Passing partner due diligence as a local NGO

What is partner due diligence?

Before an international NGO, UN agency or donor transfers money, it wants to know that your organisation is real, legal, well governed and able to manage funds. The process is called due diligence, partner assessment or capacity assessment. It covers topics such as registration, board and governance, financial controls, procurement, safeguarding, human resources and past performance.

The Charter for Change describes the purpose well: due diligence is meant to ensure accountability and is part of risk management. It also names the problem. Processes are often designed for large INGOs, can be duplicative and complex, and are poorly suited to the settings where local organisations work.

Why is it hard for local organisations?

The LoCAL project, funded by DG ECHO, notes that local and national actors are frequently asked to go through multiple, overlapping assessments to access funding. These take time and resources that could go to operations and accountability. The Humentum mapping review adds that even where tools are similar, agencies often run their own extra checks because of their own risk appetite.

If you work with several partners, you may fill in five questionnaires that ask almost the same things, in different formats, with different deadlines. In Myanmar, where staff may be spread across locations and connectivity is uneven, this load is felt even more.

How do you prepare a document pack?

Prepare once and update regularly. Most assessments ask for variations of this list.

1. Legal and registration. Registration papers, constitution or by-laws, tax or other required status documents.
2. Governance. Board or committee list, meeting minutes, conflict of interest policy. See governance for community-based organisations.
3. Finance. Financial policy, chart of accounts, recent financial statements, bank details, approval limits. See financial policies every NGO needs.
4. Procurement. Procurement policy, quotation records, vendor list.
5. People. Organisation chart, job descriptions, HR policy, staff code of conduct.
6. Safeguarding and accountability. Safeguarding and PSEA policy, complaints and feedback process, training records.
7. Programme quality. Examples of plans, monitoring records and reports from past projects, with names removed where needed.
8. Risk and security. Risk register, security or contingency plan, data protection arrangements.

Keep a version in English and in Burmese if your team uses both. Name the files clearly and store them in a shared folder with access control.

What if you find a gap?

Do not hide it. Partners tend to react better to "we do not have this yet, and here is our plan and date" than to a missing document discovered later. Run a capacity self-assessment before the partner arrives, rate your areas honestly and write short improvement actions with owners.

When the partner finds a gap, ask three questions: Is it required by the donor, or is it the partner's own preference? Can it be completed after signing, with a deadline? Will the partner support the cost of fixing it?

What are passporting and standards?

Two approaches aim to cut repeated assessments.

Passporting. The ICVA definition quoted in the Humentum review: an organisation accepts a due diligence or capacity assessment, in whole or in part, carried out on a partner by another organisation or certification body, instead of doing its own. Under the Charter for Change Due Diligence Passporting Initiative, an INGO that assessed you with the shared tool may, with your consent or at your request, share the result with another INGO. The receiving INGO can accept it as it is or do a limited follow-up. In a 2024 pilot, seven signatories tested the tool with 45 local and national NGOs in nine countries. The pilot did not result in full passporting between INGOs, but partners found the tool useful and the initiative laid groundwork for wider use.

Standards and certification. Organisations are assessed against an external standard, such as the Core Humanitarian Standard, certified through HQAI, or the Good Financial Grant Practice standard. The Humentum review states that the CHS covers between 50% and 100% of donor due diligence requirements, depending on the donor. The LoCAL project tested whether CHS audits could serve as trusted inputs for other assessments, and built a prototype multi-donor passporting platform.

Certification takes time and money, so it will not suit every small organisation. It is worth knowing the option exists, and asking your partners and donors whether they accept it.

What should you ask your partners?

• Will you accept an assessment already done by another partner?
• Can we share one document pack instead of filling in your form from scratch?
• Which items are donor requirements, and which are your own policy?
• If we pass, how long is the result valid?
• Will you support improving the gaps we agree on?

The Humentum review also asks a fair question: who defines the standards for passporting, and are local actors decision-makers or only recipients? Raise your voice in these discussions through networks and coordination forums. For a broader view on reducing the load on partners, read reducing the reporting burden on local partners.

How EMPO can help

EMPO is a trusted Myanmar-based training and consultancy provider and one of the country's leading names in practical NGO training, with 1,200+ people trained and 15 partner organisations. We work in English and Burmese, online and in person across Myanmar. Our organisational development support can help you prepare policies, a document pack and a gap plan. See our services or contact us.

Sources

• Due Diligence Passporting Initiative overview — Charter for Change, 2025
• LoCAL: Lowering Compliance Burdens for Local and National Associations — HQAI
• Mapping and Review of Existing Due Diligence Frameworks — World Vision with ActionAid, Plan International and Tearfund, published via Humentum, 2026