About : History

In a 2006 survey of U.S. international grantmakers, non-U.S. NGOs, and philanthropy service providers, the majority of respondents said they would greatly benefit from the creation of a service that could centralize and streamline the equivalency determination (ED) process.

Recognizing this need and opportunity, four of the nation's leading philanthropy organizations — Council on Foundations, InterAction, the Foundation Center, and Independent Sector — initiated a process that led to the creation of NGOsource.

In 2007, these organizations met with IRS officials to discuss their vision. Not only did the IRS representatives indicate a willingness to review a plan, but they also shared that they had envisioned creating a similar service 15 years earlier.

These founding collaborators, along with stakeholders and sector experts, conducted a rigorous process to select the right organization to build and manage the service. In 2008, they chose TechSoup Global because of its extensive global network and proven ability to offer scalable, sustainable services that facilitate philanthropy.

TechSoup Global and the Council on Foundations joined with legal partners Caplin & Drysdale and Adler & Colvin to design and operate NGOsource in compliance with U.S. legal requirements.

In 2009, this group submitted two requests in support of NGOsource: the first, a Private Letter Ruling (PLR) to the IRS; the second, a "Proposed Revision to Revenue Procedure 92-94" (PDF) to the U.S. Department of the Treasury that would authorize the creation of equivalency determination information repositories (EDIR) on which third parties can rely and would also clarify certain standards to be applied in the ED context.

We are currently working with the IRS and Treasury to obtain the regulatory approval needed to launch the service.