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**Closest Competitor: Self-Auditing, Network Based Approach Used by Kiva and Global Giving**

Aspects of Overlap:

• ____ Working With Same Population
• __X__ Working On Same Issue Area
• ____ Using Similar Model of Change

How Will Your Approach be Different From and Achieve Greater Results Than Others Working in Your Field?

Organizations like Kiva and Global Giving have developed the best due diligence solution possible given the resource challenge: leveraging a network of fellows and volunteers to add a layer of transparency and accountability to their operations worldwide. While amateur oversight and reporting serves an important purpose, it does not fulfill an organization’s fiduciary obligations to its board and/or investors.

Transparency Solutions blends a grassroots-level intelligence network with a staff of in-country Transparency Professionals to capture the best available information over a duration of time. This allows us deliver not only post-investment oversight, but pre-investment intelligence. Our final reports can be presented to investors and donors, boards of directors, or included as part of an Annual Report.

Furthermore, our network does not only serve the interests of a single organization – it serves the due diligence needs of an entire community. Where a Kiva Fellow may work with a local microfinance partner, our intelligence network spans across organizations and sectors of society. Effective due diligence in the social sector means including community members and leaders, understanding the environment as a whole, and surveying both stakeholders and beneficiaries.

(Note: See Dennis Whittle, Founder and CEO of Global Giving, speaking of due diligence with Unreasonable Institute’s Teju Ravilochan at http://vimeo.com/7454050 at timestamp 6:50)

How Can Your Organization Work With, Leverage, and/or improve on the work that is currently being done?

Both Premal Shah (Kiva) and Dennis Whittle (Global Giving) have expressed the need for an effective due diligence solution for the social sector, and the model proposed by Transparency Solutions would fill the niche.

The network-based amateur reporting definitely plays a critical role in the process of due diligence, but cannot be relied upon as being the entire solution. Transparency Solutions seeks to build upon pre-existing networks like Kiva Fellows, Peace Corp, and global networks of volunteers to help aggregate the best available information. This is supplemented by our very own in-country Transparency Professions who can not only moderate and coordinate this information, but serve in a more official oversight capacity.

**Closest Competitor: Self-Auditing, Either By Dedicated M&E Staff or Self-Reporting By Country Offices**

Aspects of Overlap:

• ____ Working With Same Population
• __X__ Working On Same Issue Area
• ____ Using Similar Model of Change

How Will Your Approach be Different From and Achieve Greater Results Than Others Working in Your Field?

Many other nonprofit organizations have relied on the self-reporting of their country partners or have hired a dedicated staff for monitoring and evaluation. Both of these solutions lack the independence and objectivity that proper due diligence requires. If you think about it, country staff have no incentive to share failures or inefficiencies (they want to make the sure the money keeps coming!). And dedicated staff for M&E is far from being justifiably cost-effective (requires paying salaries, benefits, travel costs, expenses, etc.).

Transparency Solutions is dedicated to providing independent and objective intelligence and oversight. Our in-country presence and networks allow us access to a broad wealth of information that can bring critical perspective to an organization’s assessment. Our approach to due diligence is focused on a continued relationship with the organization we are reviewing as well as the local community, rather than a one-time site visit that serves more as a photo-opportunity than a due diligence review.

How Can Your Organization Work With, Leverage, and/or improve on the work that is currently being done?

Obviously, if we were to be serving these organizations as clients there would be close collaboration and work with the in-country staff as well as any M&E staff. Our goal is to deliver cost-effective solutions that provide clients with the best available information.

**Closest Competitor: Local Attorneys, CPAs, Auditors**

Aspects of Overlap:

• __X__ Working With Same Population
• __X__ Working On Same Issue Area
• ____ Using Similar Model of Change

How Will Your Approach be Different From and Achieve Greater Results Than Others Working in Your Field?

It should not be ignored that there are very talented local attorneys, CPAs, and auditors in developing countries – some of whom are committed to doing similar due diligence work. A major factor, however, in their ability to successfully serve foreign markets is that they lack a global recognition of credibility or any global coordination.

A client of Transparency Solutions should be able to access their global due diligence portfolio through our online portal, allowing them access to updates and reports from across multiple countries and programs. We will forge the necessary relationships in-country though establishing partnerships and possibly leveraging group-rates! Clients should only have to worry about one thing – doing good, well!

How Can Your Organization Work With, Leverage, and/or improve on the work that is currently being done?

As mentioned, there is an obvious need for us to incorporate local talent into our networks by forging relationships and partnerships. We will vet these partners, and through our international standing, will most likely bring them business that they possibly wouldn’t otherwise be getting. With enough business, we should be able to arrange lower rates allowing us to deliver maximum value to our clients.

**Closest Competitor: Consulting Firms (Eg. Dilgience, LLC; TRACE; McKinsey; Deloitte)**

Aspects of Overlap:

• ____ Working With Same Population
• __+/-__ Working On Same Issue Area
• ____ Using Similar Model of Change

How Will Your Approach be Different From and Achieve Greater Results Than Others Working in Your Field?

There are several major consulting firms that include global due diligence in their portfolios of offerings, but their services marketing largely to Fortune 500 companies or multi-million dollar charities and foundations. Their operations in the developing world tend to be managed by a loose network of high-priced attorneys, professionals, and consultants. And while their services may serve well in conducting due diligence prior to a merger or acquisition, these big firms have failed to recognize and adapt to the needs of the growing social investment community.

Transparency Solutions is taking the concept of due diligence and flipping it on its head to create innovative new solutions for a changing world! Our approach, dubbed Due Diligence 2.0, accommodates for smaller investors seeking to reach further parts of the globe.

Community-based engagement along with advances in information a communication technologies will allow us to deliver the best available information around the world at an unparalleled price to not only revolutionize the due diligence industry but the overall investment climate in some of the poorest parts of the world!

How Can Your Organization Work With, Leverage, and/or improve on the work that is currently being done?

Major consulting firms like Diligence, LLC, TRACE, McKinsey, and Deloitte are immense bastions of talent, information, and resources. They are a force to be reckoned with, but are focused on an entirely different market. The everyday social investor has been left to his own devices when it comes to the investment and due diligence tools held by the larger investors.

As social investment grows and emerging markets become more attractive, there needs to be a due diligence solution that can meet the needs of these new investors and can adapt to work in the non-traditional working environments of the developing world.

Our strategy and approach to due diligence is so different from the traditional ways of the larger institutions that I’m confident we will play a role in supporting their clients’ needs as investment opportunities grow in what are today some of the poorest corners of the earth.

**Closest Competitor: Charity Navigator or BBB Wise Giving Alliance**

Aspects of Overlap:

• ____ Working With Same Population
• __X__ Working On Same Issue Area
• ____ Using Similar Model of Change

How Will Your Approach be Different From and Achieve Greater Results Than Others Working in Your Field?

These watchdog organizations have undoubtedly laid a lot of foundation in the US for charity accountability, but miss the mark on several key points.

• Firstly, their focus is strictly on US-based charities – leaving perfectly legitimate foreign-based charities and nonprofits at a disadvantage.
• Secondly, they do not offer any tangible solutions to the social sector in terms of due diligence.
  • BBB allows people to report issues, but is not transparent in the least about this process!
  • CN publishes information that is publically available, and only focuses on financial efficiency while ignoring how actual operations and programs are being carried out!

Transparency Solutions is working on building a platform [...Oops! That's a little secret surprise!...]

Furthermore, we are committed to serving the social sector rather than simply auditing it from the sidelines. Our solutions are designed to help organizations access the tools and information they need to make their programs run more effectively and maximize their social impact!

How Can Your Organization Work With, Leverage, and/or improve on the work that is currently being done?

While our approach to charity accountability moves beyond what is offered by BBB and CN, there is certainly room for coordination and cooperation. These organizations have already conducted research, laid groundwork, and established networks that can prove valuable in advancing our own work. There is no point in duplicating efforts when we are all seeking to achieve the same end-goal!

These organizations serve more as a complimentary source of information than as a competitor in the marketplace.

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See Also: Transparency Solutions Root Cause Analysis (Please Review!)