GuideStar Improves Charity Check, the Only 100 Percent IRS-Compliant Pre-Grant Due Diligence Product Available to Grantmakers

WASHINGTON, Sept. 12, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- GuideStar— the leading source of nonprofit information—today announced three major new upgrades to Charity Check, the only pre-grant due diligence product that is 100 percent compliant with increasingly complex IRS requirements. The upgrades allow grantmaking organizations, including private foundations and sponsors of donor-advised funds, to perform and document their pre-grant due diligence more efficiently and at the same low subscription rate.

"GuideStar Charity Check provides the same charitable and supporting organization status information that the industry has relied on for 10 years," said Pamela Jowdy, senior product manager at GuideStar. "With new advanced features, Charity Check works even harder for foundations and donor-advised funds so they can be more proficient and confident in their funding choices."

Upgrades to GuideStar Charity Check include:

Grantee Watch List & Automatic E-mail Alerts

• Provides continuous, up-to-date information on grantees
• As many as nine kinds of e-mail alerts may be provisioned, including Non-Filer Automatic Revocation, IRS Business Master File (BMF) exclusion, change in subsection code, Publication 78 exclusion, and Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) inclusion
• Users can create and manage a watch list of up to 20,000 organizations
• Individual nonprofits may be added to a specific watch list, or hundreds—even thousands—of organizations from Excel spreadsheets can be imported

Revocations Announced in the Internal Revenue Bulletin (IRB) Now Visible

• A 20-minute research and documentation process can now be completed in one click
• IRB revocation information can be seen at a glance in a revoked nonprofit's GuideStar Charity Checkreport and preview pane. The notice will include: The date the revocation was published in the IRB IRB number A direct link to the IRB in which the revocation was published

Subordinate Group Exemption Display with Parent Linkage

• There are more than 680,000 subordinate organizations in the exempt community that users won't find in IRS Publication 78; GuideStar Charity Check makes finding these subordinates and identifying their parent organizations easy
• A subordinate organization in either the GuideStar Charity Check report or preview pane can be immediately identified
• The parent organization's name and EIN (Employer Identification Number) can be found as well as the group exemption number in both the subordinate's report and its preview pane
• The subordinate's report or preview pane links directly to the parent organization's GuideStar Charity Check report

For those seeking help on how best to utilize these updates can now find support in three different ways:

1. Pam Jowdy walks users through the updates in a new YouTube video available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4uAaEj0wS8
2. GuideStar is hosting a Lunch & Learn TOMORROW, September 13, at 1 p.m. ET, to help users streamline their grantmaking due diligence even more. Space is limited, so interested parties may register for the Lunch & Learn session at http://www2.guidestar.org/rxg/news/webinars/guidestar-lunch-n-learns.aspx .
3. Frequently Asked Questions are available on GuideStar's site at: http://www2.guidestar.org/rxg/help/faqs/guidestar-charity-check/alerts.aspx

"2011 has proven to be a busy and, at times, confusing year for the grantmaking community," added Jowdy. "With Non-Filer Automatic Revocations and IRS Revenue Procedure 2011-33 redefining the pre-grant due diligence landscape, we are pleased to bring these new tools to professional philanthropists. GuideStar Charity Check continues to be compliant with a very dynamic regulatory environment, and its new features will keep funders closer to their grantees than ever before."

Media Contact:  

Lindsay J.K. Nichols

(202) 637-7614

lnichols@guidestar.org

About GuideStar

GuideStar, www.guidestar.org, connects people and organizations with information on the programs and finances of more than 1.8 million IRS-recognized nonprofits. GuideStar serves a wide audience inside and outside the nonprofit sector, including individual donors, nonprofit leaders, grantmakers, government officials, academic researchers, and the media.

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