If you can't find the organization you're looking for on this website, either we don't know about it or we haven't researched it enough to post anything.

But don't go away mad, help us find out about it so we can post it!

If the organization has its own website, you can start there and learn a lot, but they usually won't post any dollar amounts. Sometimes they don't even post their directors or staff.

The first thing is to find out how much money a foundation or environmental group has reported to the IRS. Much financial data is contained in the Form 990 or Form 990-PF annual IRS reports of nonprofit groups and donor private foundations. You can start searching for money information on the Web.

Several websites have search engines that will find relatively recent financial data for many non-profits.

Start with Guidestar. Their website contains recent income and asset figures on hundreds of thousands of non-profits, plus financial details you'd find on an accounting sheet. Guidestar has posted the Form 990-PFs of many donor foundations, as well as the Form 990s of a few recipient non-profit groups. Try Guidestar first.

If you have trouble finding what you want with Guidestar, try Sovereignty International's NGO database.

If you still can't find what you want, you can order an organization's Form 990 annual report from the Internal Revenue Service. It won't tell you where they get their money, but it will tell you how much they get and what they do with it. It will cost you $1.00 for the first page and 15 cents for each additional page. To order the Form 990, fill out the IRS Form 4506-A Request for Public Inspection of Copy of Exempt Organization IRS Form. (This is a PDF format file requiring Adobe Acrobat, which you can download free.)

After you fill out Form 4506-A, fax it to the IRS at 801-775-8033. It will take about 2 weeks to get the forms. The IRS will enclose a bill for the copying costs. Be sure to pay it quickly, because they will not do another search for you unless all previous accounts are paid.

Tips on filling out the Form 4506-A:
1. Be sure to include the Employer Identification Number (EIN) of the organization in the proper space. You can find it on the Guidestar website's profile of the group. The EIN is a positive identification in case you have the name garbled.
2. If you want the records of a donor foundation, check the box for "Form 990-PF." If you want the records of a recipient group, check the box for "Form 990 or 990-EZ."
3. In the "tax year requested," put "3 most recent years" if you want to see the group's trend. You have a right to the three most recent years of records. Otherwise, just check the box for "Latest return on file."
4. Don't ask for the 990-PFs of a big foundation unless you have plenty of cash. Some foundation 990-PFs are hundreds of pages long each year. The IRS will not let you cancel an order once made. The IRS will copy what you asked for and charge you for it. Recipient groups' Form 990s are usually no more than 100 pages, average about 50 pages, and smaller groups may be only a dozen or so pages.

If you're a real glutton for punishment, you can even download the IRS Master File for the organization's home state and see everything in the government's own computer. You'll soon find out that's not very much. Form 990s or 990-PFs are much more revealing.

A few states have very good websites reporting on the nonprofits operating within their borders. Take a look:

California
Minnesota
New York

The California website contains the Form 990 and Form 990-PF for most nonprofit California corporations. Minnesota and New York do not post this information.

The Environmental Protection Agency posts some of its grants on an informational website, but the most fascinating ones require special programs for access.

Asking organizations for their financial records
All non-profit organizations except churches and a few other exempt groups must give you "public inspection copies" of their annual reports to the Internal Revenue Service upon request. Even though they pay no income taxes, they must report financial information annually to the IRS.

Private foundations file a Form 990-PF. Educational organizations (which is the classification under which most environmental groups are registered) file a Form 990.

The best approach is to visit the nonprofit organization in person. When you appear in person, the organization is required by law to give you copies of the most recent three years of their 990s and their exemption file (the correspondence between the group and the IRS that originally established their tax exempt status). They may charge you a reasonable copying fee (25 cents per page is about the most they should ask), so take some cash with you and ask for a receipt.

It is prudent to take with you and present to the organization a written request for the documents you wish. Following is a request letter complied by an attorney expert in the field:

Pursuant to Section 6104(e) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, I am requesting photocopies of your three most recent annual returns and of your application for tax exemption. My request for your annual returns includes your Forms 990, 990-EZ, 990 Schedule A, 990-T, 1120-POL, all attachments to these forms, and any other forms which you have filed under Section 6033 of the Tax Code. My request for your application for tax exemption includes all supporting documents which you submitted with that application.

This written request supplements my request in person. Under Section 6104(e), you are required to provide me copies of these documents "immediately" when the request is made in person.

Under Section 6652(c)(1)(c) of the Tax Code, if you fail to provide me copies of your annual reports, your organization is subject to a penalty of $20 per day per document, to a maximum of $10,000 per document. Under Section 6652(c)(1)(D), the same penalties apply to your failure to provide me a copy of your application for tax exemption.

Be polite when requesting forms. Do not harass or intimidate the organization's people in any way. Any incivility on your part may be actionable in a court of law. Likewise, do not be intimidated by them. You have a right to the information under law. You do not have to explain why you want the information.

If they give you the requested copies, pay a reasonable copying fee and thank them, then depart.

If the organization refuses to comply with your request, remain polite, but inform them that you will immediately report their refusal to the Regional Director of the Internal Revenue Service according to law. Leave their premises instantly without comment if told to leave.

Follow up and send the report, specifically citing that the refusal was willful. You can find where to send your complaint by calling your nearest IRS office.

If you can't make your request in person, you can do it in writing, but the group has 30 days in which to respond. Allow a reasonable time for mail delivery. If you do not receive a response in a timely manner, the law allows you to file a complaint with the IRS regional director nearest you.

Some states, notably New York and California, require organizations that do fundraising in their borders -- even by telephone or direct mail solicitations -- to file state reports and also supply their IRS 990s to the state's attorney general or secretary of state. These files are available for public inspection. You may be able to order copies by contacting the appropriate state agency.

You may obtain records of specific grants by paying a fee to the Foundation Center, a New York-based organization that tracks foundation grants. The information is also available at no charge from public libraries that carry the voluminous publications of the Foundation Center.