990-PF vs 990: What's the Difference?

If you’re researching nonprofits and you see references to both “Form 990” and “Form 990-PF,” you might assume they’re basically the same thing. They’re not, and the differences matter, especially if you’re doing grant research.

The short version

Form 990 is filed by public charities, organizations that receive broad public support. Think hospitals, universities, food banks, community organizations, and most nonprofits you’ve heard of.

Form 990-PF is filed by private foundations, organizations funded primarily by a single source (a person, family, or corporation) that typically make grants to other organizations. Think the Gates Foundation, Ford Foundation, or your local community’s family foundation.

The “PF” literally stands for “Private Foundation.”

Why the IRS requires a different form

Private foundations and public charities are taxed and regulated differently. Private foundations face stricter rules because they lack the built-in accountability of broad public support. When thousands of donors fund an organization, those donors collectively provide oversight. When one family funds a foundation, the IRS imposes additional requirements to prevent abuse.

The 990-PF captures information specific to these requirements: excise tax on investment income, minimum distribution requirements, self-dealing rules, and detailed grant reporting.

What’s in a 990 that’s not in a 990-PF

The standard Form 990 includes several sections that the 990-PF doesn’t:

• Part III: Program Service Accomplishments: Detailed descriptions of the organization’s three largest programs and what they cost. This is where public charities explain what they actually do.
• Part VII: Officers and Compensation: A comprehensive list of all officers, directors, key employees, and highest-compensated employees with their full compensation breakdown.
• Schedule I: Grants to Organizations: Itemized list of grants made to other organizations.

Public charities that do direct work (running programs, providing services) report on that work extensively. The 990 is designed to capture operating organizations.

What’s in a 990-PF that’s not in a regular 990

The 990-PF has sections specific to how private foundations operate:

• Part I: Revenue and Expenses: Similar to the 990 but includes excise tax calculations on net investment income.
• Part IV: Capital Gains and Losses: Detailed investment portfolio reporting. Most public charities don’t have significant investment income; most foundations do.
• Part XI: Minimum Investment Return: Foundations are required to distribute roughly 5% of their assets annually. This section calculates whether they’re meeting that requirement.
• Part XV: Grants and Contributions: This is the gold mine for grant researchers. Every grant paid or approved is listed with the recipient name, address, amount, and purpose.

Why this matters for grant research

If you’re a grant writer looking for funders, 990-PFs are your primary data source. Part XV lists every grant a foundation has made: who received it, how much, and why. This is far more detailed than what appears in a public charity’s Schedule I.

The grant data in 990-PFs lets you answer critical questions:

• Which foundations fund organizations like mine? Search for grants to organizations with similar missions or in your geographic area.
• How much does this foundation typically give? Look at the range of grant sizes; some foundations make a few large grants, others make many small ones.
• Is this foundation a good fit? If every grant goes to medical research and you’re an arts organization, you know not to waste time applying.

On 501(see), grant data from both 990s and 990-PFs is extracted and searchable. You can look up grants by funder name, recipient name, or amount, without downloading individual filings and reading through Part XV manually.

How to tell which form an organization files

Generally:

• If it’s a public charity (most nonprofits), they file Form 990 or 990-EZ
• If it’s a private foundation: they file Form 990-PF

The organization’s IRS determination letter specifies which type they are. On 501(see) and other lookup tools, the form type is shown alongside the organization’s basic information.

Some clues that an organization is a private foundation:

• The name includes “Foundation” (though not all foundations are private foundations)
• It was established by a single donor or family
• Its primary activity is making grants, not running programs
• It has significant investment assets relative to its annual spending

A common point of confusion

Community foundations are not private foundations. Despite having “foundation” in their name, community foundations (like the Silicon Valley Community Foundation or the New York Community Trust) are classified as public charities because they receive contributions from many donors. They file the regular Form 990, not the 990-PF.

Similarly, corporate foundations (like the Walmart Foundation) are private foundations and file the 990-PF, even though they’re associated with a public company.

The legal distinction is about the source of funding, not the name or size.

Quick reference

	Form 990	Form 990-PF
Filed by	Public charities	Private foundations
Program descriptions	Yes (Part III)	Limited
Officer compensation	Detailed (Part VII)	Basic
Grant data	Schedule I (if applicable)	Part XV (always)
Investment reporting	Minimal	Detailed
Distribution requirements	No	Yes (5% minimum)
Excise tax	No	Yes (on investment income)

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Understanding the difference between these two forms makes nonprofit research significantly more productive. If you’re looking for program data and executive compensation, focus on 990 filers. If you’re looking for grant data and funder research, 990-PFs are where the gold is.

Search across both 990 and 990-PF data on 501(see) – free, no account required.