July 20, 2010 — The Massachusetts Nonprofit Database, an online tool that provides comprehensive information that nonprofits can use to build their capacity, the first of its kind in the state, is now available.

A collaboration of The Boston Foundation and the Urban Institute's National Center for Charitable Statistics, the database is available by clicking here.

Still in beta format, the database will provide nonprofit organizations, community leaders, and citizens with comprehensive data, information and tools to build stronger nonprofit organizations and communities, promote greater citizen engagement, and link to other data and information resources.

Based on data from the Internal Revenue Service and the National Center for Charitable Statistics, the database enables users to view, update, and add nonprofit organizations, schools, churches or other organizations or resources and to overlay with data on community needs via maps, charts, lists, or tables.

Also provided are the following modules:

Financial Analyzer permits users to compare an organization’s performance to similar organizations (a user-defined peer group or general category) and to graph key ratios.

Programs and Service-Delivery Area Mapping Tool lets users combine program descriptions from IRS Form 990s with additional data from 2-1-1 and other community databases and define and map the service delivery areas of the organizations to create a comprehensive picture of the programs and services in a community. (Urban Institute outcome measurement tools may be integrated into this system, as well.)

Shared Goods and Services Tool provides a convenient system for nonprofits to communicate with one another about both their needs and potential excess capacity.

Project Management Tools enable nonprofit organizations or groups of citizens or students to collaborate efficiently in mapping community resources and needs.

Advanced Tools for custom analysis of nonprofit data are also available for registered users.