Financial SCAN, a service of Guidestar and the Nonprofit Finance Fund, goes beyond IRS Form 990 data to create comprehensive, standardized analyses of nonprofits’ financial health. Financial SCAN provides insights into financial data in order to support mission-driven decisions and enable nonprofits to compare their finances with those of peer organizations. It is a valuable…

Understanding a nonprofit’s costs is necessary in order for charitable nonprofits to be financially sustainable. Rather than reporting artificially low costs, or ignoring what it really costs to deliver programs and services, the National Council of Nonprofits encourages all nonprofits and board members to model transparency of full costs through its #OwnYourOwnCosts resource page.

There’s a growing movement in the nonprofit sector for more accurate calculation of program and operations costs, and requesting full funding for those costs from funders. The Overhead Myth resource page hosted by GuideStar Inc, Charity Navigator, and the BBB Wise Giving Alliance provides a great overview and resources on how nonprofits can calculate real…

A great first stop in exploring the world of nonprofit finance is the Nonprofit Finance Fund. Its Nonprofit Finance 101 page contains articles, tools, and tips for building a strong financial foundation.

Form 990 Online, from the National Center for Charitable Statistics at the Urban Institute, is a great resource for the online preparation and filing of IRS forms, including the 990-EZ, 990, and the Form 8868 request for an extension of time to file. The Form 990 Online verification process checks the consistency of the 990…