As a business owner who donates to non-profits, a former employee in a leadership role in two non-profits, and as a former board member of multiple non-profits, I have had to look at the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) form 990 for a number of organizations from a variety of perspectives. You can get a surprising amount of information about most non-profits from their 990 if you know what you are looking for. While I think this document will be helpful to staff and donors, I am going to go through these points as if I am either a current or prospective board member.