Who funds your nonprofit? Fighting misperceptions

Let’s say a grocery chain gives your food bank a one-time grant—with much fanfare—to distribute Thanksgiving meals. You don’t get a grant the next year or the year after that, but because the grant was listed in your 2020 tax filings and list of supporters on your website, some donors assume your organization continues to be funded by them and you don’t need any more support.

Or, you may have seen social media posts where someone goes looking for real-time information online about a nonprofit’s funding, and when they can’t find it, suggests the organization is hiding something. Often, it’s because they don’t understand what information is and isn’t publicly available. And this misperception leads to false claims that spread across social media.

Let’s look at how financial information about nonprofits is collected and distributed publicly.

Fact: Nonprofit tax filings aren’t published in real time

Some people think they can tell exactly who’s funding a specific nonprofit right now based on its tax filings, called Forms 990, which may show grants and donations among other financial information. The fact is, the IRS takes up to two years to publish those tax filings, so the most recent available Form 990 may be significantly out of date. And the misplaced expectation for real-time information can do real harm.

Candid gets Forms 990, 990-EZ (for nonprofits with gross receipts of less than $200,000 and assets of less than $500,000), and 990-PF (for private foundations) from the IRS as soon as they’re released, so we can provide the most up-to-date information. Since 2020, we’ve compiled nearly seven hundred thousand of these Forms 990 per tax year. As of January 2026, we’ve received just under 100,000 filings for 2025.

If an organization wants to beat the IRS delay, they can provide their most recent financial statements to Candid directly. That information is distributed widely, including through Claude for Nonprofits.

Fact: Small nonprofits’ tax forms don’t require funding data

But even when nonprofit tax filings become available, the information provided in them varies. The amount of detailed financial information the IRS requires depends on the organization’s size and structure. The smallest 501(c)(3) public charities with annual budgets under $50,000 are eligible to file short Forms 990-N, which don’t require information about donations or grants.

And these very small nonprofits make up nearly 60% of U.S. nonprofits. So, if someone wants to know who donated to a given nonprofit, there’s a good chance the nonprofit is very small, files Form 990-N, and provides the required information, which doesn’t include funding data. They’re not hiding anything.

Yet, misunderstandings about a nonprofit’s funding can harm its reputation. Organizations may face undue criticism from misinformed individuals, which can give donors pause and even lead to disruptions in service. Even when the criticism is based on outdated or misunderstood data, it can do the nonprofit—and the entire sector—real damage, especially when false claims spread quickly on social media.

Take control of the narrative on nonprofit funding data

You can help correct such misunderstandings and prevent false claims about how nonprofits are funded and what information they’re required to disclose—by educating your donors and the public and being transparent about your organization’s financials.

• Make sure your supporters understand what data is available about your nonprofit and where they can find it, so they don’t have to go digging for it.
• Post your most recent Form 990 on your website.
• Be transparent about your financial data and impact all year, not just through Forms 990 but also with audited financial reports and annual reports. A great way to be transparent is to keep your Candid nonprofit profile up-to-date, where donors can see your organization’s revenue and expenses breakdown, balance sheet, financial trend analysis, and other data.
• Don’t assume your donors will know not to believe in false claims. If you don’t fill in the gap in understanding, misinformation will.

Nonprofit funding data is public information, but it’s not instantly available, and the amount of detail required differs by organization size. Help your community understand your Form 990—what it says, what it doesn’t, and where they can find it. Then, if incorrect claims appear, they’ll know to verify the source.

This article is part of our “Mission over myth” series seeking to break down myths and misconceptions about the nonprofit sector.