GuideStar

Guidestar's philosophy is that the availability of information on nonprofits will lead to a more effective and efficient non-profit marketplace, where donors will give with confidence and charities will be motivated to improve operations. To that end, Guidestar maintains a database of charitable organizations where one can look up a charity by name, or generate a list of charities by type, focus, location, or size. The database includes all organizations listed in the IRS Business Master File (BMF). Additional information on many charities is found in reports the charity provides Guidestar, or through the Form 990 annual reports that the charity submits to the IRS. The Guidestar reports are in a uniform format, for easy charity-to-charity comparison. Reports include information on mission and goals, programs, financials, and board members as well as a link to the organization's Web page. Guidestar also features staff-written articles on nonprofits, news feeds through Lexis/Nexis, and information on online giving and volunteer solicitations. Thanks to Guidestar the desire to help should not be squelched by a lack of information.