Nonprofit Data Project

Leading members of the U.S. nonprofit community, concerned about a backlog of nonprofit tax forms that has reached historic proportions, recently submitted comments on the Form 990 series to the Internal Revenue Service.

PSI was glad to join with our partners and urge Congress to provide the Bureau of Labor Statistics with the funding necessary to include nonprofit workforce data in its Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages. This joint letter to Congressional leaders builds on PSI’s efforts over the past decade, including successfully advocating for the release of nonprofit workforce data every five years by BLS.

Leading members of the U.S. nonprofit community, concerned about a backlog of nonprofit tax forms that has reached historic proportions, recently submitted comments on the Form 990 series to the Internal Revenue Service.

The Program on Philanthropy & Social Innovation (PSI) at the Aspen Institute is pleased to share a new article from the Stanford Social Innovation Review (SSIR), Unlocking the Potential of Open 990 Data. In the article, authors Cinthia Schuman Ottinger of PSI and Jeff Williams of the Dorothy Johnson Center for Philanthropy build on PSI’s work to generate new knowledge and increase transparency in the nonprofit sector.

Making 990 data searchable and available for free to the public has revolutionized nonprofit information and scholarship by massively reducing costs and increasing efficiency. Researchers, nonprofits, government regulators, and journalists are using previously inaccessible data to further transparency, educate donors, advance knowledge, and fuel innovation.

A new law requiring electronic filing of the Form 990 goes into effect this year, and thousands of nonprofit organizations will be e-filing for the first time. To help organizations navigate the e-filing process, PSI has created an introductory e-filing brochure.

Over 250 national, state and local nonprofits, and individual researchers submitted a letter to the U.S. Secretary of Labor, Martin Walsh, on Friday, August 6, 2021, requesting the release of quarterly data on nonprofit employment and wages from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

PSI Mourns the Passing of John Lewis, Champion of Nonprofit Transparency.

In 2019, and with the support of Rep. Lewis, H.R. 1957 was passed in the full House through a procedure used for non-controversial measures.