ulyankee
07-16-2006, 02:01 PM
As requested on another thread, this thread is to post sources of publicly available corporate and financial information. This is restricted to the US only, but those in other countries (particularly the Philippines and South Africa) may be able to assist with information available through their home countries.
Note that in the US, churches are not required to file information reports with the IRS or any other entity. However, other non-profits ARE.
A good starting point is www.guidestar.org (http://www.guidestar.org). You can view Form 990s for most non-profits through this link. If you register for free, you can access most recent 990s.
The Economic Research Institute (ERI) also allows you to search for Form 990s (http://www.eri-nonprofit-salaries.com/index.cfm?FuseAction=NPO.Search) for free. This site does not require registration. Pluses are that you can access 990s regardless of age (Guidestar only allows you to access three years back unless you become a paid subscriber). The only minus is that not all the 2004 990s are available through this link.
Corporate Information: Most states' Secretary of State offices post information on corporate filings in their states. You can get SOME information on churches this way - not financial, but corporate status, name history, officers, etc. Tennessee (http://www.tennesseeanytime.org/soscorp/) and California (http://kepler.ss.ca.gov/list.html) allow you to search for corporate name and status only online - if you want to see the corporate papers, you have to order hard copy from the respective states. Texas allows you to access and/or order scans of corporate filings online for a nominal fee - register in the Texas SOSDirect (http://www.sos.state.tx.us/corp/sosda/index.shtml) system. North Carolina and Virginia allow you to access information for free - North Carolina (http://www.secretary.state.nc.us/Corporations/) allows you to see scanned documents, while Virginia allows you to see most corporate info in text format (http://www.scc.virginia.gov/division/clk/diracc.htm) as well as scanned annual reports (http://scc-internet.scc.virginia.gov:8080/corporate/arfilings/corpsearch.asp). VA search hint: look up the corporate ID in the Clerk's Information System before searching for annual reports.
Mortgage information: Some counties have this available online, some not - depends on local statutes. For example Williamson County (Franklin, TN) has a pro-access system (http://williamson-tn.org/co_gov/profacc.htm) where subscribers can view mortgage info. A one week free trial is available. You can review property assessment and ownership info for free through the Tennessee tax assessor system (http://170.142.31.248/).
Do a Google search for "deeds" and the county you are interested in... or "property assessment," etc. and you should be able to find the appropriate site for the county you are interested in with a little digging. North Carolina seems to have the most info available online for free.
(Message edited by ulyankee on July 16, 2006)
Note that in the US, churches are not required to file information reports with the IRS or any other entity. However, other non-profits ARE.
A good starting point is www.guidestar.org (http://www.guidestar.org). You can view Form 990s for most non-profits through this link. If you register for free, you can access most recent 990s.
The Economic Research Institute (ERI) also allows you to search for Form 990s (http://www.eri-nonprofit-salaries.com/index.cfm?FuseAction=NPO.Search) for free. This site does not require registration. Pluses are that you can access 990s regardless of age (Guidestar only allows you to access three years back unless you become a paid subscriber). The only minus is that not all the 2004 990s are available through this link.
Corporate Information: Most states' Secretary of State offices post information on corporate filings in their states. You can get SOME information on churches this way - not financial, but corporate status, name history, officers, etc. Tennessee (http://www.tennesseeanytime.org/soscorp/) and California (http://kepler.ss.ca.gov/list.html) allow you to search for corporate name and status only online - if you want to see the corporate papers, you have to order hard copy from the respective states. Texas allows you to access and/or order scans of corporate filings online for a nominal fee - register in the Texas SOSDirect (http://www.sos.state.tx.us/corp/sosda/index.shtml) system. North Carolina and Virginia allow you to access information for free - North Carolina (http://www.secretary.state.nc.us/Corporations/) allows you to see scanned documents, while Virginia allows you to see most corporate info in text format (http://www.scc.virginia.gov/division/clk/diracc.htm) as well as scanned annual reports (http://scc-internet.scc.virginia.gov:8080/corporate/arfilings/corpsearch.asp). VA search hint: look up the corporate ID in the Clerk's Information System before searching for annual reports.
Mortgage information: Some counties have this available online, some not - depends on local statutes. For example Williamson County (Franklin, TN) has a pro-access system (http://williamson-tn.org/co_gov/profacc.htm) where subscribers can view mortgage info. A one week free trial is available. You can review property assessment and ownership info for free through the Tennessee tax assessor system (http://170.142.31.248/).
Do a Google search for "deeds" and the county you are interested in... or "property assessment," etc. and you should be able to find the appropriate site for the county you are interested in with a little digging. North Carolina seems to have the most info available online for free.
(Message edited by ulyankee on July 16, 2006)