Yes. Under federal law, most tax-exempt nonprofits have to disclose financials to the public through an annual information return filed with the IRS, and they must let any member of the public inspect that return along with their original application for tax-exempt status. The main document is the Form 990, and it covers revenue, spending, executive pay, assets, and liabilities. Churches and a few other categories are exempt from filing, and donor names are generally protected, but the default rule for the nonprofit sector is transparency.
What Must Be Made Public
Federal law requires every organization exempt from income tax under Section 501(a) to file an annual information return unless a specific exception applies.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 6033 – Returns by Exempt Organizations Which version of the Form 990 a nonprofit files depends on its size:
- Form 990 is required for organizations with gross receipts of $200,000 or more, or total assets of $500,000 or more at year end.
- Form 990-EZ is available for organizations with gross receipts under $200,000 and total assets under $500,000.2Internal Revenue Service. Exempt Organization Annual Filing Requirements Overview
- Form 990-N, the e-Postcard, is filed by small organizations whose gross receipts are normally $50,000 or less. It asks only eight basic items and contains no detailed financial data.3Internal Revenue Service. Annual Electronic Filing Requirement for Small Exempt Organizations – Form 990-N (e-Postcard)
- Form 990-PF is filed by private foundations regardless of size.
The full Form 990 is a detailed financial portrait. It breaks revenue down by source (donations, grants, program fees, investment income) and expenses by function (program costs, management, fundraising). A balance sheet lists assets and liabilities. Salaries, benefits, and other compensation paid to officers, directors, trustees, and key employees appear on their own schedule, which is why watchdog groups and major donors can compare executive pay across similar charities. The form also asks whether the organization has adopted a written conflict-of-interest policy, a whistleblower policy, and a document retention policy.4Internal Revenue Service. 2025 Instructions for Form 990 Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax
Alongside the annual return, the nonprofit’s original exemption application (Form 1023 or 1024) and the IRS determination letter are also public records.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 6104 – Publicity of Information Required From Certain Exempt Organizations and Certain Trusts Nonprofits with unrelated business income also file Form 990-T, which is publicly available if filed after August 17, 2006.6Internal Revenue Service. Public Inspection and Disclosure of Form 990-T
How to Get a Nonprofit’s Financials
The public inspection right covers the three most recent annual returns (measured from each return’s filing deadline) and the exemption application, which has no time limit.7Internal Revenue Service. Public Disclosure and Availability of Exempt Organizations Returns and Applications – Documents Subject to Public Disclosure You have three practical routes.
You can walk into the organization’s principal office during regular business hours and ask to inspect the documents. The nonprofit must provide them on the spot. If you send a written request, it must be filled within 30 days. The organization can charge a reasonable fee for copies and postage but cannot charge you just to inspect the records.8Internal Revenue Service. Public Disclosure and Availability of Exempt Organizations Returns – Copies of Exempt Organizations Tax Documents If the nonprofit has posted its Form 990 on its own website or another widely accessible source, it doesn’t have to mail you a paper copy, though it still must allow in-person inspection.9Internal Revenue Service. Public Disclosure and Availability of Exempt Organization Returns and Applications – Public Disclosure Overview
In practice, you rarely need to contact the nonprofit at all. The IRS runs the Tax Exempt Organization Search tool, which provides Form 990 filings and related data.10Internal Revenue Service. Tax Exempt Organization Search Third-party sites such as GuideStar (now Candid) and ProPublica’s Nonprofit Explorer make the same filings searchable in a friendlier format. Many nonprofits also post annual reports and audited financial statements on their own sites under a “Financials” or “About Us” heading.
What Stays Private
Nonprofits report the names and addresses of major contributors to the IRS on Schedule B of the Form 990. For most organizations, including 501(c)(3) public charities, that contributor information is not public. When a nonprofit hands its Form 990 to the public, it must redact the names and addresses on Schedule B.11Internal Revenue Service. Public Disclosure and Availability of Exempt Organizations Returns and Applications – Contributors Identities Not Subject to Disclosure
Two categories don’t get that shield. Private foundations filing Form 990-PF must disclose Schedule B with donor names intact, and Section 527 political organizations face the same requirement.12Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Schedule B (Form 990) In 2021, the Supreme Court struck down a California rule that had required all charities to submit their Schedule B to the state attorney general, finding a “dramatic mismatch” between the state’s fraud-prevention interest and the burden on donors’ First Amendment associational rights.13Supreme Court of the United States. Americans for Prosperity Foundation v. Bonta (2021)
Which Nonprofits Don’t Have to File
Not every tax-exempt organization has to file a Form 990. Churches, their integrated auxiliaries, conventions of churches, and exclusively religious activities of religious orders are exempt from filing any annual information return with the IRS, regardless of size or income.14Internal Revenue Service. Annual Exempt Organization Return – Who Must File Their financial information is not available through the IRS unless they choose to publish it.
Small nonprofits with gross receipts normally at or below $50,000 do not file the full Form 990 or 990-EZ, but they are not fully exempt. They file the 990-N e-Postcard, which confirms the organization still exists and little else. The IRS applies a rolling three-year average of gross receipts to decide whether an organization stays under the $50,000 threshold.3Internal Revenue Service. Annual Electronic Filing Requirement for Small Exempt Organizations – Form 990-N (e-Postcard)
Private Foundations Face Stricter Rules
Private foundations operate under tighter transparency requirements than public charities. A private foundation must make its Form 990-PF and exemption application available at its offices during business hours, provide copies within 30 days for written requests or the same day for in-person requests, and include Schedule B with donor names in the public record.
Foundations must also send a copy of the Form 990-PF to the attorney general of every state where they are required to register, the state where their principal office is located, and the state of incorporation, at the same time the return is filed with the IRS.
State Disclosure and Audit Requirements
Federal filing is one layer. Most states require nonprofits to register before soliciting donations from residents, and those registrations bring their own disclosure obligations enforced by the state attorney general or secretary of state.15Internal Revenue Service. Charitable Solicitation – State Requirements Requirements vary, but many states ask for a copy of the Form 990 and sometimes state-specific supplemental forms.
Many states also impose independent audit requirements that trigger at a certain revenue level. The thresholds range from about $500,000 to $2,000,000 in annual revenue, with $1,000,000 being common. Above the trigger, an independent CPA audit is required; below it, some states accept a CPA review or compilation. A nonprofit soliciting in multiple states may need to register and report in each.
Federal grants add another layer. Nonprofits that spend $1,000,000 or more in federal awards during a fiscal year must undergo a Single Audit under the OMB Uniform Guidance, and the results are publicly available.16eCFR. Title 2, Part 200, Subpart F – Audit Requirements That threshold was raised from $750,000 in 2024. Organizations below $1,000,000 in federal spending are exempt from Single Audit requirements.
Penalties for Not Filing or Refusing Disclosure
Late filing carries daily penalties tied to organization size. If gross receipts are under $1,208,500, the penalty is $20 per day, capped at the lesser of $12,000 or 5% of gross receipts. Above that receipts level, the daily penalty is $120, capped at $60,000.17Internal Revenue Service. Exempt Organizations Annual Reporting Requirements – Filing Procedures: Late Filing of Annual Returns
The bigger risk is automatic revocation. If an organization fails to file its required annual return or e-Postcard for three consecutive years, its tax-exempt status is automatically revoked as of the third missed due date.18Internal Revenue Service. Automatic Revocation of Exemption for Non-Filing – Frequently Asked Questions There is no warning letter and no hearing. Once revoked, the organization owes federal income tax on its earnings, loses the ability to receive tax-deductible contributions, and comes off the Publication 78 list donors use to confirm deductibility.19Internal Revenue Service. Automatic Revocation of Exemption
A separate penalty punishes stonewalling. An organization that willfully refuses to comply with a public inspection request faces a flat $5,000 penalty per return or application it fails to make available.20Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 6685 – Assessable Penalty With Respect to Public Inspection Requirements for Certain Tax-Exempt Organizations Because the penalty runs per document, refusing to provide both a Form 990 and a Form 1023 in response to the same request can mean $10,000. An honest mistake generally won’t trigger it; ignoring a request will.