Working with Paragon
We Enable Direct, Confident Global Grantmaking
Paragon serves as an operational partner to grantmakers, managing the due diligence, administrative, and evidentiary steps that make direct cross-border grantmaking possible. We provide the procedural expertise, documentation, and administrative framework that allow foundations and donor-advised fund sponsors to give directly, efficiently, and with confidence.
Our model allows funders to work directly with grantees while avoiding the added cost and opacity of intermediary structures.
We coordinate information flow among grantees, clients, and external legal reviewers (where applicable), maintain the documentation required for regulatory review, and ensure that every grant proceeds with clarity and continuity.
- 14 years Serving global grantmakers
- 100+ Countries, including higher-risk jurisdictions
- 3,000+ Vetted nonprofits in the registry
14 yearsServing global grantmakers
100+Countries, including higher-risk jurisdictions
3,000+Vetted nonprofits in the registry
Our Process
Due Diligence & Compliance
For due diligence engagements and compliance support, you select the service and the depth of review appropriate to your needs and assessment of risk. Paragon conducts the work within one secure portal, where progress can be followed at every stage and Paragon’s team, working in English, French, and Spanish, remains available for questions and updates. Each engagement concludes with a clear, complete record.
Request
Clients submit a request through the portal, selecting the service best suited to their needs and their assessment of risk.
Gather
Paragon gathers information and documents from independent sources, from the grantee through the portal, or both.
Screen & Review
Paragon’s team carries out the screening and administrative review each service defines.
Deliver
Findings are delivered through the portal as a clear, complete record.
Progress tracked in the portal in real timeParagon in contact with you and the grantee throughout
Advisory
For strategic grantmaking support, such as grantee research and portfolio development, Paragon works closely and directly with you, scoping each engagement together and drawing on its Senior Advisors where their expertise applies. The resulting research and analysis is shaped around your priorities, from understanding an operating context to identifying credible organizations and designing a portfolio.
Why Paragon
Why Leading Funders and Institutions Work With Paragon
Global Fluency
Paragon’s team works in English, French and Spanish and understands the grantmaking standards funders follow in the U.S., EU, UK, Switzerland, Canada, Australia and beyond. Clients work directly with experienced professionals.
Speed and Efficiency
Paragon pairs a rigorous, consistent process with the responsiveness of a small, specialized team. It stays in close contact with grantees to gather what each engagement needs and keeps the work moving at every stage.
Direct, Transparent Grantmaking
By providing the operational expertise and implementation support for direct cross-border giving, Paragon enables funders to make grants directly to overseas organizations rather than through intermediaries. Funders retain direct relationships with their grantees, avoid percentage-based cross-border fees, and gain visibility into each stage of the process.
A Complete Record
Paragon keeps an organized record of each engagement: what was collected, what was checked and what was found. Funders can show their boards and auditors that each grant followed the same steps, wherever the grantee is based.
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
