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INTERNATIONAL GIVING BY CORPORATIONSinstrumentality would be an entity furthering the purposes financed by a governmentunit, such as a school or university.To document the classification of an organization as an instrumentality of agovernment, a foundation manager is advised to obtain the following information:• A copy of the document by which the organization was created (termedarticles of organization), describing its purposes.• A copy of documentation stating that the organization is exempt from taxation.In some cases, this documentation will consist of a certificate from anappropriate ministry. When the organization is exempt from taxationbecause it belongs to a general class of organizations, a written statementfrom the taxation authorities acknowledging tax exemption is recommended.In systems where this is unobtainable, a legal opinion describingthe nexus between this particular grantee organization and the classificationof tax-exempt organizations will be satisfactory.• Further documentation provided by the organization’s legal counsel inaffidavit form that details the source(s) of the organization’s operatingfunds 32The term public international organizations 33 is used to describe internationalorganizations that are composed of governments as members and are designatedas international organizations by executive order. 34 Examples of theseorganizations are the United Nations, the International Chamber of Commerce,the World Bank, and the World Health Organization. Should a private foundationseek to make a grant to an organization composed of governments but notso designated, it is advised to follow the procedure for establishing that theorganization is an instrumentality of a government, as summarized above.An American private foundation should not automatically assume that agovernmental unit’s use of a proposed grant will be for a charitable purpose.This must be established by documents supporting the grant application.Grants to governmental units are generally made for the purpose of carryingout educational, charitable, or social programs. The fact that the grant is made toa governmental unit supervising the pursuit of these activities is not necessarilyconclusive, and care should be taken to ascertain that the particular grant supportsthe stated charitable purpose.U.S. law provides that expenditure responsibility is not required if the grantis made to “a foreign government, or any agency or instrumentality thereof, oran international organization designated as such by [e]xecutive [o]rder . . . , evenif it is not” a tax-exempt charitable organization. 35 Nonetheless, this body of lawalso states that “any grant to an organization referred to in this subparagraphmust be made exclusively for charitable purposes.” 3632 Reg. § 53.4945-5(a)(5).33 Reg. § 53.4945-5(a)(4)(iii).34 22 U.S.C. § 288.35 Reg. § 53.4945-5(a)(4)(iii).36 Id. 574