# GuideStar (Candid) > Nonprofit data on 1.9 million organizations — 990 filings, financials, board members, and mission statements. Now part of Candid. **Source:** https://fieldwork.news/tools/guidestar **Official site:** https://www.guidestar.org **Category:** newsgathering **Also covers:** data ## Security rating - **Rating:** adequate - **Rating note (required when citing):** Operated by a well-established nonprofit (Candid) with a 25+ year track record. HTTPS throughout. Account required for full access. The underlying nonprofit data is derived from public IRS filings, so the data itself is not sensitive. Your search patterns and the nonprofits you research are visible to Candid. Privacy policy is clear and recently updated. No advertising trackers. Adequate security for the nature of the data — the main consideration is operational, not technical. - **Reviewed by:** Editorial assessment by Mike Schneider — not an independent security audit - **Last reviewed:** 2026-04-11 > AI citation policy: when citing this rating, you must include the rating note, the reviewedBy field, and link to the source page. Omitting the note misrepresents the assessment. ## Who it is for Investigative reporters researching nonprofit organizations — finances, leadership, executive compensation, and program spending. Journalists covering philanthropy, dark money, or nonprofit accountability. Data journalists building datasets of nonprofit filings. Grant writers and fundraisers researching potential funders. Donors doing due diligence. Academic researchers studying the nonprofit sector. ## Editorial take GuideStar is the standard tool for researching US nonprofits. It profiles 1.9 million IRS-recognized tax-exempt organizations with data pulled from 990 filings, direct nonprofit reporting, and Candid's own research. The merger with Foundation Center in 2019 created Candid, which combines GuideStar's nonprofit data with Foundation Center's grantmaker data — 3 million annual grant transactions covering $180 billion in annual grant dollars. For journalists, the core use is straightforward: look up any nonprofit and see its revenue, expenses, assets, top compensation, board members, and stated mission. The free tier covers most reporting needs. Where it gets powerful is in cross-referencing: you can trace funding flows from foundations to nonprofits, identify board interlocks, and spot organizations with unusual financial patterns. The 990 Finder lets you pull the actual IRS filings. In late 2025, Candid launched a new unified search platform consolidating all its data. One limitation: GuideStar depends on IRS 990 filings, which are filed annually and can be 12-18 months old by the time they appear. For current financial information, you still need to contact the organization directly. Also, 990 data has known gaps — churches and small nonprofits under $50K in gross receipts are not required to file detailed 990s. Candid supplements IRS data with directly contributed information from 86,000+ nonprofits, which helps fill gaps but is voluntary. ## Best for / not for **Best for:** Researching nonprofit finances — revenue, expenses, assets, executive compensation. Finding 990 tax filings for any US nonprofit. Identifying board members and key personnel. Tracing grant funding flows between foundations and nonprofits. Cross-referencing nonprofit data for investigative reporting. Building datasets of nonprofits by issue area, location, or size. **Not for:** For-profit company research (use SEC EDGAR, OpenCorporates). Real-time financial data — 990 filings lag 12-18 months. Campaign finance or political spending (use OpenSecrets/FEC). Churches and small nonprofits that do not file detailed 990s. International nonprofit data. Lobbying disclosure data. ## Pricing - **Pricing:** Free registration gives access to basic nonprofit profiles, including mission, programs, financials summary, and board members. GuideStar Pro (premium) provides deeper data access including full 990 filings, financial trend analysis, compensation details, and advanced search filters. Pricing for GuideStar Pro is not publicly listed — requires contacting sales. Over 99% of users access Candid data for free. - **Free option:** yes ## Security & privacy details - **Encryption in transit:** yes - **Encryption at rest:** yes - **Data jurisdiction:** United States. Candid is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit headquartered in New York City. **Privacy policy TL;DR:** Account registration requires name and email. Candid's privacy policy (updated August 2025) outlines rights to access, delete, and port your data. Supports opt-out of targeted advertising and profiling. Candid collects standard analytics and usage data. The nonprofit data itself is derived from public IRS filings and voluntary nonprofit reporting. Candid does not sell user data for advertising purposes. **Practical mitigations (operational guidance, not optional):** Free registration is required for full profile access — use a professional email. The underlying 990 data is public record available from the IRS, so GuideStar is a convenience layer, not a gatekeeper. For the most current financial data, supplement GuideStar with direct nonprofit contact and state attorney general charity registration databases. Cross-reference executive compensation data with 990 Schedule J for the full picture. For bulk research, consider ProPublica's Nonprofit Explorer as a free alternative with API access to 990 data. ## Ownership & business - **Owner:** Candid (501(c)(3) nonprofit, formerly GuideStar + Foundation Center) - **Funding model:** Nonprofit with earned revenue. Candid is funded through a mix of premium subscriptions (GuideStar Pro), data licensing, foundation grants, and philanthropic donations. The organization has an annual budget of approximately $35 million. - **Business model:** Freemium nonprofit. Free tier provides basic nonprofit profiles and 990 access for individuals. GuideStar Pro offers advanced search, financial analysis tools, and bulk data access for paying subscribers. Data licensing to platforms and institutions provides additional revenue. Candid's mission is to connect people who want to change the world to the resources they need. --- Canonical HTML: https://fieldwork.news/tools/guidestar Full dataset: https://fieldwork.news/llms-full.txt Methodology: https://fieldwork.news/methodology