GUIDESTAR: A Free, Public Database of the Federal 990 Tax Returns of Non-profit Organizations

Guidestar is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization that was founded in 1994. Its mission is “to revolutionize philanthropy and non-profit practice by providing information that advances transparency, enables users to make better decisions, and encourages charitable giving.” Guidestar accomplishes its mission by providing a free public website, www.guidestar.org.

As the nation’s leading source of financial information of non-profit organizations, Guidestar provides visitors to its website with information about the programs and finances of 1.5 million non-profit organizations with revenues greater than $1 million. It provides visitors with the actual Federal 990 tax return that each non-profit must file each year. In 2006, there were 7.9 million visitors to the Guidestar website.

For a fee, Guidestar provides instantaneous reports detailing the financial information of specific non-profit organizations. These reports provide information on the non-profit’s income, assets and expenses. The reports also provide easy to read charts and graphs that reveal trends in the non-profit’s finances.

As philanthropy has become a $300 billion a year business, Guidestar promotes the effective allocation of society’s resources. It believes that the most effective decisions are made when donors, foundations, researchers, educators, governing agencies, and the media use the high quality information provided by Guidestar. By gathering information and securing the collaboration of non-profit organizations, foundations, and government agencies, Guidestar has created a one-stop philanthropy information kiosk.


Next Week’s Blog: How to analyze the Federal 990 tax return of non-profit organizations.