Tracking nonprofits
By Nora Paul and Andy Lehren
The Internet offers a growing list that can help reporters background a nonprofit organization. Learn how to better read their financial reports. Tap into the trade press. See how they should be run. And, of course, you can find all kinds of nonprofits and foundations.
Be prepared
Learn how to evaluate nonprofits. This site offers a good introduction on some of the financial measures to evaluate. This includes a section on how to read a nonprofit's financial statement. Visit http://www.human.com:80/inc/lib/eval.html
The National Charities Information Bureau wants to promote informed giving to charities. Part of that effort includes evaluations of more than 300 nonprofits. For instance, Accuracy in Media does not meet all standards. The group also outlines its standards to better help you evaluate a nonprofit. Go http://www.give.org/
Learn more about how nonprofits should run from the National Center for Nonprofit Boards. It offers advice on how boards of directors should work, sample job descriptions for chief executives, and case studies on running nonprofits. Visit gopher://ncnb.org:7002/1
Trade press offerings
See how the trade press covers nonprofits. This list offers links to a variety of publications. There is The NonProfit Times, which recently profiled how nonprofits use databases to raise money. The Philanthropy News Digest, run by the Foundation Center, offers tidbits compiled from the nation's media, like how Minnesota nonprofits are worried about 3M's restructuring. Go to this link list at http://www.duke.edu/~ptavern/Pete.Philanthropic.html#Press
One publication not on the above list is The Chronicle of Philanthropy. But you can subscribe to the magazine's listserv. It's a one-way conversation, where every two weeks the magazine sends you a summary of issues facing nonprofits. Subscribe by sending e-mail to chronicle-request@nonprofit.com. Write "subscribe chronicle" as your message.
Chronicle editors also mail out a listing of forthcoming conferences, workshops, and other events. The publication cautions that the list is not a substitute for the paper version. Postings to the list are not allowed.
Links
There's also a list that links to hundreds of nonprofits with web sites, from repertory theaters to cat rescue groups to the Children's Defense Funds. Information at each of the sites differs. For example, the Children's Defense Fund has statistics, like "Each day in America" and information on how much it costs to raise a child. City Harvest has videos about some of their projects, and Debt Counselors of America has information on scams to avoid. Go to http://www.vive.com/www/virtual/all.htm
The Meta-Index for Non-Profit Organizations is among the most comprehensive Internet listings, broken down by categories, of resources by, for and about nonprofits. http://www.duke.edu/~ptavern/Pete.meta-index.html
Internet Resources for Non-profit Public Service Organizations offers an excellent compilation of links to discussion groups, public records, legislative acts and government agencies of interest those who run nonprofits. http://asa.ugl.lib.umich.edu/chdocs/nonprofits/nonprofits.html
Philip A. Walker, an information systems manager for Emergency Food and Shelter National Board Program at United Way of America, runs a series of links to nonprofits. These include a variety of United Way sites. Go to http://www.clark.net/pub/pwalker/home.html
For health-related nonprofits, the University of Kentucky offers gopher://UKCC.uky.edu:70/1menu%0UKR200%21191/HLTHMNTL.INFO
Campaign Central's page on Political Action Committees, trade associations and nonprofits is at http://www.clark.net/ccentral/nonprofs.htm
Also available is the Contact Center, which does just what the name says. It lets you get in contact with a lot of nonprofits and foundations. Go to http://www.contact.org/
For a listing of toll-free phone numbers of non-profit organization, go to gopher://woca7.nwoca.ohio.go 70/00gopher_root:%5b_other%5d_1800HELP
"Have I Got A Tip For You..." a guide to investigative reporting by Stanley Penn, is available from IRE for $5. Penn is a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter who retired in 1990 from the Wall Street Journal. IRE is also now selling guides to public records from BRB Publications Inc. The volumes include nationwide guides on where to find tax liens, bankruptcy records, and drivers license records. Prices vary. Call IRE for more information.
Nora Paul of the Poynter Institute can be reached at (813) 821-9494, or send e-mail to npaul@poynter.org.
Andy Lehren of NICAR can be reached at (314) 882-0684, or send e-mail to andy@nicar.org.