How to Find IRS Forms Filed by Non-Profits
Every tax-exempt organization in the United States must file the proper paperwork with the Internal Revenue Service. This includes 990 or 990-EZ forms for public charities or the 990-PF form for private foundations and organizations. There are a number of sources where information from these forms is available to the public. Most are free, while others charge a fee that can include further analysis and interpretation.
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Things You'll Need
- Full or partial organization name and location
- Access to the Internet or a library
Instructions
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Search the IRS online database for Publication 78. This is the database of charities and other organizations that are eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions. You may search by full or partial organization name, city, state, country or IRS deductibility code. The searches are free.
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Check the Foundation Directory website. You can search its database of 990 and 990-PF forms or the Foundation Finder database by entire or partial organization name, state, zip code or employer identification number. You may also search the 990 and 990-PF database by fiscal year. Each database yields basic contact and financial information about one organization or a list of organizations, depending on the search term. The searches are free.
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Search the Economic Research Institute database. You will need a full or partial organization name. The database contains information from more than 2 million 990, 990-PF and 990-EZ forms filed by tax-exempt organizations. The searches are free.
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Search the Idealist.org database. This database contains information by name, nonprofit or government status, area of focus or location---country, state, city or postal code. The information can be retrieved in English, French and Portuguese. The searches are free.
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Search the Better Business Bureau database of charities. You may search for charities in the United States and Canada. Searches may be conducted by full or partial charity name, with an option for modifying the search by address. Searches are free.
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Search the Foundation Center online directory. This proprietary database is the online version of the comprehensive directory published by the Foundation Center. This database provides detailed information about the charities and nonprofit organizations contained within it, and it requires a paid subscription for access.
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Search the GuideStar database. You may search by full or partial organization name or by city and state. Basic information is available at no charge. More detailed reports are provided to paid subscribers.
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Search through hard copies of either the Encyclopedia of Associations: National Organizations of the U.S. or the National Directory of Nonprofit Organizations. The former provides detailed information on more than 22,000 listed organizations. The latter contains brief profiles of more than 260,000 organizations. Each volume is usually available as a reference resource at local libraries.
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Tips & Warnings
Your local library may be a Cooperating Collection for the Foundation Center. If so, many of the resources listed above that require paid access will be available for free for patrons of that library.
Search more than one database or volume. Each resource contains different organizations and different information about each organization.
For searches by name, make sure you search for the correct name. Some organizations have similar sounding names and searching under the wrong name could yield incorrect results.
Many nonprofit organizations may not be included in the IRS database: churches and affiliated organizations with annual revenues less than $5,000, subordinates of a larger organization, government entities, and tribal governments and organizations that have not filed tax returns.
