Beyond the Checklist: What Assessing Social Impact Organisations Taught Me
Building Better Impact Organisations: Article 2 of a two-part thought leadership series by
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In my last article, I discussed the importance of incorporating a systems lens to due diligence and partner assurance activities. Today, I build on that as I talk about how serving as a Due Diligence Assessor allowed me to see social impact organisations from a perspective I had not done before.
I have worked directly with communities, supported programme implementation, and contributed to organisational development. Due diligence invited me to step back and look at organisations differently - not through the outcomes they reported; but through the systems, leadership, and governance that made those outcomes possible.
At first, I assumed that the role would primarily involve reviewing documents and verifying compliance. While documentation is undoubtedly important, I quickly realised that effective due diligence is far more nuanced than simply confirming whether the right policies exist. It is about understanding how an organisation functions, how decisions are made, how risks are managed, and whether governance genuinely supports the organisation's mission.
This shift in perspective taught me several lessons that continue to shape the way I think about organisational capacity and sustainable impact.
Documents rarely tell the whole story
One of the first things I learned was the importance of looking beyond documentation.
Being an assessor requires both analytical thinking and attention to detail. Every document must be carefully reviewed, every piece of evidence critically evaluated, and every conclusion supported by sound reasoning. Policies, financial procedures, governance structures, safeguarding frameworks, and organisational records all contribute to building an understanding of an organisation. They provide essential evidence and establish an important foundation for assessment. Yet documents alone rarely tell the full story.
Some organisations presented comprehensive policies that appeared robust on paper, but during conversations it became difficult to understand how those policies informed day-to-day decision-making. Staff sometimes struggled to explain how governance arrangements operated in practice or how safeguarding procedures would be implemented if concerns arose.
I also encountered organisations whose documentation was relatively modest, yet their leaders demonstrated exceptional clarity about accountability, ethical decision-making, and organisational responsibility. Their policies reflected organisations that were still developing, but their culture demonstrated a genuine commitment to continuous improvement.
These experiences reminded me that governance is an organisation practises - not simply what it writes on a policy document.
Conversations reveal what policies cannot
If documents establish the framework, conversations provide the context.
One of the most rewarding aspects of every assessment was the opportunity to interview organisational leaders and staff. These conversations often revealed dimensions of an organisation that could never be captured within written policies alone.
Speaking with founders, directors, programme managers, and operational teams provided valuable insight into how leadership functions, how decisions are made, and how challenges are approached. It also revealed something less tangible but equally important: organisational culture.
Passion alone does not guarantee effective governance, but it does reveal commitment. During interviews, I often witnessed leaders who spoke with remarkable honesty about both their achievements and the challenges they continued to face. Rather than presenting themselves as perfect organisations, many openly discussed the systems they were still working to strengthen. Those conversations gave me confidence that organisational learning was already taking place.
In several assessments, interviews significantly changed my initial impressions. Organisations that appeared highly prepared on paper sometimes struggled to demonstrate how governance functioned in practice. Others exceeded expectations because their leadership displayed transparency, accountability, and thoughtful decision-making despite having fewer formal systems in place.
These experiences reinforced my belief that effective due diligence should triangulate multiple sources of evidence. Documentation, interviews, and observable organisational practice each provide different pieces of the picture. Only by considering all three together can assessors develop a balanced understanding of organisational capacity.
Governance is ultimately about protecting people
Among all the governance components I reviewed, complaints-handling mechanisms, whistleblowing systems, and safeguarding policies consistently stood out as some of the most important and, in many cases, some of the least developed. Having spent years working directly with communities, this was particularly significant to me.
Strong safeguarding, to me, is more than reducing organisational risk. It is about protecting the dignity, safety, and rights of the people organisations exist to serve.
Behind every safeguarding policy are real people. Behind every complaints mechanism is someone who may need to raise a concern safely. Behind every whistleblowing process is the possibility that an individual may choose to speak up because something has gone wrong.
These systems are sometimes viewed as administrative requirements, yet they perform a far more important function. They help create environments where staff, volunteers, impactees, partners, and community members can report concerns without fear and trust that those concerns will be taken seriously.
For organisations working with vulnerable communities, these systems are not optional additions to good governance. They are fundamental expressions of organisational responsibility.
Good assessments support improvement
Another lesson that stayed with me is that due diligence should never be viewed as an exercise designed simply to determine whether an organisation passes or fails.
Most organisations are constantly evolving. Governance systems mature over time, policies are strengthened through experience, and organisational capacity develops alongside growth. Expecting perfection, particularly from smaller organisations, is neither realistic nor constructive.
The most valuable assessments recognise this reality.
Rather than focusing solely on identifying weaknesses, good assessments also acknowledge strengths, recognise progress, and provide practical recommendations that organisations can realistically implement. Recommendations should be proportionate, achievable, and sensitive to organisational context rather than generic lists of compliance requirements.
One aspect I particularly value about the assessment process is the opportunity to contribute beyond the evaluation itself. As assessors, our role is not only to identify gaps but also to provide practical, actionable, and context-appropriate recommendations that help organisations strengthen their governance over time.
Knowing that an assessment can contribute to organisational learning is one of the most rewarding aspects of this work.
Context matters
This experience also reinforced something I had learned much earlier in my career while working directly with communities: context always matters.
Due diligence standards provide an essential benchmark, but assessments should remain proportionate to an organisation's size, maturity, resources, and operating environment. Expectations for a grassroots organisation working in a remote community should naturally differ from those for a large international NGO, while still upholding the same principles of accountability, transparency, and ethical practice.
Some organisations create extraordinary impact despite operating with limited infrastructure, financial resources, or technical capacity. Applying identical expectations without recognising these realities may unintentionally disadvantage organisations that are already achieving meaningful change under challenging circumstances.
The objective should never be to lower standards. Rather, it should be to apply them fairly, recognising that organisational development is rarely linear. Assessment frameworks should leave room for professional judgement and contextual understanding, ensuring that organisations demonstrating genuine commitment and measurable impact are encouraged to continue strengthening their systems.
Looking beyond compliance
In hindsight, I have come to see the process of Due Diligence assessments very differently from how I first imagined it.
Good due diligence is not about catching organisations out. Nor is it simply a mechanism for protecting donor investments. At its best, it is a process of understanding organisations, their strengths, their challenges, their aspirations, and their capacity to grow.
For funders, it provides confidence that resources are being entrusted to organisations capable of managing them responsibly. For organisations, it offers an opportunity to reflect, strengthen internal systems, and build greater resilience for the future.
Ultimately, the most valuable assessments are those that leave organisations stronger than they were before the process began. If due diligence encourages better governance, clearer accountability, stronger safeguarding, and a culture of continuous improvement, then it has achieved far more than compliance. It has contributed to building organisations that are better equipped to create lasting change for the communities they serve.