Enabling Direct International Grantmaking
Paragon equips global grantmakers with the risk-based due diligence infrastructure to fund confidently and responsibly across borders.
- 14 years Serving global grantmakers
- 100+ Countries, including higher-risk jurisdictions
- 3,000+ Vetted nonprofits in the registry
What We Do
End-to-End Due Diligence for Global Funders
We serve private foundations, donor-advised fund sponsors, corporate and government-linked funders, universities, and international NGOs with regranting portfolios, providing the procedural assurance and operational clarity that make direct giving possible. Our work spans the full spectrum of cross-border grantmaking integrity, including grantee vetting, sanctions and PEP screening, risk assessment, and tailored research. Across jurisdictions and time zones, we help clients navigate regulatory complexity and reputational risk so that philanthropic capital flows safely, efficiently, and to mission-aligned partners worldwide.
Our Approach
A Risk-Based Approach to Cross-Border Grantmaking
Effective cross-border due diligence requires judgment, proportionality, and a clear understanding of risk context. In philanthropic grantmaking, both insufficient diligence and excessive diligence can create material harm, exposing funders to legal, financial, and reputational risk on one hand, while unnecessarily delaying or constraining mission-critical funding on the other. Paragon’s Four-Tier Framework gives funders four depths of review to choose from, so diligence can match factors such as the nature of the activity, the operating environment, and the funder’s obligations. This approach supports defensible decision-making across jurisdictions while preserving flexibility, efficiency, and mission alignment.
Why Paragon
Exclusive Focus on Philanthropy
Paragon is a specialized philanthropic services company dedicated to responsible cross-border giving. We combine compliance rigor with cultural understanding to help funders support mission-aligned organizations, protect their reputation, and reduce exposure to sanctions, corruption, and reputational risk.
Specialized Risk Expertise
Our processes are guided by frameworks from the FATF, OFAC, IRS, and FCPA, as well as global standards from the OECD, EU, UK, Canada, Switzerland, and Australia. Our work supports funders’ own compliance with national and international requirements, in line with global best practice.
Rapid Turnaround, Without Compromise
We deliver due diligence results quickly and accurately through streamlined workflows, multilingual coordination, and continuous oversight across time zones. Clients rely on our responsiveness without sacrificing rigor.
Regional and Cultural Fluency
Our team brings extensive experience in Latin America, Africa, Europe, and Asia, with working capacity in Spanish and French, and deep familiarity with local philanthropic and regulatory contexts.
Trusted Experience
We have completed thousands of cross-border due diligence reviews for leading foundations, donor-advised fund sponsors, and globally recognized philanthropic institutions, including the Rockefeller Foundation, Bezos Earth Fund, and Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust.
Global Reach
Paragon provides highly personalized service, direct access to senior experts, and the agility to adapt to each client’s needs. We serve clients across the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, the European Union, Switzerland, and Australia.
Our Services
Country Check
Check a country to set the depth of your due diligence
Corruption scores, Financial Action Task Force (FATF) status, Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) presence and sanctions programs for countries worldwide, on one interactive map with links to the official sources. Read together, these indicators help a grantmaker determine which due diligence steps a grant to that country warrants, and at what level of review.
Open the map →Colin Richardson
Director of Grants Administration
The San Francisco Foundation
Pegine E. Grayson
Senior Vice President/Philanthropic Services
Whittier Trust
Selected Clients
14 yearsServing global grantmakers
100+Countries, including higher-risk jurisdictions
3,000+Vetted nonprofits in the registry
The Rockefeller Foundation
Chicago Community Trust
Greater Houston Community Foundation
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
