Rapid Validation & Screening
Rapid Validation & Screening (RVS)
A structured review to verify legitimacy and surface key risks
Paragon’s Paragon’s Rapid Validation & Screening (RVS) service provides grantmakers and philanthropic investors with a fast, objective, and globally relevant view of organizational legitimacy and risk. Designed for early-stage project scoping, RVS helps funders quickly assess prospective partners before committing staff time, requesting documents, or engaging in compliance-heavy processes such as equivalency determination, expenditure responsibility, or the more extensive due diligence, anti-terrorism, and regulatory compliance procedures required in jurisdictions such as Europe, Canada, and Australia.
By positioning RVS as the first step in the due diligence cycle, Paragon enables funders to focus resources where they matter most—reserving time, money, and compliance effort for entities that are active, legally established, and demonstrably pursuing a public benefit purpose. Drawing on Paragon’s cross-border philanthropy expertise, RVS applies risk-based practices aligned with international standards, including FATF recommendations and EU and UK sanctions frameworks. The methodology integrates registry filings, public disclosures, and international media sources to deliver, within three to five business days, a concise, board-ready risk report that identifies viable candidates for deeper due diligence.
Scope of Screening and Validation
Each RVS report integrates two essential components: risk screening and entity validation.
Risk Screening
RVS screens the entity and key individuals against global risk data to identify potential compliance, reputational, and operational concerns.
- Sanctions and Watchlists: Checks against major global sanctions and law enforcement lists (OFAC, EU, UN, UK, FBI, Interpol).
- Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs): Screening of leadership and close associates to identify potential political exposure risks.
- Adverse Media: Searches of Dow Jones RiskCenter and other global sources for reputational issues, including corruption, fraud, governance failures, financial misconduct, terrorism/extremism, and other controversies. This review also captures ESG-related risks such as environmental harm, labor and human rights abuses, and supply chain concerns where relevant.
Together, these checks provide an early-stage profile of whether an organization or its leaders are exposed to critical risks that could complicate grantmaking, investment, or partnership decisions.
Entity Validation
RVS goes beyond confirming that an entity exists on paper. At the early scoping stage, funders need assurance not only that a prospective partner presents itself as pursuing a public benefit purpose, but that this claim is substantiated by legal filings and evidence of activity.
- Registry Confirmation: RVS verifies the organization’s official registration and legal standing through relevant national registries. This establishes whether the entity is formally recognized for a public benefit purpose, rather than simply presenting that way on its website.
- Mission & Activity Verification (for nonprofits): Where available, Paragon reviews stated mission language from official filings, charters, or registry documents and cross-checks it against publicly available evidence of activity, such as annual reports, donor acknowledgments, program information, or website disclosures. This helps determine whether the entity is not just claiming a public benefit purpose but is actively operating in alignment with it.
- Operational Status: This step can reveal early if an organization is dormant, suspended, or lacking substantive activity—issues that could waste donor time if discovered only after deeper due diligence begins.
For companies, trusts, or associations, validation is limited to confirming legal registration and current standing in the relevant jurisdiction.
By building this assurance into the scoping phase, RVS helps funders avoid engaging with organizations that may look credible online but cannot demonstrate, through legal filings or public reporting, that they are legally established, active, and pursuing a public benefit purpose. This strengthens internal decision-making, ensures that staff time and resources are reserved for viable candidates, and reduces the risk of reputational or compliance surprises later in the due diligence cycle.
Risk Rating Methodology
The report provides an overall risk rating of Low, Moderate, or High, determined through a structured weighted framework. Sanctions and watchlists account for 35 percent of the score, PEP exposure 20 percent, adverse media and ESG factors 20 percent, registration status 15 percent, and cumulative moderate issues 10 percent. Severe findings, such as confirmed sanctions matches or deregistration, result in an automatic High Risk rating. Analyst commentary explains the rationale, highlighting key strengths and risks.
Deliverables
RVS delivers a concise seven- to ten-page report that includes:
- A cover page summary and overall risk rating.
- An executive summary of findings.
- Detailed results for sanctions, PEP, and adverse media/ESG screening.
- Registry validation with supporting extracts.
- Analyst commentary on risk drivers.
- Appendices with match documentation and media excerpts.
This package allows clients to substantiate their scoping decisions and maintain a defensible audit trail.
Who Uses RVS
RVS is used by a wide range of funders and impact-oriented entities:
- Foundations and donor collaboratives seeking a quick, defensible pre-screen of potential nonprofit grantees.
- Corporations, CSR/ESG teams, and impact investors looking to validate nonprofits, companies, or social enterprises before partnerships or investments.
- Government agencies and multilateral funds needing fast, reliable checks before urgent disbursements.
In each case, RVS serves as a first-pass filter that ensures only viable, low-risk candidates move forward into more resource-intensive due diligence, whether that means equivalency determination, expenditure responsibility, or the broader regulatory and fiduciary reviews undertaken by global funders.
No-Touch Service
RVS is strictly a no-touch service. Paragon does not contact the organization under review, request affidavits, or obtain certified legal documents. All findings are drawn from registries, public disclosures, and trusted third-party databases.
Related Service: Paragon’s Nonprofit Validation service provides a focused verification of nonprofit legal status and public benefit purpose. The Rapid Validation & Screening (RVS) service builds upon this foundation, integrating those same validation steps with additional risk-based screening measures to deliver a broader assessment of organizational legitimacy and exposure.
Limitations: RVS provides administrative safeguards and factual documentation to support operational risk management and early-stage scoping. It does not constitute legal, financial, or tax advice and does not replace formal compliance obligations such as equivalency determination, expenditure responsibility, or the more extensive due diligence and regulatory reviews required of funders in the EU, Canada, UK, Australia and Switzerland. Final compliance decisions, including how to address identified issues or whether to proceed with a grant or payment, remain the responsibility of the client and, where appropriate, their counsel.
Proven Track Record
Founded in 2012, Paragon has facilitated the vetting of thousands of grantees across more than 100 countries, including higher-risk jurisdictions identified by FATF, the OECD, and Transparency International. Our analyst-led process delivers practical cross-border due diligence and risk screening that evaluates mission alignment, governance, financial controls, sanctions and watchlist exposure, and country risk to help protect funder reputation. We provide structured, defensible documentation to support board oversight and strengthen cross-border giving.
Risk-based due diligence is essential to cross-border grantmaking, helping funders tailor their review to the situation while supporting compliance and mission alignment.
Selected Clients
Greater Houston Community Foundation
The Rockefeller Foundation
Chicago Community Trust
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