Penn State University Libraries - Researching Nonprofit Organizations

Non-Profit Organization Profiles and Financials

Hoovers: provides detailed Fact Sheets that include: address & website, company overview, history, people, products/operations, industry, competitors, news, and financials for over 13,000 U.S. and 2,0000 international companies. Includes public and private companies and non-profit organizations.

Note: .org website/annual report: Visit your organization's website for detailed descriptions of their mission and activities. Typically, the Annual Report is posted at the website. Annual Reports include assessments of past performance, strategic vision for the future, and detailed financials.

Charity Navigator: evaluates the financial health of over 5,500 of America's largest charities and issues a rating (from 0 stars to 4 stars) based on how responsibly they function day-to-day and how well they are positioned to sustain their programs over time.

GuideStar: is a comprehensive source of non-profit organization reports and IRS Forms 990. Includes 1.8 million IRS-recognized tax-exempt organizations, 5.4 million Form 990 images, profiles of 6.6 million individuals in the nonprofit sector. A free registration is required to access some data. A fee is charged for in-depth analyses and compensation research.

National Center for Charitable Statistics (NCCS): is the national repository of data on the non-profit sector in the United States. Its mission is to develop and disseminate high quality data on nonprofit organizations and their activities for use in research on the relationships between the non-profit sector, government, the commercial sector, and the broader civil society. Working closely with the IRS and other government agencies, private sector service organizations, and the scholarly community, NCCS builds compatible national, state, and regional databases and develops uniform standards for reporting on the activities of charitable organizations.

Foundation Center: If your organization is a foundation, click on FIND FUNDERS,/em>. Look for a profile of your foundation in the Foundation Finder section, and find your foundation's Form 990 in the 990 Finder section.

FAQs About the Exempt Organization Public Disclosure Requirements (IRS.gov): Review this FAQ for answers to these questions and more:

• In general, what public disclosure requirements apply to tax-exempt organizations?
• What disclosure laws apply to private foundations?
• Is a tax-exempt organization required to disclose the names or addresses of its contributors?
• What disclosures is a charitable organization required to make to its donors?
• What disclosures must an exempt organization, other than a charity, make to its donors?