The Nonprofit FAQ

Where can we post our Form 990 online?

Chip Watkins wrote to Cyber Accountability (a service of CharityChannel.com) on March 24, 2004: Some, but relatively few, organizations do put their 990s on their website. The disclosure rules encourage this by permitting organizations to point requesters to the web. Guidestar doesn't qualify because it blacks out the signature information. I don't know why more organizations don't-other than to be able to monitor who is asking for copies. Unfortunately, there's a perception among many charities that anyone asking for their Form 990 is probably hostile, e.g., an investigative reporter or an ideological opponent. While often true, it is not always the case. In any event, a charity that is reluctant to disclose Form 990 should ask itself why. Were I a charity CFO, I would post the Form 990 on the website, with appropriate explanatory material to read before the reader could click through to the Form 990 itself. This material would address any apparent anomalies in the Form 990, and try to anticipate the reader's questions. It would also explain that the Form 990 is designed for reporting to the IRS, not the general public, and that audited financial statements and an annual report (with other information) are also available. (How things have changed in five years! -- Ed.) Allen R. Bromberger wrote to the Nonprofit Coordinating Committee's Cyber-Accountability Group on May 18, 1999 (later a service of CharityChannel.com): ....This issue is just not on the radar screen for most nonprofit executives. And they just don't know how to post the 990 on the web. They don't understand the consequences, so they do nothing. Can you really blame them.... Putnam Barber responded: I'm pretty sure he's posted this information himself, but it bears repeating. Eric Mercer has created a service to post 990s online at (IMO) reasonable cost and using familiar technologies. It's all explained at http://www.990online.com. Summarizing: You download two forms from the site -- one an order form, the second a cover sheet. Using the formula on the order form, you calculate the fee for the service you want (it starts with $25 to scan and post a 990 of any length for a month; keeping the file accessible on the 990online site for three years costs an additional $2.25 per page; there are intermediate choices). You send that fee using a corporate check (to reduce the chances of confused or malicious postings) to Eric Mercer. Then you send the order form as a fax to the number he specifies, followed by your cover sheet(s) and 990(s). Three or four days after the check arrives, the 990(s) are posted on the site in .pdf form (meeting the IRS publication standard) and an email is sent with the URL for the exact location. At that point you can extract the files and post them on your own or another website or leave them on Eric's site for whatever period you have paid for. That service should deal with the "they don't know how" problem. The consequences take a little more explaining. For organizations that could reasonably expect a lot of traffic requesting copies of their 990s following 6/8/99 there may be a real savings in costs and significantly reduced busywork. For all organizations that care about the subject of nonprofit accountability and want to hold up their own bit of the banner, there is the satisfaction of knowing that the task is being done in an orderly and efficient way. As for the comment from another post to the effect that organizations "like to know who is looking at their 990s", it needs to be remembered that the law does not allow any challenge -- even so much as a request for a name and addess -- to the requester and, further, there is no reason to assume that the person who appears (or writes) to request a 990 is in fact the ultimate user. In answer to the question about "blame" I must say that I would like to see nonprofit executives hold themselves to a higher standard with respect to bolstering public confidence in the field as a whole. The continuing tussle over public disclosure of 990s is a small but spreading blotch (and a long-term embarrassment). It should become a small but satisfying source of pride to many many more nonprofit leaders (staff and volunteer both) that they have extended themselves in this small way to offer the public one strong reason for confidence in the candor and good offices of organizations that depend on public support to accomplish their work. Posted 5/20/99; 3/24/04 -- PB