Trusted Nonprofit Intelligence

G U I D E S TA R E N T E R P R I S E S O L U T I O N S
“GuideStar runs the definitive Web site for easily searching nonprofit information.
GuideStar Charity Check was very useful in my giving activities because I did not have to wade through
... IRS Publication 78 and all its amendments to validate a charity’s nonprofit status.”

greatnonprofits.org, user review

“GuideStar has been a valuable part of the Firstgiving service. The GuideStar database provides
confidence to fundraisers and donors using Firstgiving that they are helping the cause that they care
about. We have found the availability and quality of the service to be outstanding. “

mark sutton, president and ceo, firstgiving

“GuideStar’s data service is a quality addition to the portfolio of data that we display for our clients.
Sales people are better prepared for meetings with clients that are not in the public sector. Traditionally,
it has been difficult to get this information, particularly in health care. The number of public hospitals
is very small, and obtaining information on non-public hospitals has been very difficult.
GuideStar is filling a gap that is very important to sales people.”

bruce brien, ceo, stratascope inc.

GuideStar Enterprise Solutions gives you the nonprofit
intelligence you need and the tools to make that infor-
mation work for you. Through GuideStar Enterprise
Solutions, you gain access to a wealth of information
about U.S.-based nonprofit (NPO) organizations.
The GuideStar database provides unmatched breadth
and depth: it is the nation’s most comprehensive source
of information about U.S. nonprofits that the Internal
Revenue Service (IRS) has declared tax exempt under
Section 501(c) of the U.S. tax code. Unlike watchdog
groups that focus on a limited group of organizations,
GuideStar compiles information about every public
charity, every private foundation, and every other
501(c) organization–more than 1.7 million nonprofits
in all. In addition to financial data, the GuideStar
database contains qualitative information about the
missions, management teams, and programs of hundreds
of thousands of nonprofits.

G U I D E S TA R E N T E R P R I S E S O LU T I O N S
Data Sources
The GuideStar database includes information
from the following data sources:
IRS Business Master File (BMF): The IRS BMF lists
all tax-exempt organizations registered with the IRS.
IRS Publication 78: Also known as the Cumulative List of
Organizations, IRS Publication 78 is a quarterly publication
that lists all organizations to which charitable contributions
are tax deductible.
IRS Forms 990, 990-EZ, and 990-PF: Financial information
from these annual information returns is digitized and then
uploaded into the GuideStar database, providing the
most-up-to-date information available on tax-exempt nonprofits.
GuideStar has more than 2 million digitized IRS forms—
several years’ worth of Forms 990, 990-EZ, and 990-PF
records for most organizations. Approximately 300,000 forms
are digitized annually.
GuideStar Exchange Program: GuideStar is the only U.S.
organization that collects, manages, and publishes illuminating
qualitative information from more than 127,000 charitable
organizations. Details concerning NPO missions, programs,
needs, and volunteer opportunities allow nonprofits to “tell their
story” by completing the GuideStar Exchange Form. Nonprofits
use the Exchange Form to add video and logos to create more
engaging GuideStar reports.
GuideStar Business Master File (BMF): The GuideStar BMF
contains all organizations in the IRS BMF as well as churches
and other tax-exempt nonprofits that do not appear in the IRS
BMF because they are not required to register with the IRS.
Critical nonprofit information—including name, address, EIN,
gross income, assets, ruling year, fiscal year, mission, whether the
organization files a Form 990, 990-EZ, or 990-PF, and NTEE
(National Taxonomy of Exempt Entities) code—is housed within
the GuideStar BMF. The GuideStar BMF is refreshed regularly
with IRS BMF updates and information nonprofits voluntarily
provide through the GuideStar Exchange Program.

“GuideStar Charity Check is used systematically by American Electric Power’s seven operating units in 11
states to ensure consistent and rigorous pre-grant due diligence is conducted for the American Electric
Power Foundation and for corporate giving. Charity Check’s ability to quickly verify charitable status and
identify supporting organizations allowed the AEP Foundation to efficiently process and distribute more
than $11 million in grants in 2007. Having vetted these grantees through Charity Check, we have a
documented, date and time stamped report verifying this important due diligence step. Charity Check
has helped the AEP Foundation maintain a reasonable turnaround time for distributions–managing the
interval between application receipt and final distribution is much more predictable thanks to the
reliability of Charity Check’s verification solution.”
community relations manager, american electric power

G U I D E S TA R E N T E R P R I S E S O LU T I O N S

More than 7,000 businesses
now rely on GuideStar’s
nonprofit intelligence to
drive their research, analysis,
and due-diligence efforts.
GuideStar at a Glance
- Founded in 1994
- More than 1.7 million nonprofits in the GuideStar database
- More than 127,000 members in the GuideStar Exchange
that voluntarily contribute additional information
beyond IRS listings
- More than 3.7 million Form 990 images in the GuideStar database
- More than 2 million digitized IRS records in the
GuideStar database
- 10.8 million annual visits to the GuideStar Web site
- More than 1.2 million registered users
- 246,865 GuideStar Newletters suscribers
- Executives who are key members of sector initiatives and
advisory committees, including the National Center for
Charitable Statistics and the Panel on the Nonprofit Sector
- Honored with InfoCommerce’s Model of Excellence Award
- GuideStar products and services listed on the
General Services Administration (GSA)’s Financial
and Business Solutions Schedule
GuideStar Enterprise
Solutions Portfolio
Designed for professional use, GuideStar Enterprise Solutions
supports several integration methodologies to deliver robust
GuideStar nonprofit data:
Web Services
GuideStar delivers data by Web link or Web service call
via variable search input criteria.
Hosted Solutions
GuideStar provides the infrastructure, development,
and resources for a fully hosted on-line solution.
Enterprise Data Integration
GuideStar delivers custom data sets for integration or
aggregation with clients’ business applications and
other data sources.
Subscription Services
GuideStar delivers its core product portfolio
(GuideStar Premium, Charity Check, and the Nonprofit
Compensation Report) for 11 or more enterprise seats.
Matching and Verification
GuideStar delivers matching and verification services that
compare client-provided data sets with the GuideStar database
to verify nonprofit status and append data fields.
Sample Clients
GuideStar provides nonprofit information and research and analysis
tools to more than 7,000 businesses, municipalities, and nonprofits.
Our clients include:

- Altria Corporate Services - Mercer Human Resources

- Association of Small Foundations - Merrill Lynch
- Bank of America - Meyer Memorial Trust
- Blackbaud - MicroEdge, Inc.
- Boeing Company - Microsoft Corporation
- CareerSearch - Nature Conservancy
- Causes on Facebook - Network for Good
- Change.org - Nonprofit Finance Fund
- Commerce Bancorp, Inc. - PayPal, an eBay Company
- CompuMentor, Inc. - Philanthropy Fund of America
- Eclipsys Corporation - San Francisco Foundation
- Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund - Schwab Charitable Fund
- Firstgiving - Stratascope Inc.
- Foundation Source - T. Rowe Price Program for Charitable Giving
- GoodCircle, LLC - Travelers Companies, Inc.
- Google, Inc. - U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
- Grenzebach Glier and Associates - United eWay
- Harvard University - United Way of the National Capital Area
- Investigative Editors and Reporters, Inc. - Wachovia Corporation
- JP Morgan Chase - WealthEngine
- JustGive - Wells Fargo
- Kintera, Inc. - Wyeth
- LexisNexis - Yale University

About GuideStar
Connecting people and organizations with information on the
programs and finances of more than 1.7 million IRS-recognized
nonprofits, GuideStar serves a wide audience inside and outside the
nonprofit sector, including individuals, donors, nonprofit leaders,
grantmakers, government officials, academic researchers, and the media.

For more information about GuideStar Enterprise Solutions,

call 800.421.8656 or e-mail enterprisesolutions@guidestar.org

www.guidestar.org

Copyright © 2008, Philanthropic Research, Inc. All rights reserved. GuideStar is the registered trademark and operating name of Philanthropic Research, Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. 04/08