June 2005

Dear Friend:

Welcome to GuideStar 3.0, our brand-new Web site. What you see is the result of months and months of very careful listening, many creative suggestions, and an enthusiastic group of users and customers. And, of course, a very talented and dedicated staff at GuideStar that worked many long hours.

Thanks also to all of you who took the time during the past weeks to share your thoughts on our plans for the site. We've tried to work out as many bugs as possible, but we readily admit that a few gremlins are popping up. So stay with us and e-mail immediately (info@guidestar.org) if you have a question or concern.

Some questions are coming up frequently that I want to address:

• Do I have to pay to see the 990s?
  All registered, logged-in users can access the three most recent 990s we have received for an organization from the IRS at no charge. You can also access at no charge all 990s nonprofits have posted through our new eDocs service. If you want to look at a 990 older than three years, however, you will need to subscribe to GuideStar Premium.
  
  
• Where are the 990s?
  In each filing organization's GuideStar Report. GuideStar Basic users can access 990s using the Form 990 link in the report. GuideStar Select and GuideStar Premium subscribers can access 990s from either the search results or GuideStar Reports.
  Remember, though, that not every nonprofit files a 990. Many of the people who contact us about missing 990s are looking at organizations that do not file them. Only organizations with annual incomes of more than $25,000 must file—around two-thirds of the public charities in this country are under that threshold. And most faith-based organizations of any size are not required to file a 990. (For more information, click on the "De-myth-ifying IRS Form 990" link at the end of this Newsletter.)
  
  
• I see the 990 link in the GuideStar Report, but I can't get the 990.
  You probably have pop-ups blocked on your browser. You can set your browser to allow pop-ups when you are on GuideStar. Go to Help in your browser's toolbar, search "pop-up blocker," and follow the instructions for adding sites on which pop-ups are permitted. If that doesn't solve the problem, please e-mail info@guidestar.org.
  
  
• Do you have 990s for the 340,000-plus nonprofits you just added to your database?
  Not yet, but we'll start receiving and posting them soon.
  
  
• I confirmed my registration the first time I went to your new site, but the link in the confirmation e-mail doesn't work.
  Try copying the link from the e-mail and pasting it into your browser. If that doesn't work, please contact info@guidestar.org.
  
  
• I confirmed my registration but never received the confirmation e-mail.
  Please go to our site and confirm your information one more time. If you still don't receive an e-mail, please contact info@guidestar.org.
  
  
• Your site seems slower than it was.
  It is, and we're working on getting it back up to speed.

Outside GuideStar, last month Independent Sector posted draft recommendations for the Panel on the Nonprofit Sector's final report to the Senate Finance Committee. Members of the charitable community were invited to respond May 10-19. The panel's final recommendations will be delivered to Capitol Hill sometime this month.

What happens next, however, is anyone's guess. At GuideStar, we will continue to monitor the activities on Capitol Hill and throughout the sector, to report developments in them to you, and to promote nonprofit transparency and accountability.

We look forward to your comments on our new Web site and appreciate your suggestions on how to make it even better.

Sincerely,

Bob Ottenhoff
President and CEO
president@guidestar.org