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Conducting due diligence on an organization is an important step for a foundation before making a grant. Funders want to confirm that a nonprofit is eligible to receive grants, financially healthy, and doing work that aligns with their grantmaking goals.

Cause IQ's organization profile pages bring the information needed for this kind of in-depth review together in one place. This includes categorization and regulatory details, such as NTEE codes and Publication 78 status, detailed financials with access to historical Form 990s, program service descriptions, grant funding information, and downloadable reports.

The first step is to open the profile page for the nonprofit you want to research. To do so, type the organization's name, EIN, or website URL into the Smart search box at the top of your Dashboard, and then select the correct organization from the dropdown menu. You can also click on the linked name of an organization that appears in search results or elsewhere within the website.

Here's what it looks like when searching for the organization Pets In Need within the Smart search box:

After clicking the organization's name, its profile page will open:

Next, scroll down the profile page and use the tabs on the left to review key information about the organization.

The Summary tab is the default display when you scroll to the bottom of an organization's profile page. It provides a general overview of the nonprofit, including customizable KPIs that enable you to quickly spot trends over the past five years.

This tab also provides the organization's location, website, general contact details, a snapshot of IRS exemption information, and the following categorization fields that help you understand its activities and structure:

• NTEE code, primary
• Other NTEE codes (when applicable)
• NAICS code, primary
• Other NAICS codes (when applicable)
• Parent/child status

The screenshot below shows an organization profile Summary tab:

You'll find more detailed IRS status and compliance information in the Regulatory status tab, which we'll cover next.

Funders use regulatory data to confirm that an organization is eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions and identify any issues that may require further review. Click the "Regulatory status" tab to compare information from IRS and California regulatory sources.

Cause IQ organizes this data into the following sections:

• IRS 509(a) classification: Section 509(a) of the Internal Revenue Code identifies why a 501(c)(3) organization is classified as a public charity versus a private foundation. Cause IQ shows potential classifications based on the organization's IRS Business Master File foundation code and Schedule A from its most recent Form 990. These classifications may overlap or differ.
• Business Master File (BMF): Provides identifying and tax-exemption information from the IRS Business Master File, including the organization's EIN, 501(c) type, foundation code, group status, ruling year, and BMF name and address. In some cases, BMF information may not always match what a nonprofit reports on its Form 990. Cause IQ checks for BMF updates monthly.
• Publication 78: Shows whether an organization appears in IRS Publication 78 and is eligible to receive tax-deductible charitable contributions. It also provides the organization's deductibility status and Publication 78 name. Cause IQ checks for Publication 78 updates monthly.
• Form 990: Provides information about the organization's most recent Form 990 and notes if recent filings report an initial or amended return, an address or governance change, a diversion of assets, or termination. Cause IQ checks IRS servers for new Form 990 information weekly.
• California AB-488: Shows whether an organization may solicit charitable contributions in California. This includes the organization's California charity registry and Franchise Tax Board statuses, registration ID numbers, and the date its AB-488 status was last renewed. CA AB-488 information is checked for updates weekly.
• Changes to BMF listings: Identifies changes to the organization's IRS Business Master File records, going back as far as 2011.

Where available, the tab also shows reporting dates and the date Cause IQ last checked a piece of information.

The screenshot below shows the Regulatory status tab:

The Financials tab helps you assess an organization's financial health. This might include looking at revenue sources, expenses, assets, and liabilities, and understanding how these figures have changed over time.

At the top, you'll find the organization's most recent and historical Form 990s, available to view and download as PDF files.

Further below, Cause IQ provides digitized financials for the two most recently filed tax years, with a percent change column showing how individual metrics changed year over year.

Here's a look at the Financials tab, including PDF Form 990s at the top and digitized financials below:

The Program areas tab helps you confirm that a nonprofit's activities from its most recently reported tax year align with your funding interests. It shows the organization's three largest program services, measured by expenses, as reported in Part III, Lines 4a through 4c of its most recent Form 990.

Cause IQ provides program descriptions along with the following financial information for each reported activity:

• Program-related expenses
• Program-related revenues

Here's a look at the Program areas tab on an organization's profile:

Reviewing a nonprofit's grant history tells you which foundations already fund its work, how much they give, and where a prospective grant from your foundation would fit within its overall funding.

Click the "Funding" tab to view the organization's funding sources and grants received. The top of the tab provides a breakdown of the nonprofit's income sources, followed by a Fundraising events section showing any events reported on Schedule G of its most recently filed Form 990.

Scroll down to the section labeled "Grants from foundations and other nonprofits" to see a list of grants the organization received, organized into the following columns:

• Grantmaker
• Grantmaker tax period
• Description
• Amount

If a nonprofit has a long list of foundation grants, use the search box at the top to quickly determine whether a specific funder supports the organization.

Note that grant information comes from the grantmaker's IRS return, not the recipient organization's. Depending on the filing type, Cause IQ pulls grant information from Part XIV of the Form 990-PF or Schedule I of the Form 990.

Here's a look at a grants list within an organization's Funding tab:

Downloading reports allows you to share your research with colleagues or board members, save it to a grantee file, and work with the data outside the Cause IQ platform. Click the "Download" button in the upper-right of an organization's profile page to access the following reports:

• A PDF one-pager that provides a high-level snapshot of the organization.
• A detailed Excel organization report that packages all the information we have on an organization into an Excel workbook.
• A Regulatory PDF that includes details about a nonprofit's IRS Publication 78 status, 509(a) classification, BMF information, and California AB-488 compliance.

The Regulatory PDF is particularly useful for documenting the compliance data reviewed during due diligence.

Here's a look at this report for Pets In Need: