The verification method

It is the annual return most tax-exempt orgs must file, and it is free to read. You get revenue and where it came from, spending split across program, management, and fundraising, executive pay, and board composition. You are not auditing; you are sanity-checking. Does program spending dominate, does the story match the marketing, and is compensation defensible for the org's size? ProPublica's Nonprofit Explorer and the IRS's own site serve 990s free. Small orgs may file the lighter 990-N, which is itself a size signal.

Only at the extremes, and the sector's own evaluators now say so. Starving admin — the "overhead aversion" problem — breaks good organizations, and program-ratio games are easy to play. Use ratios to catch outliers, then judge what matters more. That means clarity about outcomes, financial stability across a few years of 990s, and third-party signals. A 75% program ratio with real results beats a 95% ratio with vapor.

Mostly as they do everywhere. Name-alike fakes ride real orgs' reputations, so check the EIN and not the name. Disaster-chasing pop-ups follow North Texas storms, and pressure solicitation arrives by phone or at the door. The EIN habit defeats the name-alikes. Giving through an org's own verified site, or a vetted event like North Texas Giving Day, defeats most of the rest.