Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax and
Short Form Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax

Specific Instructions for Form 990

Note: See also the General Instructions that apply to both the Form 990 and Form 990-EZ.

Completing the Heading of Form 990

The instructions that follow are keyed to items in the heading for Form 990.

Item A - Accounting period

Use the 2001 Form 990 to report on a calendar year accounting period beginning January 1, 2001, and ending December 31, 2001.

Use the 2001 Form 990 also to report on an accounting period other than a calendar year (either a fiscal year that began in 2001 or a short period (less than 12 months) that began in 2001). You must show the month and day in 2001 that your fiscal year began, or the short period began. You must also show the day, month, and year your fiscal year, or short period, ended. See General Instruction G.

Item B - Checkboxes

Address change, name change, and initial return. Check the appropriate box if the organization changed its address since it filed its previous return, or if this is the first time the organization is filing either a Form 990 or a Form 990-EZ.

If the tax-exempt organization has changed its name, attach the following documents:

Final return and amended return. Organizations should file final returns when they cease to be section 501(a) organizations or section 527 organizations; for example, when they cease operations and dissolve. See the instructions for line 79 that discuss liquidations, dissolutions, terminations, or substantial contractions.

If the return is an amended return, check the box. There are amended return requirements when filing with a state. See General Instructions E and J.

Application pending. If the organization's application for exemption is pending, check this box and complete the return.

Item C - Name and address

If we mailed the organization a Form 990 Package with a preaddressed mailing label, please attach the label in the name and address space on the return. Using the label helps us avoid errors in processing the return. If any information on the label is wrong, draw a line through that part and correct it.

If the organization operates under a name different from its legal name, give the legal name of the organization but identify its alternate name, after the legal name, by writing "aka" (also known as) and the alternate name of the organization. However, if the organization has changed its name, follow the instructions for Name change in Item B - Checkboxes.

Include the suite, room, or other unit number after the street address. If the Post Office does not deliver mail to the street address and the organization has a P.O. box, show the box number instead of the street address.

For foreign addresses, enter information in the following order: City, province or state, and the name of the country. Follow the foreign country's practice in placing the postal code in the address. Please do not abbreviate the country name.

If a change in address occurs after the return is filed, use Form 8822 to notify the IRS of the new address.

Item D - Employer identification number

The organization should have only one Federal employer identification number (EIN). If it has more than one and has not been advised which to use, notify the Internal Revenue Service Center, Ogden, UT 84201-0027. State what numbers the organization has, the name and address to which each number was assigned, and the address of its principal office. The IRS will advise the organization which number to use.

• A section 501(c)(9) voluntary employees' beneficiary association must use its own EIN and not the EIN of its sponsor.
• A disregarded entity, as described in Regulations sections 301.7701-1 through 301.7701-3, however, may use the EIN of the organization in Part IX if the disregarded entity does not have its own EIN. See General Instruction A and the instructions for Part IX.

Item E - Telephone number

Enter a telephone number of the organization that members of the public and government regulators may use during normal business hours to obtain information about the organization's finances and activities. If the organization does not have a telephone number, enter the telephone number of an organization official who can provide such information.

Item F - Accounting method

An organization must indicate the method of accounting used in preparing this return. See General Instruction G.

Item G - Web site

Show the organization's Web site address if a Web site is available. Otherwise, write "N/A" (not applicable). Consider adding your e-mail address to your Web site.

Item H - Group return, etc.

See General Instruction R. Attach the required list, if applicable, or you will be contacted later for the missing information.

Item I - Group exemption number

Enter the four-digit group exemption number (GEN) if you checked a Yes box in item H(a) and H(d). Contact the central/parent organization if you are unsure of the GEN assigned.

Item J - Type of organization

If the organization is exempt under section 501(c), check the applicable box and insert, within the parentheses, the number that identifies the type of section 501(c) organization the filer is. See the chart in General Instruction C. The term section 501(c)(3) includes organizations exempt under sections 501(e), (f), (k), and (n). Check the applicable box if the organization is a section 527 political organization. See General Instruction U.

If the organization is a section 4947(a)(1) nonexempt charitable trust, check the applicable box. Note also the discussion regarding Schedule A (Form 990 or 990-EZ) and Form 1041 in General Instruction D and the instructions to line 92 of Form 990.

Item K - Gross receipts of $25,000 or less

Check this box if the organization's gross receipts are normally not more than $25,000. However, see General Instruction A, if you received a Form 990 Package, and note the discussion on gross receipts in General Instruction B.

Item L - Calculating gross receipts

The organization's gross receipts are the total amount it received from all sources during its annual accounting period, without subtracting any costs or expenses. See the gross receipts discussion in General Instruction B.

Item M - Schedule B (Form 990, 990-EZ, or 990-PF)

Whether or not the organization enters any amount on line 1d of Form 990, the organization must either check the box in item M or attach Schedule B (Form 990, 990-EZ, or 990-PF). Failure to either check the box in item M or file Schedule B (Form 990, 990-EZ, or 990-PF) will result in a determination that the return is incomplete. See the instructions for Schedule B (Form 990, 990-EZ, or 990-PF), Schedule of Contributors, for more information.

Note: Contributor includes individuals, fiduciaries, partnerships, corporations, associations, trusts, and exempt organizations.

Guidelines for meeting the schedule of contributor requirements of Schedule B (Form 990, 990-EZ, or 990-PF)

Part I - Revenue, Expenses, and Changes in Net Assets or Fund Balances

All organizations filing Form 990 with the IRS or any state must complete Part I. Some states that accept Form 990 in place of their own forms require additional information.

Line 1 - In General

Contributions, gifts, grants, and similar amounts received

• On lines 1a through 1c, report amounts received as voluntary contributions; that is, payments, or the part of any payment, for which the payer (donor) does not receive full retail value (fair market value) from the recipient (donee) organization.
• Report gross amounts of contributions collected in the charity's name by fundraisers.
• Report all expenses of raising contributions in Fundraising, column (D), Part II, and on line 15 of Part I. You must show on line 30 professional fundraising fees relating to the gross amounts of contributions collected in the charity's name by fundraisers.
• For grants, see the paragraphs entitled, Grants that are equivalent to contributions, on the following page.

Reporting for line 1, in accordance with SFAS 116, is acceptable for Form 990 purposes, but not required by IRS. However, see General Instruction E.

An organization that receives a grant to be paid in future years should, according to SFAS 116, report the grant's present value on line 1. Accruals of present value increments to the unpaid grant should also be reported on line 1 in future years.

Contributions can arise from special events when an excess payment is received for items offered

Fundraising activities relate to soliciting and receiving contributions. However, special fundraising activities such as dinners, door-to-door sales of merchandise, carnivals, and bingo games can produce both contributions and revenue.

If a buyer, at such a special event, pays more for goods or services than their retail value, report, as a contribution, both on line 1a and on line 9a (within the parentheses), any amount paid in excess of the retail value. This situation usually occurs when organizations seek public support through solicitation programs that are in part special events or activities and are in part solicitations for contributions. The primary purpose of such solicitations is to receive contributions and not to sell the merchandise at its retail value even though this might produce a profit.

Example. An organization announces that anyone who contributes at least $40 to the organization can choose to receive a book worth $16 retail value. A person who gives $40, and who chooses the book, is really purchasing the book for $16 and also making a contribution of $24. The contribution of $24, which is the difference between the buyer's payment and the $16 retail value of the book, would be reported on line 1a and again on line 9a (within the parentheses). The revenue received ($16 retail value of the book) would be reported in the right-hand column on line 9a.

If a contributor gives more than $40, that person would be making a larger contribution, the difference between the book's retail value of $16 and the amount actually given. Rev. Rul. 67-246, 1967-2 C.B. 104, explains this principle in detail. See also the line 9 instructions and Pub. 526.

Report the expenses that relate directly to the sale of the book on line 9b. Report the expenses of raising contributions (shown within the parentheses on line 9a and again on line 1a) in Fundraising, column (D), Part II, and on line 15 of Part I.

Note: At the time of any solicitation or payment, organizations that are eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions should advise patrons of the amount deductible for Federal tax purposes. See General
Instruction L.

Contributions can arise from special events when items of only nominal value are given or offered

If an organization offers goods or services of only nominal value through a special event or distributes free, unordered, low-cost items to patrons, report the entire amount received for such benefits as a contribution on line 1a (direct public support). Report all related expenses in Fundraising, column (D), Part II. See General Instruction L for a definition of benefits that have a nominal or insubstantial value.

Section 501(c)(3) organizations

Correctly dividing gross receipts from special events into revenue and contributions is especially important for a section 501(c)(3) organization that claims public support as described in section 509(a)(1)/170(b)(1)(A)(vi) or section 509(a)(2). In the public support computations of these Code sections, the revenue portion of gross receipts may be (a) excluded entirely, (b) treated as public support, or (c) if the revenue represents unrelated trade or business income, treated as nonpublic support.

Section 501(c)(3) organizations must separate gross receipts from special events into revenue and contributions when preparing the Support Schedule in Part IV-A of Schedule A (Form 990 or 990-EZ).

Section 501(c)(9), (17), and (18) organizations

These organizations provide participants with life, sickness, accident, welfare, and unemployment insurance, pensions, or similar benefits, or a combination of these benefits. When such an organization receives payments from participants or their employers to provide these benefits, report the payments on line 2 as program service revenue, rather than on line 1 as contributions.

Donations of services are not contributions

In Part I, do not include the value of services donated to the organization, or items such as the free use of materials, equipment, or facilities as contributions on line 1. See the instructions for Part III and for Part VI, line 82, for the optional reporting of such amounts in Parts III and VI.

Any unreimbursed expenses of officers, employees, or volunteers do not belong on the Form 990 or Form 990-EZ. See the instructions for charitable contributions and employee business expenses in Pub. 526 and 463, respectively.

Grants that are equivalent to contributions

Grants that encourage an organization receiving the grant to carry on programs or activities that further its exempt purposes are grants that are equivalent to contributions. Report them on line 1. The grantor may require that the programs of the grant recipient (grantee) conform to the grantor's own policies and may specify the use of the grant, such as use for the restoration of a historic building or a voter registration drive.

A grant is still equivalent to a contribution if the grant recipient provides a service or makes a product that benefits the grantor incidentally. See examples in the line 1c instructions. However, a grant is a payment for services, and not a contribution, if the grant requires the grant recipient to provide that grantor with a specific service, facility, or product rather than to give a direct benefit primarily to the general public or to that part of the public served by the organization. In general, do not report as contributions any payments for a service, facility, or product that primarily give some economic or physical benefit to the payer (grantor).

Example. A public interest organization described in section 501(c)(4) makes a grant to another organization to conduct a nationwide survey to determine voter attitudes on issues of interest to the grantor. The grantor plans to use the results of the survey to plan its own program for the next 3 years. Under these circumstances, since the survey serves the grantor's direct needs and benefits the grantor more than incidentally, the grant to the organization making the survey is not a contribution. The grant recipient should not report the grant as a contribution but should report it on line 2 as program service revenue.

Treat research to develop products for the payer's use or benefit as directly serving the payer. However, generally, basic research or studies in the physical or social sciences should not be treated as serving the payer's needs.

See Regulations section 1.509(a)-3(g) to determine if a grant is a contribution reportable on line 1, or a revenue item reportable elsewhere on Form 990.

Line 1a - Direct public support

Contributions, gifts, grants, and similar amounts received. Enter the gross amounts of contributions, gifts, grants, and bequests that the organization received directly from the public. Include:

• All funds raised by an outside fundraiser in a charity's name and not just the amount actually received by the charity.
• Amounts received from individuals, trusts, corporations, estates, and foundations, or raised by an outside professional fundraiser.
• Include contributions and grants from public charities and other exempt organizations that are neither fundraising organizations nor affiliates of the filing organization.
• See the instructions for line 1b.

Membership dues. Report on line 1a membership dues and assessments that represent contributions from the public rather than payments for benefits received or payments from affiliated organizations. See the instructions for line 3.

Government contributions (grants). Report government grants on line 1c if they represent contributions, or on line 2 (and on line 93(g) of Part VII), if they represent fees for services. See the instructions under the heading, Grants that are equivalent to contributions, above and the instructions for line 1c below.

Commercial co-venture. Report amounts contributed by a commercial co-venture on line 1a as a contribution received directly from the public. These are amounts received by an organization (donee) for allowing an outside organization (donor) to use the donee's name in a sales promotion campaign. In such a campaign, the donor advertises that it will contribute a certain dollar amount to the donee organization for each unit of a particular product or service sold or for each occurrence of a specific type.

Contributions received through special events. Report contributions received through special events on line 1a. See the preceding line 1 instructions and the instructions for line 9.

Line 1b - Indirect public support

Enter the total contributions received indirectly from the public through solicitation campaigns conducted by federated fundraising agencies and similar fundraising organizations (such as a United Way organization and certain sectarian federations). These organizations normally conduct fundraising campaigns within a single metropolitan area or some part of a particular state and allocate part of the net proceeds to each participating organization on the basis of the donors' individual designations and other factors.

Include on line 1b amounts contributed by other organizations closely associated with the reporting organization. This includes contributions received from a parent organization, subordinate, or another organization with the same parent. National organizations that share in fundraising campaigns conducted by their local affiliates should report the amount they receive on line 1b.

Line 1c - Government contributions (grants)

The general line 1 instructions, under the heading, Grants that are equivalent to contributions, above apply to this item in particular. A grant or other payment from a governmental unit is treated as a contribution if its primary purpose is to enable the donee to provide a service to, or maintain a facility for, the direct benefit of the public rather than to serve the direct and immediate needs of the grantor even if the public pays part of the expense of providing the service or facility.

The following are examples of governmental grants and other payments that are treated as contributions:

1. Payments by a governmental unit for the construction or maintenance of library or hospital facilities open to the public.
2. Payments under government programs to nursing homes or homes for the aged in order to provide health care or other services to their residents.
3. Payments to child placement or child guidance organizations under government programs serving children in the community. The general public gets the primary and direct benefit from these payments and any benefit to the governmental unit itself would be indirect and insubstantial as compared to the public benefit.

Line 1d - Total contributions, etc.

Enter the total of amounts reported on lines 1a through 1c. In the entry spaces in the description column for line 1d, enter the separate totals for cash and noncash contributions, gifts, grants, and similar amounts received. The total of the two amounts must equal the total on line 1d.

Report as cash contributions, etc., only contributions, etc., received in the form of cash, checks, money orders, credit card charges, wire transfers, and other transfers and deposits to a cash account of he organization. If your organization records pledges as contributions, etc., at the time the pledges are made (rather than when the pledges are collected), include as cash contributions, etc., only those pledges actually collected in cash during the year and pledges uncollected at the end of the year that are reasonably expected to be paid in cash in a later year. Report all other contributions, etc., as noncash contributions, etc., in the space provided. See General Instruction L and Schedule B (Form 990, 990-EZ, or 990-PF) for a discussion of noncash contributions. Noncash contributions do not include donated services, which may be reported on line 82 and in the narrative section of Part III.

Schedule of contributors. Attach Schedule B (Form 990, 990-EZ, or 990-PF). See General Instruction L and the Specific Instructions for Completing the Heading of Form 990, Item M.

Lines 2 through 11

Note: Do not enter any contributions on lines 2 through 11. Enter all contributions on line 1. If you enter contributions on lines 2 through 11, you will be unable to complete Part VII correctly. Line 105 (the sum of amounts entered in columns (B), (D), and (E) for lines 93 through 103 of Part VII, Analysis of Income-Producing Activities) should match the total of amounts entered for correlating lines 2 through 11 of Part I. See the instructions for Part VII.

Line 2 - Program service revenue including Medicare, Medicaid payments and government fees and contracts

Enter the total of program service revenue (exempt function income) as reported in Part VII, lines 93(a) through (g), columns (B), (D), and (E). Program services are primarily those that form the basis of an organization's exemption from tax. For a more detailed description of program services, refer to the instructions for Part II, column (B), Program services.

Examples. A hospital would report on this line all of its charges for medical services (whether to be paid directly by the patients or through Medicare, Medicaid, or other third-party reimbursement), hospital parking lot fees, room charges, laboratory fees for hospital patients, and related charges for services.

Program service revenue includes income earned by the organization for providing a government agency with a service, facility, or product that benefited that government agency directly rather than benefiting the public as a whole. See the line 1c instructions for reporting guidelines when payments are received from a government agency for providing a service, facility, or product for the primary benefit of the general public.

Program service revenue also includes: tuition received by a school; revenue from admissions to a concert or other performing arts event or to a museum; royalties received as author of an educational publication distributed by a commercial publisher; interest income on loans a credit union makes to its members; payments received by a section 501(c)(9) organization from participants, or employers of participants, for health and welfare benefits coverage; insurance premiums received by a fraternal beneficiary society; and registration fees received in connection with a meeting or convention.

Program-related investments. Program service revenue also includes income from program-related investments. These investments are made primarily to accomplish an exempt purpose of the investing organization rather than to produce income. Examples are scholarship loans and low interest loans to charitable organizations, indigents, or victims of a disaster.

Rental income from an exempt function is another example of program-related investment income. When an organization rents to an unaffiliated exempt organization at less than fair rental value for the purpose of aiding that tenant's exempt function, the reporting organization should report such rental income as program service revenue on line 2. See also the instructions for line 6a. For purposes of this return, report all rental income from an affiliated organization on line 2.

Unrelated trade or business activities. Unrelated trade or business activities (not including any special events or activities) that generate fees for services may also be program service activities. A social club, for example, should report as program service revenue the fees it charges both members and nonmembers for the use of its tennis courts and golf course.

Sales of inventory items by hospitals, colleges, and universities. Books and records maintained in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles for hospitals, colleges, and universities are more specialized than books and records maintained according to those accounting principles for other types of organizations that file Form 990. Accordingly, hospitals, colleges, and universities may report, as program service revenue on line 2, sales of inventory items otherwise reportable on line 10a. In that event, show the applicable cost of goods sold as program service expense on line 13 of Part I and in column (B) of Part II. All other organizations, however, should not report sales of inventory items on line 2.

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