Frequently Asked Questions

Directly from IRS Form 990 e-file data. We normalize it across 20+ schema versions and all three form types (990, 990-EZ, 990-PF) into a consistent, searchable format.

Over 1.8 million tax-exempt organizations that have filed electronically with the IRS. This includes public charities, private foundations, and other exempt organization types (501(c)(3), 501(c)(4), 501(c)(6), and more).

Updated monthly from IRS releases. The IRS publishes new e-filed returns on a rolling basis, typically with a 6-12 month lag from the filing date. We always show which tax year a filing is from so you know exactly what you're looking at.

All three main types: Form 990 (standard return for larger public charities), Form 990-EZ (shorter version for smaller orgs), and Form 990-PF (private foundations). Each has different data available. Form 990-N (e-Postcard) filings are not included because they contain only basic identification information.

Yes. While most people think of 501(c)(3) charities, the database includes all exempt organization types that file electronically: 501(c)(4) social welfare organizations, 501(c)(6) business leagues, and others.

Grants from both public charities (reported on 990 Schedule I) and private foundations (reported on 990-PF Part XV). You can search by funder name, recipient name, amount, state, and year. This is one of the most complete searchable grant datasets available outside of enterprise tools like Candid.

Names, titles, hours per week, and compensation for every officer, director, trustee, and key employee listed on the filing. Compensation includes reportable pay from the organization, pay from related organizations, and estimated other compensation (benefits, deferred comp, etc.).

No. The web interface lets you search, filter, and explore nonprofit data without writing any code.

No. The search handles approximate and misspelled names. Searching "habitat humanity" will still find "Habitat for Humanity International." You can also search by EIN if you have it.

Yes. Paid plans include CSV export with no per-record fees. Grow supports up to 1,000 rows per export. Pro supports up to 100,000 rows per export, plus API access for bulk workflows.

Sign up, get an API key, start making requests. No application form, no waiting for approval, no sales call. The API follows an OpenAPI 3.1 spec with semantic field names (like total_revenue instead of f9_01_rev_tot_cy) and returns structured JSON.

501see includes an MCP (Model Context Protocol) server, which means AI tools like Claude can query nonprofit data directly as part of a conversation or workflow. The API also returns structured JSON designed for LLM tool-use. If you're building AI-powered applications that need nonprofit data, you can plug in without building a custom integration.

GuideStar (now part of Candid) starts at $3,499/year for premium access. 501see starts at $0 with a free tier, and paid plans are $49-99/month with no annual contracts. Both products draw from the same underlying IRS data.

ProPublica is free and great for one-off lookups. But it doesn't have searchable grant data, bulk filtering, CSV export, or an actively maintained API (theirs hasn't been updated since 2016). 501see is built for the workflow that comes after the quick lookup: filtering, comparing, bulk exporting, and integrating.

No. Your subscription includes export. No per-record charges, no surprise fees for downloading a CSV, and no metered API billing that spikes unexpectedly. Grow exports support up to 1,000 rows per file. Pro exports support up to 100,000 rows per file.

No. All plans include unlimited users. This is a significant difference from competitors like CauseIQ and legacy GuideStar plans, which charge per user.

Yes. The free tier lets you search and browse all 1.8M+ organizations with latest-year financial summaries. Paid plans add multi-year history, officer compensation, grant data, and CSV export.

All plans are month-to-month. Cancel anytime, no penalty, no annual lock-in. Early adopter pricing is locked in for as long as you keep your plan.