Research IRS 990 form

Have you ever wanted to learn more about a non-profit or charity from the IRS 990 forms, but didn't know where to look? Well I'm here to let you know about three great places to start so you can start doing your research. You probably want to know, how do I find a 990 form? These questions and more will be answered. Remember it's your right to know how a non-profit's money is being spent so you can be sure that the organization is using it's money wisely and you can support it or not. These are valuable tools to ensure that aid and support is used properly.

First what is a 990 form?

A 990 is the IRS form used by non-profits and charity groups to report their financial status.

Why are they important?

For a few reasons, one because they can let you know what percentage a charity's expenditures are actually going towards causes and what percentage is going towards overheard and salaries. It also provides you as a consumer a window into what non-profits including some universities are doing with all of their money.

Ok - now that I know that it's important how do I research the 990's?

There are three services that I will highlight that you should consider. All three of these have basic searches of 990 forms for free so you should check them out before paying anyone anything to get you these forms. It is your right to know this information.

1. Guidestar

Guidestar.org is one of the most established and well regarded services available to researchers.  It has both a free service as well as a premium subscription.  If you are doing detailed research on non profits this certainly would be my first pick and the premium subscription is well worth the money to dig into the financial details.  However if you are just looking for 990s - then the free service is all you need.  Guidestar is very easy to use, powerful and one of the most up to date services around.  It is my top pick. 

2.  The Foundation Center

The Foundation Center has it's own 990 searching tool that is extremely fast and powerful.  The Foundation has been around since 1956 so their accuracy and commitment to non-profits has long been established.  They even have 5 regional offices in the United States as well as global libraries in which you can do even more in depth research.  Their focus is more for grant-makers and big time philanthropists but their basic 990 search is worth a look if Guidestar doesn't do it for you. 

3.  The Economic Research Institute

The Economic Research Institute has been around since the mid 1980's and offers a very basic search.  For some reason it doesn't always seem to bring up the latest results like The Foundation or Guidestar - but it does seem to go back further in time.  Again their search is very simple and having an organization's EIN number will help with results. 

That's all there is too it - check out these website and find your 990 forms.  Good luck researching!.