There is a good deal of valuable research resources available on the open Web. Some of the most popular sources are those that permit anyone to find and view a tax form, called a Form 990, that all nonprofits need to file each year with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) as a tax-exempt organization. The form reveals detailed financial information, as well as other data about the nonprofits operations, funding, key executives and more. [The only kind of nonprofit that has tax exempt status by the IRS that does not have to to file Form 990 every year, are those with less than $200,000 in revenue and less than $500,000 in assets.]
Finding and Searching Form 990s
CANDID. CANDID is the organization that was created after a 2019 merger of two prominent entities that provide information in the non-profit space, GuideStar and The Foundation Center. You can search and view the actual PDF filings of the 990s on CANDID here
ProPublica Non-Profit Explorer: ProPublica's Non-Profit Explorer provides summaries of 3 million tax returns from tax-exempt organizations. You can view financial details such as executive compensation and revenue and expenses.
Citizenaudit.org. This site permits keyword searching of form 990s
Other Open Web Databases
Charity Navigator: Charity Navigator provides data on 1.8 million non-profits, with a special focus on determining the financial reputation of a charity
National Center for Charitable Statistics, A national clearinghouse of data on non-profits in the U.S. TIP: Use the Table Wizard, to build summary statistics
IRS: Tax Exempt Organization Search
Tax Exempt Organization Search helps users find information about a tax-exempt organization’s federal tax status and filings including organizations whose tax exempt status was revoked, which will occur if an organization does not file the required Form 990 returns annually for three consecutive years.
This website is managed by The Better Business Bureau (BBB). The BBB Wise Giving Alliance helps donors make informed giving decisions and promotes high standards of conduct among organizations that solicit contributions from the public. It produces reports about national charities, evaluating them against comprehensive Standards for Charity Accountability, and publishes a magazine, the Wise Giving Guide, three times a year.
BBB WGA does not rank charities but rather seeks to assist donors in making informed judgments about those that solicit their support. Evaluations are done without charge to the charity and are posted for free public access on give.org.
The National Council of Nonprofits is the only national, sector-wide group that integrates policy advocacy vertically (all levels of government) and horizontally (all branches of government). This holistic approach results in policies that support, strengthen, and protect nonprofits, especially small and midsized groups.