Request for Proposals to
Establish and Maintain a Centralized Repository
of Information on Non-U.S. Based NGOs

Last Updated: May 2, 2008

Interactive map of direct grants by U.S. grantmakers to NGOs

The Council on Foundations, the Foundation Center, Independent Sector, and InterAction are collaborating to facilitate the creation a centralized repository of information to streamline the process of U.S. grantmakers determining if a non-U.S. based NGO is equivalent to a U.S. public charity.

The Need

Equivalency determination (ED) of U.S. charity status is one of the two options provided for under IRS rules that enable U.S grantmakers to make direct grants to non-U.S. based NGOs. Obtaining information to meet the ED rule is both time-consuming and expensive.

Currently, each grantmaker collects this information individually, thus duplicating the process which in many cases has already been carried out by other grantmakers. This is done at considerable time and expense since NGOs are asked to provide variations of the same information over and over to multiple potential U.S. donors.

This has occurred because IRS regulations currently prohibit grantmakers from using another organization’s “good faith determination” and, to date there has been no broad-based agreement on standards or a process. These challenges have caused many international grantmakers to seek ways to improve and centralize the ED process so that more resources can be dedicated to helping NGOs rather than on administrative expenses.

Go to http://www.iaa.com/NGORepositoryFeasibilityStudyProject.html for more background on this project and to download copies of the feasibility study's December 2006 report, the detailed survey results, and recommendations. 

The Request for Proposals (RFP)

Click these links for copies of this RFP --> in Adobe Acrobat and Microsoft Word formats.

Click this link for a copy of the latest RFP Q&A  --> in Adobe Acrobat format.
(Last updated 5/2/2008)

This RFP is soliciting proposals from organizations who are qualified to:

• Provide step-by-step instructions, references, online tools, and help desk support to assist NGOs to successfully collect, prepare and submit all of the information that is required to be considered for ED status.

• To collect and review all submitted information and documents as being complete and up-to-date.

• Using all of the NGO’s submitted information, make a good faith determination in accordance with current IRS regulations that the NGO is the equivalent of a U.S. public charity as specified in Revenue Procedure 92-94.

IRS officials we’ve met with have raised no objections to establishing a repository and have indicated a willingness to review a more detailed plan. They also indicated that, should the agency approve the repository, grantmakers could rely on the equivalency determination information stored there.

This hosting organization would have the option to partner with other qualified organizations (either nonprofit or for profit), as an affiliate or subcontractor with complementary expertise and resources to provide the complete set of required services to implement the repository and deliver all of the necessary services.

The particular strengths and type of the host and potential partner organizations would be a key factor in the selection by the Advisory Committee and may also increase the likelihood of approval by the IRS.

This RFP describes our vision for the repository, potential funding and governance models, scope of work, detailed operational and system requirements, hosting organization qualifications, and proposal submission requirements.

RFP Process and Deadlines

Contact Information

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