Nonprofit Form 990 Public Records: A Guide for Communicators
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Why Communicators Need to Care About Form 990
IRS Form 990s are completely public: Savvy donors, journalists and even your own staff read these tax documents to understand your nonprofit's financial health, stability and leadership compensation.
It’s a powerful public relations tool: The form requires narrative descriptions of your mission and biggest program wins, which means communicators should be the ones crafting these answers, not just the finance team.
Big changes are coming soon: The Treasury Department is updating the 990 to increase oversight, so comms teams need to get familiar with the form now to protect and guide their organization's public representation.
I am really good at communication. I am TERRIBAD at math.
Accounting, even for my own business, takes A LOT of focus and explanations for me to understand. My eyes glaze over at spreadsheets.
I’m telling you this so you believe me when I say that if I’m writing you an entire email about a tax form, it is directly relevant to your communications.
I don’t just dilly dally in tax forms for funsies. No ma’am, no way. But times they are a-changin, and as communicators, we need to tap into the 990 game.
But let’s start at the beginning, shall we? (And let’s remember I’m a comms person not an accountant, so go talk to your tax professional about all this…)
What’s an IRS Form 990?
Well, in non-tax-y person terms, it’s a set of information that tax-exempt (read: nonprofit) organizations submit to the IRS.
It lists out a lot of basic information about the organization, like financial information, governance and mission activities.
Did you get that?
It lists out A heckin’ LOT of basic information, such as who your leadership team is. What their compensation is. Who your board members are. What the organization spent money on. The organization’s assets.
And for nearly all organizations who file 990s, they become PUBLIC. Like, go ahead, Google your own organization's name + 990 and… voila!
Are you starting to pick up what I’m putting down?
Who looks at the 990s?
Most 990s are available on sites such as ProPublica or Candid. That means more people than you think, such as funders, partners, donors and even your very own staff have easy access to quite a lot of information.
Savvy individual donors look through 990s before giving to organizations because they want to see how stable an organization is, and how much money goes to different programs. Journalists look at 990s for the same kind of information, as do potential job candidates.
Why should communicators care about the 990 form?
Communicators should care about Form 990 because they are a public record about the organization. And they reveal a lot of information about the organization in one easy-to-skim package.
The form asks you to fill in questions such as, “Briefly describe the organization’s mission or most significant activities” and “Describe the organization’s program service accomplishments for each of its three largest program services, as measured by expenses.“
Typically, answering those types of questions would be firmly in your communications director’s court.
What changes are coming for the 990?
Well, back in April, the Treasury Department announced they are going to change the 990 to, and I quote, “strengthen oversight”.
The press release from the Trump administration says, “The changes are intended to detect misconduct and hold wrongdoers accountable.”
The release signals that organizations may need to go into more details about any fiscal sponsorship agreements they’re involved in, and there may be more detailed reporting about government grants. But this is all speculation until there is more guidance, and it sounds like there will be a public comment period as well.
So this is my comms person to comms person recommendation for you: get familiar with the 990.
Be in the loop so that when the changes are issued, you’re able to help guide your organization and be part of the way you’re represented publicly.
Got questions? If they’re finance related, it’s best to ask your friendly local tax professional. But if they’re comms related, I would love to hear from you!
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Katie Test Davis
Katie Test Davis is the Founder of Forthright Advising and a powerhouse public relations strategist with nearly 20 years of experience advocating for children and families. Having worked in-house at public school districts and family-focused nonprofits, Katie intimately understands the challenges communication leaders face when navigating public records and complex financial narratives. She combines data-driven best practices with deep empathy to help mission-driven organizations build trust, manage their reputations, and translate wonky topics like the IRS Form 990 into compelling, human stories.
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