Compliance Beyond the Public Sector: Challenges for Research, NGOs and International Development
When we think about compliance in grant management, most attention falls on public sector obligations like the AI Act, Data Act, Procurement Act, or NIS2. But for research councils, charities, and international development agencies, sector-specific compliance frameworks are just as critical — and sometimes more complex.
Research Sector
- Framework programme rules: Initiatives like Horizon Europe require cascade funding (FSTP) controls, eligibility checks, and multi-tier reporting.
- Open Science & FAIR data: Funders must ensure research outputs are Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable — driving integrations with repositories and metadata capture.
- National funder policies: Bodies like UKRI, NWO and DFG mandate ORCID IDs, open access, and equality, diversity & inclusion (EDI) monitoring.
- Research integrity: Ethics approvals, conflicts of interest, and export-control checks must be built into workflows.
NGOs & Charities
- Fundraising compliance: In the UK, the Fundraising Regulator’s Code of Practice sets governance expectations.
- Charity Commission/OSCR reporting: Fund accounting requires transparency between restricted and unrestricted funds.
- Safeguarding: Especially in youth, education, or humanitarian contexts, safeguarding checks and evidence logs are essential.
- Donor-imposed compliance: Major foundations often impose bespoke reporting and audit requirements.
International Development
- IATI reporting: Bilateral and multilateral donors increasingly require reporting to the International Aid Transparency Initiative standard.
- AML/CTF checks: Screening against sanctions lists and ensuring financial traceability are vital in fragile states.
- Safeguarding & protection policies: Agencies such as FCDO mandate strict safeguarding standards and evidence of compliance.
- Cross-border data protection: GDPR and Schrems II make hosting and transfer choices critical when handling beneficiary data.
Cross-Cutting Themes
Across these sectors, three compliance themes stand out:
- Data sovereignty and security — ensuring sensitive data is managed lawfully and transparently.
- Equity, diversity & inclusion (EDI) — increasingly central to reporting and accountability.
- ESG and social value — funders are being asked to evidence the broader impact of their grantmaking.
At AIMS, we design grant management systems that are configurable to these diverse compliance needs — from IATI reporting in international development, to EDI data capture in research, to safeguarding logs for charities. Future-proofing isn’t just about regulation; it’s about aligning with sector realities.
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