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If you haven't heard about Guidestar you should check it out today and look up the listing for your own organization. You haven't submitted information to Guidestar so you are not listed there? Wrong! If you are a 501c and file a IRS 990 return you are on Guidestar. What does it say? Whatever you put on your 990 and sent to the IRS and thought was stored in a basement in Denver. It's there but Guidestar also has a copy and has published it on their website. Guidestar actually has been the driving force behind having nonprofits be able to file this form electronically so it will be so much simpler for them than scanning it.
Traditionally the Form 990 has just been a tax form and may even be filled out by your accountant. But now that it is on Guidestar, one of the most respected sources of information about nonprofits on the Web, it really is also a marketing document. As such the nonfinancial portion of the form should be filled out by someone involved with fundraising or marketing - not the accountant.
Guidestar is increasingly used by foundations and funders to get basic information about your organizations. It is the main resource for many financial companies which offer philanthropic gift funds. It is not a website to be ignored.
You can add information about your organization to the basic Guidestar information. Guidestar provides a format that you can fill in information about your organization. EVERY nonprofit should do this.
