Dataset DOI: 10.5061/dryad.f4qrfj78q

Description of the data and file structure

This dataset (INGO_Master_List_19_SEPT_2025_153.csv) was created based on the International Revenue Service’s (IRS) Exempt Organizations Business Master File of 2020. The sample contains the top 1 percent (by revenue) of nonprofits identified as ‘international, foreign affairs’  based on the National Taxonomy of Exempt Entities (NTEE) and IRS Activity Codes. The dataset contains 153 international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) and eleven categories of information for each organization. These categories include the following data collected: 1. the name of the organization, 2. its Employer Identification Number (EIN), 3. its income in 2020, 4. its founding year, 5. the headquarter city, 6. the headquarter state, 7. its NTEE code, 8. its governing board size, 9. a hyperlink to the organization's governing board information, 10. the Guidestar transparency seal attained in 2024, and 11. a Demographic Diversity Score (DDS) measured and established as part of this research.

The presence of 'N/A' in the dataset indicates that the information was not found by the researchers. For example, this applies to the column listing the board size of each included nonprofit. While the researchers were able to identify the board size of the vast majority of sample organizations, we were not able to get this information for two organizations.  

Explanation of the International Revenue Service’s (IRS) National Taxonomy of Exempt Entities (NTEE): For the purposes of categorizing different types of nonprofit organizations, the U.S. government's IRS has established a system of categories based on the key activities of a given nonprofit. In this study, we use the top and second tier levels of IRS activity codes to identify the mission areas of all included organizations for this study (n=153). The top level of these codes distinguishes between the main areas of nonprofit activities and include the following categories, including 'arts, culture, humanities,' 'education,' 'environment,' 'animal-related,' 'health care,' 'mental health,' 'medical disciplines,' 'medical research,' 'crime and legal-related,' 'employment,' 'food, agriculture, nutrition,' 'housing and shelter', 'public safety,' 'recreation and sports,' 'youth development,' 'human services,' 'international, foreign affairs,' 'civil rights,' 'community improvement,' 'philanthropy,' 'science and technology,' 'social science,' 'public, societal benefit,' 'religion,' 'mutual benefit,' and 'unknown.' Our sample consists of organizations coded as 'international, foreign affairs.' Within this category, we used available sub-codes to further categorize each study organization, including the sub-codes 'international development,' 'international relief,' and 'international health development.'

Explanation of the GuideStar Transparency Seals: GuideStar is a United States-based nonprofit serving as an information intermediary between nonprofits and their donors. It provides information about all aspects of a nonprofit and awards a transparency seal based on the extent of a given nonprofit's transparency. The mission of GuideStar is to give donors information to improve their ability to distinguish between more and less effective nonprofits. To do so, GuideStar established four transparency seal levels: bronze, silver, gold, and platinum. With each level, the nonprofit has to provide additional information: the bronze level requires basic organizational information, the silver level requires program details, the gold level requires financial information, and the platinum level requires information about strategy and outcomes.

Explanation of the Demographic Diversity Score (DDS): the DDS was developed by the authors as part of this research. In October/November 2024, the data was collected from the GuideStar webpage maintained for each organization included in this study. We then reviewed each organization’s GuideStar profile and recorded a score of ‘1’ for each of the (5) demographic categories where data was reported. This resulted in a role category score from 0 to 5 for each of the (4) role categories within the organization. We combined (summed) scores across each of the role categories to assign a unique DDS between 0 and 20. For example, if an organization reported demographic data on the organizational leader, we awarded a score between 1 and 5 depending on how many demographic categories were reported. An organization was assigned a unique DDS between 0 and 20 based on how much demographic data was reported.

Files and variables

File: INGO_Master_List_19_SEPT_2025_153.csv

Description: This dataset was created based on the International Revenue Service’s (IRS) Exempt Organizations Business Master File of 2020. The sample contains the top 1 percent (by revenue) of nonprofits identified as ‘international, foreign affairs’  based on the National Taxonomy of Exempt Entities (NTEE) and IRS Activity Codes. The dataset contains 153 international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) and eleven categories of information for each organization. These categories include the following data collected: 1. the name of the organization, 2. its Employer Identification Number (EIN), 3. its income in 2020, 4. its founding year, 5. the headquarter city, 6. the headquarter state, 7. its NTEE code, 8. its governing board size, 9. a hyperlink to the organization's governing board information, 10. the Guidestar transparency seal attained in 2024, and 11. a Demographic Diversity Score (DDS) measured and established as part of this research.

Variables

• Demographic Diversity Score (DDS)
• Guidestar transparency seal
• Organizational revenue
• Founding year
• Governing board size

Code/software

Microsoft Excel and other similar programs (Google Sheets or Apple Numbers) are required to view and work with the data.