How it works
Search your organization
The EIN is exact and fastest. Name plus state works if you do not have the number in front of you.
Read your record
Classification, determination date, and what each one actually means in plain English.
See who is funding your lane
Grantmakers giving to organizations like yours, in your area.
What you get on every result
- Your organization as the IRS public file has it — legal name, address, classification
- Your classification, and whether it matches what you actually do
- Your filing history and any gap that is building
- Whether donors can write off a gift to you today
- Funders in your subject area near you
- A source line on every single fact
Common questions
How do I look up a 501(c)(3) organization?
Enter the organization's EIN, or its name and state, in the box above. The record comes from the IRS Business Master File, which the IRS publishes and updates monthly.
Source: IRS Business Master File.
Where do I find my nonprofit's EIN?
It is on your IRS determination letter, on any Form 990 you have filed, and on your bank paperwork. If you cannot find it, search by organization name and state instead.
Is this the same as the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search?
It is built on the same public files the IRS publishes. The difference is who it is written for: those files are formatted for researchers, and this reads them back to the person running the organization.
Source: IRS Business Master File.
What does deductibility mean on my record?
It is whether a donor can deduct a gift to you on their own tax return. It is recorded per organization in the IRS file and it is not the same field as your exempt status.
Source: IRS Business Master File.
Can a nonprofit lose its 501(c)(3) status?
Yes, and the most common way is automatic. Three consecutive missed annual returns revokes exempt status by operation of law, effective on the due date of the third missed return. There is no warning letter and no appeal.
Source: Internal Revenue Code §6033(j).
What is a 990-N and when is it due?
It is the electronic notice the smallest organizations file instead of a full return. It asks for eight items, none of them about your board or your governance, and it is due the 15th day of the 5th month after your tax year ends. No extension is available for it.
Source: IRS, Form 990-N filing requirements.
Why does my record say something different than I expected?
The public file lags. It is republished on a schedule, so a filing you sent recently may not have landed in it yet, and a change of address or name can take longer still. Every line here shows the date of the record it came from, so you can see how old the answer is.
Source: IRS Business Master File.
Is this free?
Yes. Form 990 returns and the exempt organization files are public under Internal Revenue Code §6104. That is the only reason any free lookup exists, ours included.
Source: Internal Revenue Code §6104.