How to Investigate Nonprofit Companies

Nonprofit status is granted to companies and charities because of their work is supposed to benefit society. But sometimes even the most altruistic motivations can be mislead by greed or ineptitude.

While most charities are really established to help others, some serve as nothing more than quick money-making scams. Others are so badly managed that a majority of the donated money ends up in the pockets of contractors and consultants, not those who need it.

If you want to know more about a nonprofit organization you should inspect their 990 tax form. The 990 form requires the organization to their income, expenses, assets, and highest paid employees among other things.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Computer with Internet Connection

1. Find the full name and address of the nonprofit organization or charity you want to investigate. Most reputable NPOs will have a website with all of this information. You do not need to know the full name and address, but it will help make your search more accurate.

2. Visit the website of the Foundation Center to use their 990 Finder application. This can be found at http://foundationcenter.org/findfunders/990finder/

3. Enter the name of the organization. Foundation Center will find all the 990 tax forms they have on file for that organization going back several years.

4. Click on the 990 tax form of the specific year you are interested in. You will now open a PDF file of the official IRS tax form filed by the nonprofit organization.

Resources

• Bastard Measure: Investigative Journalism Resources