Key Word(s)
You may search for organizations by name or by a word or phrase that is key to your search. The GuideStar search engine scans the organization's GuideStar Report, current Form 990, and IRS Business Master File for the search term(s).
Since the database contains 1.8 million records, searches on keywords such as health or school can be lengthy and yield an overwhelming and unwieldy number of results. Limit your search by specifying a particular city and state or revenue range.
Special Syntax
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Phrase search
Use quotation marks ( " " ) to search for an exact phrase: "united nations" will return results where the words united nations appear beside each other in the text. Wildcards
- Use a question mark to replace a single character anywhere in a word:
te?t finds test and text. - Use an asterisk ( * ) to replace multiple characters anywhere in a word:
hous* will return results with house as well as housing.
- Use a question mark to replace a single character anywhere in a word:
Stop words
Our search recognizes stop words (nonessential, frequently used words, such as a, and, because, if, often, the, when) and rewrites your query without them, unless they are entered in quotation marks.Excluding words
Narrow your search by using a hyphen (be sure to space before the hyphen):
child -care will return results containing the term child but exclude those that also contain the term care.Acronyms
Our search recognizes some acronyms (e.g., PTA), but relevancy is improved when you type the entire organization name or keywords.
City and Zip Code
You may limit your search to a single city, or you may search by zip code. To search for a single zip code, enter the code and select 'Zip Only' for a radius. To search a larger area, select a search radius around the zip code you specify. Your radius choices range from 5 to 50 miles.
Revenue Range
Use revenue range to limit your search to organizations of a particular size. Organizations that have not reported any income are included in the first category, $0 to Unlimited.
Category
Use category to select the type of work or service performed by the nonprofit organizations for which you are searching. If you do not want to limit your search to a particular type of organization (for example, organizations dealing with the Environment and Animals), choose All Types.
