Question 1

What does cleargiving.io actually do?

Accepted Answer

cleargiving.io is a philanthropic decision-support platform. It helps trusts, foundations, and individual philanthropists assess charities against a custom scoring model — combining AI-assisted evidence gathering with structured human review and a full audit trail. It does not make funding decisions; it supports the people who do.

Question 2

Who is it designed for?

Accepted Answer

Primarily charitable trusts, family foundations, corporate foundations, community foundations, and the advisors who work with them. It works for any grant-maker who wants a consistent, evidence-based process for evaluating charities — with the documentation to back it up.

Question 3

Is cleargiving.io independent?

Accepted Answer

Yes. cleargiving.io does not accept commissions, placement fees, or any commercial arrangement with the charities assessed on the platform. Assessments reflect the evidence and your scoring model — not any commercial relationship. We also do not use your workspace data to train AI models.

Question 4

How does cleargiving.io differ from just using ChatGPT or another AI?

Accepted Answer

Generic AI produces generic assessments. cleargiving.io runs a structured evidence pipeline — your foundation's scoring model, criteria, and mission are baked in before any assessment begins. Sources are cited. Evidence quality is graded independently of the score. And every assessment requires human review before a funding decision is recorded. That's fundamentally different from an AI chat session.

Question 5

Is cleargiving.io regulated?

Accepted Answer

cleargiving.io is a SaaS tool, not a regulated financial service. It is not an investment advisor, charity regulator, or due diligence firm. Funding decisions remain entirely with the trustees or individuals using the platform — cleargiving.io structures and supports that process, it does not substitute for it.

Question 6

What does the AI actually do in an assessment?

Accepted Answer

The AI runs a five-stage pipeline: (1) your foundation's scoring model and mission context is loaded as the framework, (2) a research pass gathers evidence from Charity Commission filings, published accounts, and the charity's website, (3) each scoring criterion is assessed independently against the gathered evidence with a rationale and confidence level, (4) a synthesis pass produces overall findings, key questions, and flagged concerns, and (5) the output is presented for human review. You can challenge or override any score at any stage.

Question 7

Can the AI fabricate information?

Accepted Answer

We've designed the pipeline specifically to reduce this risk. Evidence must be sourced — if a criterion can't be evidenced, it's graded 'Missing', not filled with a plausible-sounding assumption. Every citation points to a real, checkable source. No assumed facts. However, no AI system is infallible, which is why human review is mandatory — not optional — before any decision is recorded.

Question 8

What sources does the AI draw on?

Accepted Answer

The Charity Commission register of charities, published annual reports and accounts, Companies House filings (where applicable), and the charity's own website. The specific sources used in each assessment are recorded and available for review.

Question 9

Can the AI score a charity that isn't registered with the Charity Commission?

Accepted Answer

Partially. For organisations without Charity Commission registration, the pipeline can still draw on Companies House, published accounts, and website content — but evidence quality will typically be lower. The assessment will reflect that, with 'Missing' or 'Limited' grades where Charity Commission data would normally contribute.

Question 10

Two foundations assessed the same charity and got different scores. Is that a bug?

Accepted Answer

No — it's working as intended. Scores reflect your foundation's specific criteria and weightings, not an objective universal standard. A family foundation prioritising youth work in one region will score a charity differently than a corporate foundation focused on employee volunteering. The difference is the point.

Question 11

Is our workspace data private?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Each workspace is isolated and encrypted at rest. No workspace's data is accessible to another organisation using the platform, and no assessment data is shared with or visible to the charities being assessed.

Question 12

Will our data be used to train AI models?

Accepted Answer

No. Your assessments, scoring model, workspace configuration, and uploaded documents are never used for AI model training — by cleargiving.io or any underlying model provider.

Question 13

What happens to our data if we cancel?

Accepted Answer

You can export your assessment data at any time. On cancellation, we retain your data for 30 days to allow for reinstatement, after which it is deleted in line with our data retention policy. Please refer to our Privacy Policy for full details.

Question 14

Is cleargiving.io GDPR compliant?

Accepted Answer

Yes. cleargiving.io is operated by makeitcount and is subject to UK GDPR. We act as data controller for account and billing data, and as data processor for workspace content. We do not sell or share personal data with third parties for commercial purposes. Full details are in our Privacy Policy.

Question 15

Are documents uploaded to the platform stored securely?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Documents uploaded to your workspace are stored encrypted and are only accessible to members of your workspace with the appropriate permissions. They are not shared with other organisations and are not used outside of your assessment pipeline.

Question 16

How do we set up our scoring model?

Accepted Answer

During onboarding, you'll define your foundation's mission, strategic priorities, geographic focus, and scoring criteria. Each criterion can be weighted to reflect what matters most to your foundation. This configuration shapes every assessment run in your workspace — you can refine it at any time.

Question 17

How many people can access our workspace?

Accepted Answer

That depends on your plan. Workspaces support multiple roles: foundation admins, trustees, and analysts, each with different levels of access. Admins manage the workspace and configuration; trustees can assess and review; analysts can contribute evidence and documents. Invite-based access keeps your workspace secure.

Question 18

Can we try cleargiving.io before committing?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Request access and we'll arrange a demo and trial period. We'd rather you see the platform working with a real assessment before you decide.

Question 19

Do you work with overseas foundations or funders outside the UK?

Accepted Answer

cleargiving.io is primarily built around UK grant-making — the Charity Commission register, UK Companies House, and UK charity law. Non-UK organisations can use the platform, but the evidence pipeline will be less comprehensive for charities not registered in England & Wales. We're actively exploring expanded coverage.

Question 20

Can we assess the same charity multiple times?

Accepted Answer

Yes — and we'd encourage it. Repeat assessments let you track changes in governance, financial health, and impact evidence over time. The platform maintains a history of all assessments, so you can see how a charity has developed across grant cycles.

Common questions, straight answers.

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