Background Information: Non-profit Companies
There are few free sources that evaluate non-profit company activities, so non-profit company research can be challenging. Begin your research with the following tools and techniques. And be sure to reach out to librarians if you're not finding enough information for your assignment.
Let's imagine your non-profit company is St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Non-profit company research requires a search strategy that is a bit different than publicly-traded companies. You would not find any company information about St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in the Gale Business: Insights database. You'll need to use the recommended non-profit company websites listed below. You'll also need to use business articles to locate credible information about your company's business activities.
The first image below shows what free non-profit company information is available when you search Guidestar's website. In this example, we searched by company name. This is all the information you can access for free. To see full company information, you'll need to create a free account.
Charity Navigator provides much more company information and data without the need to create an account.
- GuideStar: the National Database of Nonprofit OrganizationsNon-profit company information. Free but will need to create an account.
- Charity NavigatorDirectory of non-profit company information.
- BBB Charity Reports IndexProfiles of charities/nonprofits, including financials and contact information.
- CANDID (formerly The Foundation Center)Primarily a U.S. and world grant directory, The Foundation Center also provides access to non-profit 990 filings and annual Foundation Center reports on the state of philanthropy.
- Citizen Audit10 years of disclosures for every charity in America.
- IdealistA Directory of over 77,000 nonprofits and volunteer organizations worldwide.
- ProPublica Nonprofit ExplorerSummaries of tax documents filed by nonprofits and charities, plus view historical filings from 2001 to present.
Still not able to find any background information about your company? Ask your professor or librarians for help.
How-To Video
The tutorial video below will introduce you to researching non-profits and new and/or smaller companies. Note that this video was created during Penfield Library's pandemic closure. Penfield is open for visits, and current hours are available on the Penfield website.