2009 is the year of transparency. While most of the attention is focusing on the government and corporate sector, GuideStar has been pushing for a more transparent nonprofit sector. Since 1994, GuideStar has been gathering data about nonprofit organizations and publicizing the information to their paid members. Their latest report says nonprofits need to do a better job of disclosing their annual reports and audited financial statements. GuideStar’s key findings include:
- 43% of the nonprofits surveyed posted their annual reports on their websites.
- 13% percent posted their audited financial statements on their websites.
- 3% posted their respective IRS letters of determination on their websites.
GuideStar recommends that nonprofits become more transparent by posting the following information on their websites:
- Detailed program and evaluation information.
- Brief biographic information on board members and key staff.
- Annual reports and audited financial statements.
GuideStar has also launched the GuideStar Exchange, a new program for nonprofits that want to share more up-to-date information about their missions, leaders, and programs. A seal will be offered to nonprofits that voluntarily commit to being open and transparent. This is a smart move for GuideStar since the IRS is about to make 990 forms public as a searchable database (instead of the flat, unsearchable files that are currently available). GuideStar will be able to use the new information from the Exhange program to position themselves as the "go to" source on nonprofits data.