Guidestar is a database of over 2 million nonprofit organizations. The Pro version is now available at George Latimer Central Library using the URL guidestar.org/ipl- no username or password required. There is a free version available (creating a username and password is required), but it is pretty much limited to name searching.
Guidestar is linked at sppl.org->Digital Library->Foundations & Grants.
Guidestar is meant to be used more broadly than Foundation Directory, which is mainly used by nonprofits looking for grantmakers.
Guidestar can be used by:
- Prospective employees looking for a nonprofit job.
- Volunteers looking for a position.
- Individuals looking for an organization to donate to.
- Individuals looking for assistance.
- Nonprofits looking for similar organizations to compare themselves to.
Have you ever given money to an organization via Facebook for a friend or family member's birthday? If so, you've used Guidestar, as the nonprofit information comes from them.
Guidestar Pro facts:
- Can filter by geography, organization, financials.
- Subject areas are the same as Foundation Directory.
- Can break down by population served.
- Can search by different IRS designation- nonprofit, public charity, foundation, social welfare organization, etc.
- Includes defunct orgs and ones that lost their status-they can by excluded from a search.
- Can limit to orgs that provide DEI info to Candid.
- Info is self-reported--nonprofits get different seals of transparency based on how much information they share.
- Can sort by revenue, gross receipts, assets, etc.
- Guidestar doesn't generate a list of organization the way Foundation Directory does.
- Nonprofits can claim their profile for free, but they still have to pay to access Guidestar.
Since the Foundation Center and Guidestar merged to become Candid in 2019, they have been working on a unified platform that would combine Foundation Directory, Candid and more.
--Andrea H. @GLCL
