Policy on Due Diligence
Ayala Foundation USA (AF-USA) implements a system that ensures Philippine-based grantees or fundraising partners are legitimate non-profit organizations with projects that are worthy of public support by donors in the United States. Grantees or fundraising partners are those that have gone through AF-USA’s Eligibility Application and Approval Process, thereby making their projects qualified to receive funding support from US-based donors. Eligibility extends to becoming an AF-USA fundraising partner, a status which allows organizations to implement active fundraising campaigns for their projects, side-by-side with AF-USA.
Qualified Organizations
AF-USA only accepts non-government and non-profit groups and institutions doing social development projects providing direct impact on the country’s areas of greatest needs. These could be groups like schools or its equivalent foundations, private charities and non-profit foundations, non-government social development groups, community foundations, corporate foundations, and hospital charity wards, clinics or rural health units. These groups must be implementing projects in fields such as education, microfinance, environment, health, and community development, including areas of advocacy dealing with the needs of society’s vulnerable sectors like women, children and persons with disabilities.
As a general rule, AF-USA only welcomes applications from organizations that have been granted Donee Status by the Philippine Council for NGO Certification (PCNC). This status, as awarded by the PCNC, provides an organization with a seal of good housekeeping and good administration. As such, they are allowed the privilege of being able to offer tax-deduction incentives to its donors.
PCNC is the largest network of non-government institutions primarily set up for the purpose of ensuring that social development entities remain credible and trustworthy. It sees to it that groups have sound financial management systems and strong governance-related policies or practices that are able to withstand the influence and manipulation from forces and powers outside its immediate cause of existence. Groups that were not able to pass PCNC scrutiny are discouraged from applying for AF-USA Eligibility. Nonetheless, organizations that are still in the process of filing their PCNC applications may simultaneously apply for AF-USA Eligibility and undergo the screening process, provided that they are be able to submit proof of accreditation or membership in an entity with almost similar stature as PCNC. Examples of these would be:
1) |
Accreditation for Social Welfare Agencies from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) | ||||||||||||
2) |
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3) |
Accreditation for Charity Hospitals and Clinics from the Department of Health (DOH) | ||||||||||||
4) |
Accreditation for Cooperatives from the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA) | ||||||||||||
5) |
Membership in the following Nationwide Networks:
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Documentary Requirements
To ensure the legitimacy of organizations applying for grantee/partner status with AF-USA, the following documents or its equivalent, along with a completed Grant Eligibility Application Form, are required:
1) |
Charter of Articles of Incorportation |
2) |
Organizational By-Laws |
3) |
SEC Registration Certificate |
4) |
BIR Registration Certificate and sample of Official Receipt |
5) |
List of Current Board Members |
6) |
Audited Financial Statement for the past 2 years |
7) |
Annual Reports for the past 2 years |
8) |
Registration and Accreditation papers for the past 2 years |
9) |
Copy of page in Charter or Articles of Incorporation showing policy in the event of organizational dissolution |
10) |
Complete Project Proposal |
11) |
PCNC Certificate or its equivalent |
Criteria for Approval
The AF-USA Board approves or disapproves eligibility during quarterly meetings (i.e. January, April, July and October). Applications must be submitted no later than a month before these scheduled meetings to provide time for the first stages of screening. Approval or disapproval shall depend largely on the legitimacy of the organization and project, the completeness of the documentary requirements, as well as the quality of the project proposal submitted.
Applications are evaluated on the basis of the following criteria:
1) |
Legal personality of the applying organization |
2) |
Track record on project implementation and fundraising |
3) |
Track record and credibility of the people behind the organization (e.g. board members, officers and staff) |
4) |
Financial management capability based on financial statements and other documents |
Project Proposals, on the other hand, are assessed based on the following factors:
1) |
Responsiveness of the project to the needs of the target groups |
2) |
Soundness of the implementation plan |
3) |
Cost-effectiveness of the project |
