Hierarchy

Creating organization hierarchies in Foundation Connect came about as part of the need to calculate for the 1/3rd budget threshold and to assess organizations for eligibility, as mandated by the Office of the President.

A hierarchy is established by associating a parent organization to its child entity or entities, if the relationship between the two groups is identified as complex.

For example an association is created between a network and its chapters or a university and its departments or centers

Specifically these are multilateral institutions, INGOs, IGOs, coalitions and universities.

During compliance review GOs are expected to look for a complex relationship between two organizations and set up an organization hierarchy, if one does not exist in the system.

Ideally, program staff will identify a complex organization and will work with their GOs to establish the correct relationship/hierarchy in the system.

GOS are to use the proposal, additional organizational documentation, website research, and consult with program staff to determine whether or not an organization hierarchy needs to be established.

When establishing a hierarchy GO should consider the following:

Placing an organization into a hierarchy does not necessarily mean that it is legally connected or part of another organization; at its most basic we are merely identifying a connection between two organizations.

If an organization is not technically a legal entity, it should be associated with one as part of the hierarchy creation.

This legal entity should be identified in the Associated Legal Entity field of the non-legal entity’s organization record and should be selected from within the existing hierarchy.

An organization that is associated with a legal entity cannot be identified in the “Organization Name” field on the proposal record, as it is not a legal entity (an example would be a university department).

If an organization is associated with “Multiple Associated Legal Entities” the checkbox should be checked on its organization record.

An organization that is associated with multiple legal entities also not be identified in the “Organization Name” fields on the proposal record, as it is not a legal entity. It will also probably not be the entity identified as the “Grantee”, although this is technically possible. (The “Tides Network” has multiple legal entities but would be unlikely to be a “Grantee”, but some university departments might be associated with multiple legal entities and they could be “Grantees”.)

A virtual organization should be created, as the Level 1 Organization, in the instance where a relationship needs to be established between organizations that are separate legal entities.

This type of organization would not be identified in either the “Organization Name” or “Grantee” fields on the proposal record.

Virtual organizations serve a valuable purpose and can be used as a data point for reporting.

Examples: Helsinki Committees, or the Tides Network

In the case of a fiscal agent, the organization designated as a fiscal agent should not be associated with the entity implementing the grant (the “Grantee”) in an organization hierarchy; it there is truly such an association, the relationship between the entities is not a “fiscal agent” type relationship.

In the case of a coalition, the organization administering the grant on behalf of a coalition should be set up as Level 1 organization in the hierarchy.

The coalition should be identified in the “Grantee” field of the proposal record on the proposal, and the organization administering the grant on behalf of the coalition should be identified in the “Organization Name” of the proposal record.

For now, the hierarchy for a coalition needs to be redone every time the coalition moved to a new administering organization. There is no functionality currently in Foundation Connect to handle this level of complexity in relationship.

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