Written and maintained by CASRAI Editorial Board
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ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer is a free, searchable database of annual returns filed by tax-exempt organizations in the United States. Researchers and grants staff use it to look up a funder’s Form 990 or 990-PF, see its revenue, expenses and officer compensation, and pull the underlying filing. This guide covers what the tool contains, what it leaves out, and how to use it to vet a foundation before you invest time in a proposal. Details were checked against the official ProPublica and IRS pages on 2026-11-07.
What it is and who runs it
Nonprofit Explorer is a project of ProPublica, the nonprofit newsroom, hosted at projects.propublica.org/nonprofits. The site describes itself as a way to browse millions of annual returns filed by tax-exempt organizations, with figures such as executive pay, revenue and expenses shown for each organization. It also includes a 527 Explorer for political organizations.
It is a lookup and reading aid, not a ranking or rating service. It does not tell you whether a funder is a good fit for your project; it shows you what the organization reported to the IRS.
Which filings it covers
The summary figures come from tax returns processed by the IRS since the 2012 calendar years, so older records are limited. The summary data is a subset of what appears on the full forms, and full Form 990s are linked as PDFs or digital copies where available. The site draws on IRS raw filing data, IRS exempt-organization profiles and Form 990 XML; pre-2017 documents come in part from Public.Resource.org and ProPublica.
What you can learn depends on which return the organization files:
| Return | Who files it (as described on the site) | What it can tell you |
|---|---|---|
| Form 990 | Most tax-exempt organizations | The fullest financial and governance picture |
| Form 990-EZ | Organizations under $200,000 in revenue and under $500,000 in assets | A shorter financial summary |
| Form 990-N (e-Postcard) | Organizations under $50,000 in revenue | No financial detail |
| Form 990-PF | Private foundations and taxable trusts | Foundation finances; the return to open when vetting a private funder |
The database covers all 27 subsections of section 501(c). Churches are generally not required to file, so they will usually not appear with financial data.
How to search
- Open the Nonprofit Explorer home page and enter an organization name, a person’s name, or a phrase to search the full text of filings.
- Open the matching organization page and note its EIN (employer identification number). The EIN is the unambiguous identifier when several organizations share similar names.
- Check which tax years are listed, and open the most recent return as a PDF or digital copy.
- If a name search returns too many results, narrow by state, NTEE category or 501(c) subsection, the same filters the API exposes.
Using it for funder research: reading a foundation’s 990-PF
This is a practical workflow for private-foundation funders; it is editorial guidance built on the filing types above, so confirm each item against the actual return.
- Confirm identity. Match the EIN to the foundation’s own website or award letters so you are reading the right entity.
- Open the latest 990-PF and read the financial summary. Look at revenue, expenses and assets over several years. Sharp swings in assets or giving are worth understanding before you plan around a renewal.
- Find the list of grants paid. Compare the types of recipients (universities, hospitals, community groups) and the range of amounts with your own project and budget.
- Check officers and trustees. The names listed can help you see who governs the funder and whether a relationship exists that you should disclose.
- Note what is missing. A foundation that gives only to pre-selected organizations may show it in the recipient list; the filing does not tell you how to apply. Use the foundation’s own guidelines for that, and see how private foundation funding differs from federal grants.
Pair this with a database search for open calls (funding opportunity databases) and, for early-career applicants, foundation grants for early-career investigators. If you will be the principal investigator on the application, put this check in your pre-submission routine.
API and bulk data
For many lookups, use the site. For repeated or large-scale work, there are two routes.
| Route | As described on the official page |
|---|---|
| ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer API (documentation) | Base URL https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/api/v2; GET requests only; JSON output. Endpoints: /search.json (parameters q, state[id], ntee[id], c_code[id], page) and /organizations/:ein.json. No key is mentioned in the documentation. Search results per page were cut from 100 to 25 on 12 September 2023. PDF download links are rate limited. The page calls the API a work in progress that is subject to change, and use means agreeing to ProPublica’s Data Terms of Use. |
| IRS Form 990 series downloads (irs.gov) | Most recent 990-series filings on record in XML, as ZIP files by year and month, with a yearly CSV index. |
Choose the API for organization lookups by EIN or name; choose the IRS XML files when you need the full contents of many returns, because ProPublica’s summary data is only a subset of each form.
Common mistakes
- Treating the summary as the whole return. The summary is a subset; open the full filing for detail.
- Reading a 990-N or a missing year as “no activity”. Small organizations file without financial detail, and the most recent year may not be posted yet.
- Searching by name only. Similar names are common; confirm by EIN.
- Using old data to predict current giving. A return describes a past fiscal year. Check the funder’s current guidelines.
- Expecting churches or very small groups to show financials. Filing rules differ by organization type.
Related tools
| Tool | Use it for |
|---|---|
| ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer | Free lookup of 990-series returns and officer compensation |
| IRS Form 990 series downloads | Bulk XML of recent filings |
| Candid (GuideStar) | A separate nonprofit information service; see its own site for scope and access |
| Funding opportunity databases | Finding open calls for proposals |
FAQ
How do I look up a nonprofit’s Form 990?
Search by organization name or EIN on Nonprofit Explorer, open the organization page, and select a tax year to view the return as a PDF or digital copy where available.
Can I see nonprofit salaries on ProPublica?
Yes. The site shows executive pay for organizations, drawn from the filings. Pay appears only where the filed return reports it, so 990-N filers show none.
Does ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer have an API?
Yes. It has a read-only JSON API with search and organization endpoints, described above. The documentation says it is subject to change.
How far back does the data go?
Summary data comes from returns processed by the IRS since the 2012 calendar years; older records are limited.
Can I search by name?
Yes. You can search for an organization or a person, or search the full text of filings.
Sources
- ProPublica, Nonprofit Explorer, checked 2026-11-07.
- ProPublica, Nonprofit Explorer API documentation, checked 2026-11-07.
- Internal Revenue Service, Form 990 series downloads, checked 2026-11-07.
