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guidestar.org
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guidestar.org

22 technologies
VerifiedGrowingVisit804.5K/mo$10M6822 Tech
Deep Dive

GuideStar: The Google of Nonprofit Data

How a 68-person team built the definitive source of truth for 1.8M nonprofits

Before you write that $10,000 check to a charity or invest in a social enterprise, you probably want to know: are they legit? For millions of donors and grantmakers, the answer lives at GuideStar. This isn't just a database—it's the central nervous system of American philanthropy.

804K
monthly visits
$9.5M
annual revenue
68
employees
12.8M
backlinks

"GuideStar doesn't just track nonprofits—it validates the entire charitable economy."

The Trust Paradox

With only 68 employees generating $9.5M in revenue, GuideStar achieves a staggering $140K revenue per employee. But here's the kicker: their Trustpilot rating sits at 2.7/5 from just 4 reviews. This reveals a fascinating tension—massive institutional adoption (46% direct traffic) versus individual user frustration. The platform is indispensable for grantmakers, but the UX clearly needs work.

The Rebrand Gamble

GuideStar is now 'Candid'—a 2019 rebrand that's still causing SEO confusion. Search volume for 'guidestar' (15K/month) dwarfs 'candid guidestar' (1K/month). The raw data shows they're hemorrhaging brand equity: 88% of traffic is 'undefined' (likely direct GuideStar queries), while the new identity struggles to gain traction. For product leaders, this is a masterclass in the cost of forcing change on a beloved utility.

The tech stack tells its own story. Built on jQuery and Bootstrap, it's not bleeding-edge, but it's stable. Vite powers their build process, while Google Analytics, Tag Manager, and Hotjar track every click. They're optimizing for conversion, not innovation—exactly what you want in a trust platform.

  • 1.8M+ nonprofits indexed with 990 filings and 501(c)(3) verification
  • 44% organic traffic proves they own 'nonprofit data' in search
  • LinkedIn Insight Tag + Facebook Pixel = sophisticated donor retargeting
  • Backlink profile of 12.8M puts them in the league of major media properties
No mobile-first redesign
Dominates institutional trust market
Weak individual user ratings
Massive SEO moat with 12.8M backlinks
Brand confusion between GuideStar and Candid
Lean operations with 68 employees serving millions

The Ultimate B2B Infrastructure Play

GuideStar proves that boring data businesses are often the most defensible. While they struggle with consumer UX, they've made themselves irreplaceable to every foundation, major donor, and nonprofit in America. That's not a bug—it's the business model.

What tech stack does Guidestar use?

43 detected
Security1
Programming Languages1
Cloud & Hosting1
A/B Testing1
Build Tools1
UI Libraries1
CSS Frameworks1
JavaScript Libraries1
Tracking & Analytics21
F
Facebook Pixel
G
Google Tag Manager
L
LinkedIn Insight Tag
G
Google Tag Manager
S
Segment
H
Hotjar
H
Hotjar
J
jsDelivr
C
Cloudflare
G
Google Tag Manager
G
Google APIs
S
Segment
S
Salesforce
F
Facebook Pixel
L
LinkedIn Insight Tag
H
Hotjar
L
LinkedIn
P
Pardot
G
Google Analytics
G
Google DoubleClick
F
Facebook

How much traffic does Guidestar get?

Traffic & Engagement

555.3K
Monthly Visits
-7.3%
2.1
Pages/Visit
3:36
Avg. Duration
66%
Bounce Rate
Monthly Traffic Trend-18%
676.1K
Oct 2025
Oct
599.2K
Nov 2025
Nov
555.3K
Dec 2025
Dec

Rankings

#79,871
Global Rank
#19,504
United States Rank

Backlinks & Authority

12.8M
Backlinks
65.6K
Ref. Domains
57
Authority Score
Low
Penalty Risk
Backlinks Trend-19%
15.7M
Jul 2025
Jul
14.9M
Aug 2025
Aug
14.1M
Sep 2025
Sep
13.4M
Oct 2025
Oct
13.0M
Nov 2025
Nov
12.8M
Dec 2025
Dec

Search Traffic

Organic
209.4K

Top Organic Keywords

#1guidestar
49,500 vol21.6%
#3nonprofit organizations
110,000 vol1.8%
#1guide star
3,600 vol1.6%
#1guidestar login
2,900 vol1.3%
#1guidstar
1,600 vol0.7%

Where is Guidestar's audience located?

🇺🇸United States93.5%
🇮🇳India1.6%
🇨🇦Canada0.8%
🇵🇭Philippines0.7%
🇬🇧United Kingdom0.4%

Device Distribution

Desktop61.1%
Mobile38.9%

What keywords does Guidestar rank for?

5 keywords
1guidestar15.1K vol$3.07
2guidestar login1.5K vol$1.34
3guide star940 vol$3.07
4pcri50 vol$4.37
5candid guidestar1.1K vol$1.42

How is Guidestar's SEO?

Meta Tags

title75 chars

Nonprofit data for donors, grantmakers, and businesses | GuideStar | Candid

description161 chars

Find and check a charity using Candid's GuideStar. Look up 501(c)(3) status, search 990s, create nonprofit organizations lists, and verify nonprofit information.

languageEN

H1 Tags

h1Candid. .
h1What do you need to move forward?
h1Candid gets you the information you need to do good.

Who works at Guidestar?

Loading leads...

What do customers think of Guidestar?

GuideStar

GuideStar

2.7
4 reviews

Categories

Consultant#undefinedOnline Marketing Agency#undefinedBusiness to Business Service#undefined

Activity & Engagement

Reply Rate
0%
Avg. Reply Time
0.0 days

Contact Information

Address:
H Street Northwest 1250
Washington, US

Reviews (4)

Filter by rating:
D.E. Hewitt
8/11/2020
🇺🇸 United States2 reviewsOrganic
Helpful for 501c3's to gain…

Helpful for 501c3's to gain searchability

Felix Nicholson
4/24/2020
🇮🇪 Ireland10 reviewsOrganic
It's great to find a "non-profit" equivalent of Trustpilot but they're too trusting

It's great to find a "non-profit" equivalent of Trustpilot but they do not allow user reviews and are far too trusting of the information provided by the organisations. A "bronze seal of transparency" can be obtained simply with an email and P.O. Box address...

👍 1
PJS
5/13/2025
🇺🇸 United States1 reviewsOrganicUnverified
Experience date: 5/13/2025
No service after the sale

They are happy to sell your nonprofit subscription services, but have no resources for customer support. Their foundation directory product through Candid has absolutely no customer support. No phone number can be found on website. I had to use a third party to get a telephone number that leads only to voicemail or directs users to their website. New York office is closed at 2:00 pm during the business day. No way to reach a living breathing human being. How can businesses operate this way? Selling a product that is not supported is simply not ethical.

Paula Reynolds
10/31/2025
🇺🇸 United States16 reviewsOrganicUnverified
Experience date: 10/30/2025
The site is too slow

The site is too slow. GuideStar used to be an incredible resource to learn about foundations, their personnel, finances, and giving history. Ever since the site was updated with new features (over the past year) the site is extremely slow to the point where it is almost unusable if you are on a networked computer. Foundation Directory Online (also owned by Candid) does not have this problem. It needs to be rectified, expecially given the new $3,000 price tag for "Premium" benefits.

Frequently Asked Questions about Guidestar

What is Guidestar's Revenue?
Guidestar generates approximately $10M in annual revenue. With 68 employees, that's $140,000 per employee.
What does Guidestar do?
Find and check a charity using Candid's GuideStar. Look up 501(c)(3) status, search 990s, create nonprofit organizations lists, and verify nonprofit information.
How fast is Guidestar growing?
Guidestar has declined by 7.3% in the last 6 months according to traffic data. employee count has changed by 26% year over year.
How do people interact with Guidestar?
When visiting Guidestar, visitors view an average of 2.1 pages per visit, and spend around 3:36 on the site, and the bounce rate is 65.5%.
How do people find Guidestar?
345.9K people (62%) visit Guidestar directly. 209.4K (38%) find them through organic search.
Who uses Guidestar?
Guidestar's top market is United States with 519.3K visitors (93.5%). India is 2nd with 8.9K (1.6%). Canada is 3rd with 4.7K (0.8%).
What technologies does Guidestar use?
Guidestar uses 22 technologies across their website including Fonts, Security, Programming Languages. Key technologies include Google Fonts, HSTS, PHP.
Who are Guidestar's competitors?
Guidestar's main competitors include Washington Area Bicyclist Association (WABA), Equitable Food Initiative, American Society for Microbiology, American Society for Engineering Education, Conservation International. These companies operate in similar markets and compete for the same customer base.
What do customers think of Guidestar?
Guidestar has a Trustpilot score of 2.7 out of 5 (2 stars) based on 4 customer reviews.

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What are Guidestar's key pages?

Export guidestar.org Data

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About guidestar.org

Find and check a charity using Candid's GuideStar. Look up 501(c)(3) status, search 990s, create nonprofit organizations lists, and verify nonprofit information.

Company Overview

guidestar.org
Website
community_and_society
Industry
#73,757
Global Rank
804.5K
Monthly Visitors
22
Technologies

Technology Stack

guidestar.org uses 22 technologies across their website including Google Fonts, HSTS, PHP, and more.

Fonts

Google Fonts

Security

HSTS

Programming Languages

PHP

CDN

cdnjs, jsDelivr

Cloud & Hosting

Cloudflare

Advertising

DoubleClick Floodlight, LinkedIn Insight Tag, Google Ads, Facebook Pixel

Traffic & Audience

804.5K
Monthly Visits
56%
Bounce Rate
1.9
Pages/Visit
0:58
Avg. Duration

guidestar.org receives approximately 804.5K monthly visitors and ranks #73,757 globally. The website has a bounce rate of 56% with visitors viewing an average of 1.9 pages per visit. Users spend an average of 0:58 on the site.

The majority of guidestar.org's traffic comes from undefined, undefined, .

Frequently Asked Questions

What is guidestar.org?
Find and check a charity using Candid's GuideStar. Look up 501(c)(3) status, search 990s, create nonprofit organizations lists, and verify nonprofit information.
What technologies does guidestar.org use?
guidestar.org uses 22 technologies including Google Fonts, HSTS, and 16 more. View the full tech stack analysis above.
How do I contact guidestar.org?
You can contact guidestar.org via email at [email protected] or through their contact page.
What are guidestar.org's social media accounts?
guidestar.org is active on youtube, facebook, linkedin, instagram. You can find links to all their social media profiles in the social section above.
How popular is guidestar.org?
guidestar.org receives approximately 804.5K monthly visitors and ranks #73,757 globally. Traffic is growing by 3.5% month-over-month.

Related Searches

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This page provides publicly available information about guidestar.org. Data is collected from various public sources and may not always be up to date. For the most accurate information, please visit guidestar.org directly at https://guidestar.org.