Donor disclosure requirements for nonprofits turn almost entirely on what kind of nonprofit you run. A 501(c)(3) public charity reports its large donors to the IRS but keeps those names off the public copy of its return. A private foundation reports the same information and must make it public. Most other 501(c) organizations no longer report donor identities to the IRS at all. Political action committees, by contrast, must publish the name, address, occupation, and employer of every donor who gives more than $200. State rules and a 2021 Supreme Court decision add a second layer on top.
Public Charities Under 501(c)(3)
Public charities get the strongest donor privacy protection of any nonprofit category. The organization must list every contributor who gives $5,000 or more during the tax year on Schedule B, which is attached to Form 990 and filed with the IRS. That list stays between the charity and the IRS. When the organization makes its Form 990 available for public inspection, it is legally prohibited from including contributor names and addresses on the public copy.1Internal Revenue Service. Public Disclosure and Availability of Exempt Organization Returns and Applications – Public Disclosure Overview
Every tax-exempt organization must make its three most recently filed Forms 990 available for public inspection, either at its principal office or by posting the forms online.2Internal Revenue Service. Public Disclosure and Availability of Exempt Organizations Returns and Applications – Documents Subject to Public Disclosure The public sees total contribution revenue, expenses, executive compensation, and program activities. The public does not see who wrote the checks. An organization providing physical copies may charge up to $0.20 per page plus actual postage.3Internal Revenue Service. Public Disclosure and Availability of Exempt Organizations Returns and Applications – Costs for Providing Copies of Documents
Private Foundations
Private foundations filing Form 990-PF operate under a completely different rule, and this is where many administrators get tripped up. A private foundation must make its entire annual return available for public inspection, including Schedule B with contributor names and addresses. The general exclusion that protects contributor identities on annual returns does not apply to private foundations or to political organizations described in Section 527.4Internal Revenue Service. Public Disclosure and Availability of Exempt Organizations Returns and Applications – Contributors Identities Not Subject to Disclosure
The IRS instructions for Form 990-PF confirm that all schedules and attachments filed with the form are subject to public disclosure.5Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 990-PF (2025) A donor giving $5,000 or more to a private foundation will have their name, address, and contribution amount appear on a publicly available document. Anyone considering a large gift to a private foundation should know this before writing the check.
501(c)(4), (c)(5), and (c)(6) Organizations After 2020
Social welfare organizations, labor unions, and trade associations once reported large donors on Schedule B in the same way as public charities. In 2020, the IRS eliminated that requirement for most 501(c) organizations outside of 501(c)(3) status.6Internal Revenue Service. Donations to Section 501(c)(4) Organizations These groups still file Form 990 and still report total contribution revenue, but they no longer hand over donor names and addresses to the IRS.
The practical effect is simple. If your organization is a 501(c)(4) social welfare group, a 501(c)(5) labor union, or a 501(c)(6) trade association, you do not report donor identities on your federal annual return. State disclosure rules may still reach you, and so may FEC rules if you spend on federal elections, but the IRS no longer collects the list.
Political Action Committees and Super PACs
Political committees live under the opposite philosophy. The Federal Election Commission publishes donor information on a searchable public website.
Federal law requires every registered political committee to disclose the identity of each person contributing more than $200 in aggregate during a calendar year. The committee must report the donor’s full name, mailing address, occupation, and employer.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 52 USC 30104 – Reporting Requirements Contributions below the threshold are reported in a single unitemized total. The $200 figure is set by statute, does not adjust for inflation, and has not changed in decades.
Traditional PACs and Super PACs follow the same donor disclosure rule. The difference between them is on the money-in and money-out side: traditional PACs are subject to contribution limits and may give directly to campaigns, while Super PACs may raise unlimited sums from individuals, corporations, and unions but cannot contribute directly to candidates or coordinate with their campaigns. Both must itemize donors above $200.
Thresholds and the Aggregation Rule
Every disclosure system has a floor below which donors stay anonymous. For the IRS, the Schedule B threshold is $5,000 from a single contributor in a tax year. For the FEC, public itemization kicks in at $200 in aggregate contributions per calendar year from a single donor.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 52 USC 30104 – Reporting Requirements State thresholds vary and sometimes fall lower.
The word “aggregate” does real work. Splitting a large contribution into smaller pieces does not evade the threshold. Four $75 gifts from the same person during the year trigger itemization once the running total crosses $200. The same combining logic applies to Schedule B at the IRS level.
The nature of the payment matters too. Membership dues paid to a 501(c)(5) labor union or a 501(c)(6) trade association are generally not treated as contributions for Schedule B purposes; they are the price of membership. A payment earmarked for a specific political purpose, however, loses any anonymity protection and must be traced through to its final recipient.
What You Owe the Donor
Disclosure runs in both directions. Your donors need written documentation from you if they want to claim a tax deduction, and getting these acknowledgments wrong can cost them the deduction.
For any cash contribution of $250 or more, the donor can only claim a deduction if they have a contemporaneous written acknowledgment from the organization. The acknowledgment must state the amount contributed, whether the organization provided any goods or services in return, and a good-faith estimate of the value of those goods or services.8Internal Revenue Service. Publication 526 – Charitable Contributions “Contemporaneous” means the donor must have the acknowledgment by the time they file their return or the return’s due date, whichever comes first.
For payments over $75 that are partly a contribution and partly payment for goods or services (a $150 gala ticket where $100 is the charitable portion, for instance), the organization must provide a written disclosure statement breaking out the deductible and non-deductible portions. Noncash gifts add further requirements, including a qualified independent appraisal for property valued above $5,000.8Internal Revenue Service. Publication 526 – Charitable Contributions
State Registration and Disclosure
Federal rules are only half the picture. Roughly 40 states have enacted charitable solicitation statutes requiring organizations to register with the state before soliciting donations from residents.9Internal Revenue Service. Charitable Solicitation – Initial State Registration Registration fees range from as little as $10 to over $1,000 annually, and exemptions vary. A national charity soliciting broadly often registers in dozens of states.
Many states also impose their own campaign finance disclosure laws for organizations that spend on state elections or ballot initiatives, and these frequently use lower itemization thresholds than the FEC’s $200. A 501(c)(4) that owes no donor list to the IRS may still owe one to a state elections commission once its state-level political spending crosses a threshold. Lobbying activity triggers a separate state registration regime, and some states require disclosure of the funding sources behind lobbying, not just the amounts spent.
The Limit Set by Americans for Prosperity Foundation v. Bonta
The Supreme Court’s 2021 decision in Americans for Prosperity Foundation v. Bonta limited how aggressively states can demand donor lists from charities. California had required every charity operating in the state to submit Schedule B to the state attorney general’s office. The Court struck down that requirement, 6-3, as a violation of donors’ First Amendment associational rights.10Supreme Court of the United States. Americans for Prosperity Foundation v. Bonta (2021)
The Court applied “exacting scrutiny,” which requires any disclosure mandate burdening associational rights to be narrowly tailored to a sufficiently important government interest. Chief Justice Roberts found California’s interest closer to administrative convenience than genuine fraud investigation. The ruling does not forbid every state donor disclosure demand, but it does give charities constitutional ground to challenge blanket requests for contributor information absent a targeted enforcement justification.
Foreign Donors
Federal law prohibits foreign nationals from contributing to, donating to, or spending money in connection with any federal, state, or local election. The ban covers contributions, independent expenditures, and any spending directed or controlled by a foreign national. Super PACs, despite being able to accept unlimited domestic contributions, cannot accept anything from a foreign national. Knowingly helping a foreign national make or route a contribution is itself a federal violation. Lawful permanent residents (green card holders) are treated as U.S. persons for contribution purposes.11Federal Election Commission. Foreign Nationals
For 501(c)(3) charities, there is no equivalent ban on accepting donations from foreign individuals or entities. Foreign government grants must be reported separately on Form 990, and any contributor giving $5,000 or more still appears on Schedule B regardless of nationality.
What Non-Compliance Costs
Both the IRS and the FEC enforce disclosure requirements with financial penalties, and repeat failures can threaten an organization’s existence.
IRS Penalties and Automatic Revocation
An organization that fails to file Form 990 by its due date (including extensions) owes $20 per day for each day the return is late. The maximum penalty for smaller organizations is the lesser of $10,500 or 5 percent of the organization’s gross receipts for the year. Organizations with gross receipts exceeding roughly $1,095,000 face $105 per day, up to about $54,500. These figures are periodically adjusted for inflation.12Internal Revenue Service. Annual Exempt Organization Return – Penalties for Failure to File
The daily penalty is not the worst consequence. Any tax-exempt organization that fails to file its required annual return for three consecutive years automatically loses 501(c) status, with revocation taking effect on the filing due date of the third missed return.13Internal Revenue Service. Automatic Revocation of Exemption Once revoked, the organization’s income becomes taxable, and for a 501(c)(3), donors can no longer claim charitable deductions. Reinstatement requires a new exemption application. This is where most small, volunteer-run nonprofits get into serious trouble.
The IRS will consider waiving late-filing penalties for reasonable cause. The request requires a written statement, made under penalty of perjury, explaining what prevented timely filing, why the organization was not negligent, and what steps it has taken to prevent a recurrence.14Internal Revenue Service. Exempt Organizations Annual Reporting Requirements – Filing Procedures – Abatement of Late Filing Penalties
FEC Penalties for Political Committees
The FEC calculates civil fines based on four factors: whether the report was election-sensitive, whether it was late or never filed, the level of financial activity involved, and the committee’s history of prior violations. Each prior violation in the current or preceding two-year election cycle increases the fine by 25 percent.15Federal Election Commission. Calculating Administrative Fines
For missed 48-hour notices of independent expenditures, the penalty is $183 per untimely notice plus 10 percent of the contribution amount not reported on time, with the same 25 percent escalator for repeat offenders.15Federal Election Commission. Calculating Administrative Fines Intentionally false donor information or deliberate evasion carries the steepest consequences at both agencies, including potential criminal referrals.