- Registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and/or its international counterparts

- Offer shares for sale to the general public and is traded on one or more stock exchange like the NASDQ or NYSE

- Ticker Symbol: is an abbreviation that symbolizes the companies' stock name (APPL for Apple).
- Required to make a variety of public disclosures

• to protect investors
• ensure equal access to company financials

Important SEC filings include: 

  - the 10-K Annual Report, 10-Q Quarterly Report, 8-K disclosure of material events

Mergentonline  - each company has a report tab

EDGAR  - SEC's system 

These companies do not need to make the comprehensive SEC filings that required of publicly-traded companies.
Consequently, the amount, quality, and scope of available information is limited.

Sources for information:

• Business entity filings, (i.e. articles of incorporation)
• Required government filings for companies in regulated industries, (i.e. banking, insurance, etc.)
• Newspaper articles
• Subscription services
• Voluntary disclosures

According to the National Center for Charitable Statistics (NCCS), there are over 1.5 million registered nonprofit organizations in the U.S.:

1. public charities,
2. private foundations,
3. other types including chambers of commerce, fraternal organizations and civic leagues.

Information varies greatly.
   - Larger nonprofits may voluntarily disclose financial statements and other useful documents.  
   - 501(c) tax-exempt companies are required to file a Form 990 with the IRS.

• Guidestar provides information about nonprofits - most of it free with registration
• Nonprofit Explorer, over 600,000 nonprofit organizations
  - organizations that has been recognized as tax exempt by the IRS
  - includes all 27 nonprofit designations