determination letter, a current budget. An organisation that keeps those to hand shortens the gap between decision and payment considerably.

It is also where a funder discovers problems that change the terms rather than the answer — a first payment held back, a shorter first period, more frequent reporting.

Against eligibility

Eligibility is a published rule about who may apply, and it is what our eligibility columns carry. Due diligence is a private examination of one organisation after it has applied. Passing every filter on this site says nothing about what a funder will find, and we make no assessment of any applicant.

How GrantTrove stores it

  • The eligibility columns hold the notice’s published rule, with `elig_note` for wording the vocabulary cannot express.
  • Funder records carry `ein`, `type`, `website` and the giving figures from connected filings, each with its year — which is the diligence a reader can do on a funder, published rather than implied.

Common questions

What do funders ask for?

Financials, a board list, exempt status evidence and a budget, most commonly.

Can diligence change the award?

Yes — terms, timing or conditions, more often than the decision itself.

Do you assess applicants?

No. We hold no data about applicants at all.