Passporting trust: Reducing partner administration by building upward
The British Red Cross sits on both sides of the due diligence problem: it receives funds, and it funds more than 20 National Societies. Its answer is to reuse evidence that already exists rather than asking partners to prove the same thing twice.
Operating in an international aid world cluttered with donor due diligence exercises, the British Red Cross (BRC) acts as both a recipient of funds and a donor/partner to more than 20 Red Cross Red Crescent National Societies worldwide. It is an organisation that could easily be on both the receiving end and a driver of due diligence inefficiency, but instead, BRC has made a strategic choice to “always build upwards”: reusing existing assessment evidence (known as due diligence passporting) rather than putting partners through duplicate processes.
As a holder of the Core Humanitarian Standard (CHS) Independent Verification for its international work, BRC maintains its own criteria for funding partners while actively leveraging existing assessments like those offered by the CHS Verification Scheme. By treating baseline standards as a shared foundation to build upon, BRC seamlessly bridges trust gaps between major donors and local partners. This pragmatic approach has already delivered tangible efficiencies in places like Ukraine and Ethiopia, where BRC due diligence built directly on prior evidence produced by the Norwegian Red Cross and the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO). In turn, FCDO assessments frequently build onto BRC’s work rather than replacing it. By passporting evidence across domains, organisations significantly reduce unnecessary administrative burdens for local and national actors: an approach BRC has codified in its internal due diligence guidance to drive systematic change.
The trust generated through due diligence passporting is now unlocking deeper operational shifts. Recognising how vulnerable local partners are to over-administrated project funding, BRC is piloting unearmarked grants with a small group of long-term National Society partners. BRC views mutual trust as a key driver of accountability and a core contribution to implementing the CHS. By replacing mountains of itemised financial receipts with strategic indicators and annual audited accounts, BRC provides the space and flexibility National Societies need to make aid delivery truly accountable.
Transitioning to this approach requires overcoming operational challenges, adapting internal procedures, and driving a cultural shift across leadership and staff. Yet, it highlights a fundamental truth at the heart of the CHS: aid is most effective when driven from the bottom up. By stripping away redundant bureaucracy, due diligence passporting shifts control back to local actors, ensuring resources go directly toward community-led responses rather than compliance paperwork.
CHS Alliance is actively advocating for due diligence passporting, which overcomes the top down approach. This is the first story in a series of examples that CHS Alliance will be showcasing from across its members. If you would like to learn more, please see our webpage here or contact verification@chsalliance.org.