Partner Due Diligence Policy

"bee Charity" Verein (“BeeCharity”, “we”, “us”, “our”) is a Swiss association (Verein) with its seat in Dübendorf, Canton of Zurich, registered in the Commercial Register Office of the Canton of Zurich under UID CHE-457.076.818. We rely on partnerships to deliver our mission — from corporate supporters who fund and champion our environmental and humanitarian work, to healthcare partners who help us deliver our children's healthcare programme, to the local delivery partners who carry out our coastal cleanup projects. Who we choose to associate with says a great deal about who we are.

The purpose of this Partner Due Diligence Policy is to set out how BeeCharity assesses, approves, monitors and, where necessary, exits relationships with the organisations we work with, so that every partnership advances our mission, protects the people we serve, safeguards charitable funds, and upholds the trust that donors, beneficiaries, validation bodies and the public place in us. Due diligence is not a bureaucratic hurdle; it is how we make sure that a partner’s conduct will never bring harm to a child, misuse a donation, damage the environment, or discredit our name.

This policy explains how we select partners and the checks we carry out before entering a relationship — covering legal verification, financial due diligence, safeguarding, environmental standards, reputation and conflicts of interest — and how we monitor partners over time and suspend or terminate a relationship where needed. It is written to be suitable both for corporate partnerships and for healthcare partners, and it reflects the higher scrutiny that some partnerships demand. It was formally adopted by the board and is published in the spirit of transparency; it describes the standards we hold ourselves to. Throughout, our joint signing authority — under which any binding commitment requires two authorised representatives acting together — ensures that no partnership can be entered into by any one person alone.

We choose partners on the basis of genuine alignment with our charitable mission and values, and on their ability to work with us safely, lawfully and effectively. A partnership must serve our purpose — protecting the environment and supporting the health and welfare of children and communities — and not merely provide funding or profile. We would rather decline a partnership than accept one that sits uneasily with our values, however attractive the resources on offer.

For all prospective partners we consider a common set of questions: who the organisation is and who ultimately owns or controls it; what it does and whether its activities are compatible with our mission; why it wishes to work with us and what each side expects to gain; and whether association with it could expose our beneficiaries, our funds or our reputation to risk. We apply a risk-based approach, so that the depth of due diligence is proportionate to the nature, value and sensitivity of the proposed partnership: a small local recycling partner for a beach cleanup warrants a lighter touch than a major corporate sponsor or a healthcare partner treating children.

Certain kinds of organisation warrant particular caution or are incompatible with our mission — for example those whose core business conflicts with our environmental purpose (such as significant polluters), those engaged in activities harmful to children, or those whose conduct would expose us to legal or reputational damage. Where a proposed partner falls into a sensitive category, we escalate the assessment to the board and require an explicit, recorded decision. In every case, the decision to enter a partnership that binds the association is taken under our joint signing authority, with two authorised representatives acting together, so that partner selection is never the act of a single individual.

Before entering a partnership, we take reasonable steps to verify that the prospective partner is a genuine, lawfully constituted organisation and that the people we are dealing with have authority to act for it. Establishing who a partner really is protects us against fraud, against inadvertently supporting unlawful activity, and against being used to launder funds or lend legitimacy to a bad actor.

Proportionate to the partnership, our legal verification typically includes confirming the partner’s legal name, form and registration (for example a commercial-register or equivalent entry, and a tax or business identification number), the address of its principal place of business, and the identity of the individuals authorised to represent and sign for it. For more significant partnerships we also seek to understand the ownership and control of the organisation, including its beneficial owners, so that we are not dealing with a front for undisclosed interests. Where a partner operates in a regulated sector, we check that it holds the licences or authorisations its activities require.

Healthcare partners attract heightened legal verification, because they may treat or care for children and vulnerable people. For such partners we seek confirmation of the relevant professional registrations, licences and accreditations of the organisation and, where appropriate, of the key practitioners involved, and we confirm that they are authorised to provide the services in question in the jurisdiction where they operate. Across all partnerships, we also carry out proportionate screening against applicable sanctions, terrorism-financing and watch-lists, and we will not partner with any organisation or individual subject to relevant sanctions or credibly linked to unlawful activity. Any personal data gathered during legal verification is handled in accordance with our Privacy Policy and applicable Swiss data-protection law.

Because our partnerships often involve the flow of charitable funds — whether a corporate partner funding a project, or payments to a delivery or healthcare partner delivering one — we carry out financial due diligence proportionate to the amounts and risks involved. The aim is to satisfy ourselves that a partner is financially sound enough to do what it promises, that funds will be used for the agreed charitable purpose, and that the relationship does not expose us to fraud or misuse of money.

For funding partners, this includes understanding the source of the funds being offered, so that we do not knowingly accept money derived from unlawful activity or from a source incompatible with our values, consistent with our Responsible Fundraising and Donation and Refund policies. For partners we pay to deliver services or projects, this includes forming a reasonable view of their financial stability and integrity, agreeing clear terms on how funds will be used and accounted for, and — for larger or higher-risk arrangements — seeking financial statements or other evidence of sound financial management and appropriate internal controls.

We structure the financial aspects of partnerships to protect charitable funds: we prefer traceable payments over cash, we tie the release of funds to agreed milestones or deliverables where practical, and we require partners to keep proper records and to account transparently for how our funds are spent, with the right for us to seek evidence and, for significant grants, to verify it. All payments and financial commitments to partners are subject to our joint signing authority and to the controls in our Anti-Fraud, Bribery and Corruption Policy, including segregation of duties and dual authorisation, so that no partnership can be used as a route to misappropriate funds.

Safeguarding is a non-negotiable element of our due diligence, and it applies with particular force to healthcare partners and to any partner whose personnel may come into contact with children or vulnerable people through our work. We will not enter or continue a partnership that puts the safety or welfare of a child or vulnerable person at risk, regardless of any other benefit the partnership might bring.

Where a prospective partner’s activities involve contact with children or vulnerable people — as is typically the case for our healthcare partners — we assess whether that partner has appropriate safeguarding arrangements in place before we proceed. Proportionate to the partnership, this includes checking that the partner has a safeguarding or child-protection policy consistent with the standards in our own Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy, that it carries out appropriate background checks and training for personnel in roles of trust, that it operates safe practices such as avoiding unnecessary one-to-one situations, and that it has clear procedures for reporting and responding to safeguarding concerns. We also confirm how safeguarding concerns arising in the partnership would be escalated to us.

For healthcare partners specifically, we expect professional standards of care, informed consent appropriate to treating children, confidentiality, and compliance with applicable medical and safeguarding regulation in the jurisdiction concerned. We embed safeguarding expectations into partnership agreements, require partners to notify us promptly of any safeguarding incident or allegation connected with our joint work, and reserve the right to suspend a partnership immediately where a safeguarding concern arises. Any safeguarding concern is handled under our Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy, and nothing in a partnership arrangement overrides our overriding duty to act in the best interests of a child or vulnerable person.

As an organisation whose core mission includes environmental protection, we hold our partners to environmental standards consistent with our values, and we are alert to the reputational and ethical risk of associating with organisations whose conduct harms the environment. A partnership that funded our beach cleanups while the partner itself caused serious environmental damage elsewhere would undermine the very purpose of our work, and we assess partners with that firmly in mind.

When considering a corporate or delivery partner, we take reasonable steps to understand the partner’s environmental conduct and record — for example whether its core activities are compatible with our environmental mission, whether it has a credible approach to its own environmental impact, and whether it has been subject to significant environmental sanctions, prosecutions or controversies. We are especially cautious about partnerships that could be used by a partner to “greenwash” its reputation — that is, to present itself as environmentally responsible by association with us while continuing environmentally harmful practices — and we will decline such partnerships. This directly reflects the anti-greenwashing commitment in our Responsible Fundraising and Environmental Responsibility policies.

For delivery partners involved in our projects, such as the local recycling and waste-handling partners who process the material collected in our coastal cleanups, we expect adherence to responsible environmental practices, including proper, lawful handling and disposal of waste rather than dumping or uncontrolled burning, consistent with the beach-cleanup standards in our Environmental Responsibility Policy. Where appropriate we build environmental expectations into partnership agreements and monitor them over the life of the relationship, so that our partners help us protect the environment rather than compromise it.

Our reputation is one of our most valuable assets, built on the trust of donors, beneficiaries, volunteers and validation partners, and it can be damaged by association with an organisation of poor standing. We therefore carry out proportionate reputation checks on prospective partners, so that we understand how a partner is regarded and whether association with it could harm the people we serve or the confidence others place in us.

Proportionate to the partnership, reputation checks may include reviewing publicly available information about the organisation and its leadership — such as news coverage, regulatory findings, litigation, and credible reports of misconduct — and considering whether the partner has been involved in controversies relating to matters such as corruption, human rights, labour practices, safeguarding failures, environmental harm, or discrimination. For higher-value or higher-profile partnerships, particularly major corporate sponsorships and healthcare partners, we conduct more thorough checks and, where warranted, seek independent or professional information.

A reputational concern does not automatically rule out a partnership, but it must be understood, weighed honestly, and, where significant, escalated to the board for an explicit decision that is recorded. We consider not only the concern itself but how the partner has responded to it. We reserve the right to decline any partnership, or to withdraw from one, where we judge that association would be inconsistent with our values or damaging to our reputation, and we would always place the trust of our supporters and the welfare of our beneficiaries above the benefit of a particular relationship.

Partnerships can give rise to conflicts of interest — for example where a board member or a connected person has an interest in a prospective partner, or where a partnership could be seen to benefit an individual associated with BeeCharity rather than the charity itself. Left unmanaged, such conflicts can distort our judgement, expose us to allegations of impropriety, and undermine confidence in our decisions, so we check for them as an integral part of due diligence.

Before a partnership is approved, we ask whether anyone involved in the decision, or any connected person, has a personal, financial or other interest in the prospective partner, and any such interest must be declared and recorded in accordance with our Conflicts of Interest Policy. A person with a material conflict takes no part in assessing or approving that partnership. Because BeeCharity currently has a two-member board and operates under joint signing authority, a conflict affecting one board member cannot simply be resolved by the other deciding alone; in such cases the matter is deferred, referred to the wider membership, or supported by independent input, as set out in our Conflicts of Interest Policy.

We are equally alert to conflicts on the partner’s side and to arrangements that could amount to improper influence, and gifts, hospitality or inducements offered in connection with a partnership are treated strictly in accordance with our Anti-Fraud, Bribery and Corruption Policy. No partnership may be entered into as a result of, or in exchange for, an improper advantage to any individual. Recording how conflicts have been identified and managed protects both the association and the individuals involved, and demonstrates that partnership decisions are taken solely in the charity’s interest.

Due diligence does not end when a partnership begins. We monitor our partners over the life of a relationship, proportionate to its nature and risk, so that a partner who met our standards at the outset continues to meet them, and so that we become aware promptly of any change that could affect the safety of beneficiaries, the proper use of funds, the environment, or our reputation.

Monitoring typically includes maintaining ongoing contact with the partner, reviewing progress and the delivery of what was agreed, checking that funds have been used for the agreed purpose (including seeking evidence or reports for significant grants), and staying alert to any safeguarding, environmental, financial, legal or reputational concerns that arise. For higher-risk partnerships — including major corporate partners and healthcare partners — we carry out more structured periodic reviews and may re-run key checks at appropriate intervals or when circumstances change. We require partners to inform us promptly of material changes, such as a change of ownership or control, a serious incident, a safeguarding allegation, or an insolvency event.

The board has overall oversight of significant partnerships and receives information about their performance and about any concerns. We keep proportionate records of our due diligence, our decisions, and our monitoring, stored securely and handled in accordance with our Privacy and Data Retention policies, so that we can demonstrate that partnerships have been entered into and managed responsibly. Where monitoring identifies a concern, we act on it — seeking assurances, requiring corrective action, or, where necessary, moving to suspension or termination as described below.

Where a concern arises about a partner during a relationship, we may suspend some or all of the partnership as a precautionary measure while we look into the matter. Suspension allows us to protect beneficiaries, funds and our reputation quickly, without prejudging the outcome, and is not in itself a finding that the partner has done wrong.

We will consider suspension where, for example, a safeguarding concern or allegation arises in connection with the partnership, where there is a credible indication of fraud, corruption or misuse of funds, where a partner appears to be in serious breach of the partnership agreement or of our standards, or where a significant legal, environmental or reputational concern emerges that we need to investigate. During a suspension we may pause payments, halt joint activities, or restrict the partner’s association with our name, as appropriate to the concern. Where children or vulnerable people may be at risk, we will act immediately and treat the matter under our Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy.

When we suspend a partnership we will, so far as is appropriate, explain our concerns to the partner and give them a fair opportunity to respond, while making clear that our overriding priority is the protection of beneficiaries, funds and reputation. We will then investigate proportionately and decide whether to lift the suspension (with or without additional safeguards), to require corrective action, or to move to termination. Decisions to suspend and to resume a partnership that binds the association are taken under our governance arrangements and, where they involve binding commitments, our joint signing authority.

We will end a partnership where it can no longer continue consistently with our mission, our values, the safety of our beneficiaries, the proper use of charitable funds, or our reputation. Termination is a serious step, but we will not hesitate to take it where it is the right thing to do, and we regard the willingness to walk away from an unsuitable partnership as an essential part of responsible due diligence.

Grounds for termination include, for example, a serious or unresolved safeguarding failure; established fraud, bribery, corruption or misuse of funds; a serious breach of the partnership agreement or of our standards that is not remedied; conduct by the partner — such as significant environmental harm, unlawful activity, or serious reputational misconduct — that is incompatible with our values; or the emergence of a conflict or circumstance that makes continued association improper. We will generally seek to end a partnership in an orderly way, in accordance with the terms of any agreement, protecting beneficiaries and any charitable funds involved and recovering misapplied funds where appropriate; but where beneficiaries are at risk or the misconduct is grave, we will terminate immediately.

Decisions to terminate a partnership that binds the association are taken under our joint signing authority, with two authorised representatives acting together, and significant terminations are considered by the board. Where termination arises from misconduct such as fraud, corruption or a safeguarding failure, we will act in accordance with our Anti-Fraud and Safeguarding policies, including reporting matters to the relevant authorities where required and cooperating fully with them. We keep a record of the reasons for termination, and we will decline to work again with an organisation whose conduct has shown it to be an unsuitable partner.

This policy was formally adopted by the board and is reviewed at least annually, or sooner if there is a relevant change in Swiss or applicable local law, in the requirements of the funders and validation programmes we rely on, in recognised good practice on partnership and due diligence, or in the nature and scale of our partnerships. As BeeCharity grows and takes on larger corporate partnerships and more healthcare partners, we will strengthen the checks described here accordingly.

Any material change to this policy is approved under our joint signing authority, with two authorised representatives acting together. The version and status shown at the top of this page reflect its current standing as a policy formally adopted by the board, and we will update the version history when it is adopted or amended. This policy operates alongside our Conflicts of Interest, Anti-Fraud, Safeguarding, Responsible Fundraising, Environmental Responsibility, Privacy and Data Retention policies, which together form the framework within which all partnerships are assessed and managed.

If you have any question about this policy, if you represent an organisation interested in partnering with us, or if you have a concern about one of our partnerships, please contact us and we will be glad to help. Every partnership enquiry is assessed against the standards set out above.

Partnership enquiries: beecharity1@gmail.com

Safeguarding concerns: beecharity1@gmail.com

Fraud and integrity concerns: beecharity1@gmail.com

Postal address: "bee Charity" Verein, c/o Jasmin Semra Gabrielli, Bahnhofstrasse 33, 8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland (please mark correspondence “For the attention of the Board — Partnerships”)