Yes, in general. The law says a tax-exempt organization must make its annual return, including its schedules and attachments, available for public inspection. The IRS says most organizations do not have to make contributor names and addresses on Schedule B public, but private foundations and section 527 political organizations do, and the rest of Schedule B can still be public. Good practice is to prepare the public copy on purpose, and to keep Social Security numbers and private details out of Schedule O.
Many board members are surprised to learn how much of a Form 990 anyone can read. The people who read it include donors, reporters, grantmakers, job applicants and prospective directors. This article explains what is public, how donor names on Schedule B are treated, how an organization must provide copies and what a board should check before a copy goes out. It is based on the 2025 Form 990 instructions and IRS pages read on October 31, 2026. For the review step that checks the public copy, see the Form 990 board review checklist.
What is public on a Form 990?
The instructions say an organization filing Form 990 must make its information return, including all schedules and attachments, available for public inspection. The IRS public disclosure overview adds that the return includes any schedules and attachments filed with the form. The first page of the form is marked “Open to Public Inspection.” The IRS makes the same information available too.
| What | Public? | What the IRS says |
|---|---|---|
| The Form 990 and all its schedules and attachments | Yes | The copy must include all information furnished to the IRS, with all statements, attachments and supporting documents, except contributor names and addresses |
| Part VII: names, titles, hours and pay | Yes | It is part of the return. See Part VII, check your own line |
| Schedule O | Yes | The instructions say not to put any Social Security number on it, because the schedule is available for public inspection |
| The paid preparer block, including the PTIN | Yes | Enter the PTIN, not a Social Security number. The IRS will not redact a Social Security number entered there |
| Contributor names and addresses on Schedule B | Generally no, for most organizations | Not required to be made public. This does not apply to private foundations or to section 527 political organizations |
| The rest of Schedule B, such as amounts and descriptions of noncash gifts | Yes, unless it clearly identifies the contributor | All other information on Schedule B is required to be public unless it clearly identifies the contributor |
| Addresses given for Part VI, line 9 on Schedule O, and a personal address on line 20 | Yes | The instructions say such information will be available to the public |
| Amended returns | Yes, with the original | Both the original and the amended return are subject to public inspection |
| Form 990-T for a section 501(c)(3) organization | Yes | It must also be available for public inspection |
Source: IRS Instructions for Form 990 (2025), General Instructions, Section J, Appendix D and Part VI, and the IRS page on contributors’ identities.
Do not promise donors that their names are always private. The exclusion covers the name and address of a contributor on the annual return, including Schedule B, for most organizations. It does not cover private foundations or section 527 political organizations. It does not cover other Schedule B information that clearly identifies a contributor. The exemption application is also public, and two IRS sources do not describe contributor names in an application the same way, so ask counsel before donor names go into one.
How must an organization provide copies?
An organization must make its return available for inspection and either provide copies or make it widely available online. The instructions put it this way: it must make the return available for public inspection, and either provide copies on request, in person or by mail, or make the documents “widely available” on the Internet.
| Situation | What the organization must do |
|---|---|
| Someone asks to inspect the return in person | Allow inspection without charge at the principal office during regular business hours. Regional or district offices with enough paid staff follow similar rules |
| Someone asks for a copy in person | Provide the copy the day of the request, with limited exceptions for unusual circumstances |
| Someone asks in writing, by mail, email or fax | Mail the copy within 30 days of receiving the request. The request must give an address to send it to |
| A fee | A reasonable fee for copying and actual postage. The organization can ask for payment in advance and must tell the requester the amount within 7 days |
| The return is posted online | The organization need not provide copies if the posting meets the IRS tests. It must still allow in-person inspection and tell any requester where the return is posted |
| How long | Each annual return must be available for 3 years from its due date, including extensions, or from the date it was actually filed if that is later |
Source: IRS Instructions for Form 990 (2025), Appendix D, and the IRS page on public disclosure requirements.
An online posting must meet three tests. The page must tell readers the document is available and how to download it. The document must reproduce the return exactly as filed, except for information the law lets you withhold. And anyone with Internet access must be able to open, download and print it without a fee or special software. If the posting meets these tests, the organization has made the return widely available.
Part VI, line 18 asks how you did it. The form asks you to check how the return was made available: your own website, another website, on request or another way. Check “Own website” only if you posted an exact copy of the return, other than what the law lets you withhold, such as contributor names and addresses on Schedule B.
What should you check before a copy goes out?
The copy the public sees is not the same as the copy filed with the IRS. The IRS receives the return with Schedule B in full. The public copy must include everything furnished to the IRS except contributor names and addresses. Do not remove anything else on your own, and do not advise a preparer to redact an e-filed return casually. Ask your preparer to prepare the public copy and check what the instructions allow you to withhold.
Then have someone other than the preparer check three things:
- No Social Security number appears anywhere, including Schedule O and the preparer block
- No donor name appears in narrative text or an attachment, such as a program description, a thank-you letter or a grant narrative
- No personal home address appears that you did not mean to make public, such as on Schedule O for line 9 or on line 20
Call a specialist if you are unsure whether something identifies a contributor, if you are a private foundation or a section 527 organization, or if you are getting a flood of similar requests. The instructions allow an organization to disregard copy requests beyond the first two in any 30-day period or the first four in any one-year period from the same person or address. They also describe a way to ask the IRS for a harassment-campaign determination. We do not decide those questions here.
Failing to comply has a cost. The instructions say a person who does not comply with the public inspection rules is charged a penalty for each day inspection was not permitted, with a maximum for each return, and an additional penalty for willful failures. The amounts change, so read the current instructions.
What does a public-copy check look like?
Here is a fictional example. River Arts Collaborative is the made-up calendar-year public charity from our other Form 990 articles. A neighbor emails asking for the organization’s latest return.
| Step | What the organization did |
|---|---|
| 1. Log the request | The board secretary logs the date of the email, because the 30-day clock starts when the request is received |
| 2. Prepare the copy | The finance lead asks the preparer for the public copy: the full return with its schedules and attachments, without the contributor names and addresses on Schedule B |
| 3. Check the copy | The treasurer reads Schedule O and the attachments and finds a donor’s name in an attached thank-you letter. She holds the copy and asks counsel whether it may stay |
| 4. Send and record | Counsel advises within a few days. The corrected copy goes out well inside 30 days, and the secretary records the date it was sent |
Fictional example for illustration. The facts and dates are made up.
The teaching point: the exclusion for contributor names is narrow, and the leak was in a letter, not in Schedule B. A second reader and a request log turned a risky reply into a routine one. The free download below includes the review checklist, whose last question checks the public copy.
Based on the 2025 Form 990 instructions and IRS pages read on October 31, 2026. Disclosure rules differ for private foundations, section 527 organizations and other types of organization, and for exemption applications. Penalty amounts and procedures change, so check the current IRS instructions. Filing rules depend on your organization’s classification, facts, tax year and state. This article is general education, not legal advice. Ask a qualified exempt-organization attorney about your situation.