How to Access Guidestar to examine IRS Form 990 filings by nonprofits throughout the United States

  1. Go to http://www.guidestar.org
  2. On the right hand side, click on "sign up today".
  3. Create an account by typing in your email address, choosing a password, and answering some background information. There is no cost to signing up and Guidestar will not contact you unless you check the boxes asking to be placed on their mailing list.
  4. In the search field in the upper left corner, type in the legal name of the nonprofit you would like to research
  5. Click on "go"
  6. If there are a number of organizations with a similar name you will reach one of two screens:
    a. a more detailed search screen: put in the city and state where the nonprofit is locate; ignore the other fields; click on "search"; you should now get the next screen.
    b. a list of nonprofits showing symbols for what type of information is available on Guidestar; the city, state, and zip code of the nonprofit; and a one-sentence description of its work.
  7. Click on the name of the organization.
  8. A screen will appear that shows a snapshot summary of the organization's latest IRS filing and its employer information number.
  9. On the left, click on any of the items under "Guidestar Plus:" summary, mission & programs, financials, board of directors, or Form 990.
  10. If you click on Form 990, a screen will open showing the Tax Years that are available online. Clicking on the PDF image of the tax year you are interested in will download that form to your computer.
  11. Open the file using Adobe Acrobat Reader. If you don't have this program, you can download it free of charge at http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readermain.html. Click on the symbol that says "Get Adobe Reader."
  12. Depending on your computer and operating system, the PDF file may be automatically saved onto your hard drive or you may need to manually save it.