Government Information and Nonprofits
Reports produced outside of scholarly publications and popular media can provide valuable information about nonprofit activities as well as about the issues nonprofits are addressing.
Government organizations are a good source of reports regarding your selected nonprofit.
The nonprofit you are researching will file forms with the IRS, might apply for and receive funding, and could have partnership agreements with governmental agencies. Your nonprofits might also be part of past or current litigation.
When you search the internet using a general internet search engine or USA.gov place quotations marks around the name of the nonprofit to disambiguate the phrase. Conduct searches combining the nonprofit name with keywords such as litigation, grants, cooperation, partner*.
Finding Government Information Resources
- USA.gov - official web portal for the U.S. government
Internet search engine for federal, state, local and tribal government web resources. - USAspending.gov
Discover if a nonprofit is receiving federal funding for contracts or grants. - Tax Information for Charities & Other Non-Profits
Resources for and about nonprofits' tax exempt status.
Issue Lab
Trade/industry association and nongovernment organizations produce reports about nonprofits. The organizations might categorize this reports as white papers, working papers, profiles, analysis, documents, filing, etc. You can use specific databases, website or do general internet searches.
- IssueLab : a service of the Foundation Center"Through IssueLab, the Foundation Center is working to more effectively gather, index, and share the collective intelligence of the social sector. We provide free access to thousands of case studies, evaluations, white papers, and issue briefs addressing some of the world's most pressing social problems. We also are committed to increasing access to this knowledge by making it broadly available through this website, other Foundation Center websites, distributed Knowledge Centers, and content-sharing partnerships with libraries, archives, and online communities. "
Business Databases
Use the following databases to discover news and trade publications about the nonprofit sector.
- Business source complete This link opens in a new windowIndexing and abstracts covering business related, peer reviewed journals, books, case studies, company profiles, industry reports, and country economic reports.
This resource is being supported through collaborative efforts between the KU Libraries and the State Library of Kansas.
Nonprofit Sector Trade Resources
The Chronicle of Philanthropy"news source, in print and online, for nonprofit leaders, fund raisers, grant makers, and other people involved in the philanthropic enterprise. For more than 20 years, The Chronicle has been connecting the nonprofit world with news, jobs, and ideas."
Nonprofit Times"business publication for nonprofit management. Geared to the executive suite, The NonProfit Times delivers news, business information and original research on the daily operations of tax-exempt organizations."