Nonprofit evaluator Charity Navigator launched in 2002 by asking the largest charities in the United States for their three most recent Form 990s — an informational tax form required of nonprofit organizations. Only about a third of the charities they asked handed them over.
Fast forward almost 15 years, and most charities willingly publish their 990s — which give the Internal Revenue Service an overview of activities, governance and detailed financial information — on their websites, Sandra Miniutti, Charity Navigator’s vice president of marketing, told Devex.
The 990 requires organizations to outline their previous year’s accomplishments to justify maintaining their tax-exempt status. Charity raters have historically honed in on financial transparency and what percentage of the budget goes to overhead expenses when they evaluate organizations.