Just looking at the IRS Form 990 annually filed by the nation's nonprofit organizations can be an intimidating experience, particularly for those trying to glean useful information from this form. Peter Swords, former Executive Director of the Nonprofit Coordinating Committee of New York, has addressed this difficulty by writing "How to Read the IRS Form 990 & Find Out What It Means."
The article offers a list of the ten most significant pieces of information that will be found on the Form 990 and shows exactly where to find the information. The ten items of information are:
- Identity and tax status.
- How much income did the filer receive and from what sources?
- How did the filer’s total expenses break down between program, management and fundraising expenses?
- What can you tell from net assets?
- What kinds of programs does the filer run and how much does it spend on them?
- Who are the filer’s board members and how much does its top staff get paid?
- Did the filer initiate some new activity, change its processes for governing or engage in any excess benefit transactions?
- Did the filer engage in any self-dealing transactions during the year?
- Is the filer a private foundation?
- Does the filer lobby?
In addition, the article offers some background on and explanation of the Form 990 and explains why this document is important for public accountability purposes.
This article is also available as an expanded 125-page publication entitled "Form 990: A Detailed Examination" (available in Microsoft Word format).
The State Attorney General's Office of California also has prepared instructions for detailed review of a Form 990.
For other books and articles containing information on the Form 990, try searching our Catalog of Nonprofit Literature (CNL), the Center's bibliographic database. You could start searching on the subjects "Tax returns" or "Nonprofit organizations--accounting".
Many of the books and articles found through CNL can be located in Center Libraries and Cooperating Collections. It is best to call ahead to verify a specific library's holdings. All articles, but not books, can be obtained through interlibrary loan at your local Cooperating Collection.
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