Guide

Check one organization in five minutes

The IRS tools are free and the sequence is short. What makes the check unreliable is not the tools; it is stopping at the first result. These are the five steps, in the order that avoids a wrong answer.

Step 1. Start from the EIN, not the name

Names are not unique. "Foundation" and "the" are everywhere, DBA names are not in every dataset, and a chapter can share a name with its national organization. Pull the EIN from the client file and search by that.

Step 2. Search the Auto-Revocation List

Open the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search, choose the Auto-Revocation List database, and search by EIN. If nothing returns, that is a data point, not a clean bill of health. IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search

Step 3. Read the reinstatement date before the revocation date

A row with a reinstatement date is a restored organization that stays on the list forever. A row without one is revoked. The effective date tells you when the gap began; the posting date tells you when anyone could have known. Those are different facts and both matter.

Step 4. Confirm current status in Pub. 78 or the determination letter

Pub. 78 lists organizations eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions. A reinstated 501(c)(3) should appear there. If the organization is a church, a group-ruling subordinate, or a governmental unit, the absence from Pub. 78 is expected and proves nothing.

Step 5. Look for the gap that precedes the revocation

A revocation is the last step of a three-year slide. The filing history shows the slide while it is still fixable: which years are missing, which form the organization was eligible to file, and whether the missing year is the first or the second. This is the only step that produces a warning instead of a postmortem.

What the four outcomes mean

What you see	What it means	What to do next
On the list, reinstatement date present	The exemption was restored, possibly retroactively.	Check that your own records were updated. Most stale files are here.
On the list, no reinstatement date	Revoked, and still revoked as far as the public record shows.	Confirm the EIN, then look at the 15-month window.
Not on the list, no filing in three years	The revocation may not have posted yet, or the filing requirement differs.	Check the filing history and the form the organization was eligible to file.
Not on the list, filings current	Nothing to do this month.	Keep the check date. The value is the record, not the result.

Five minutes becomes an afternoon at forty organizations

The manual check is fine for one organization and fine for a donor making one grant. It stops being a control at around forty EINs: the steps are the same, the errors are silent, and the thing you need at the end is a dated record of what you checked, which a browser history is not.

A monthly roster check is a different product from a lookup. It is the difference between knowing an answer and being able to prove you asked the question every month.

Questions

What if the EIN returns nothing at all?

Four possibilities, and they are not equivalent: the EIN is wrong, the organization was never recognized as exempt, it is a church or church-related organization that does not have to appear in Pub. 78, or it is a subordinate under a group ruling listed under the central organization. Do not report a blank result as healthy.

How often should the check be repeated?

The Auto-Revocation List updates monthly, so a monthly check matches the source. Quarterly is a compromise people make when the list is short. Annual is a snapshot that says nothing about the eleven months after it.

Is Pub. 78 the same as a determination letter?

No. Pub. 78 is the IRS list of organizations eligible to receive deductible contributions. The determination letter is the IRS's written recognition, and after reinstatement it carries an effective date. For a reinstated organization, the letter is what shows the effective date; the list shows the posting and reinstatement dates.

Does this cover state charity registration?

No. State charitable solicitation registration is separate, filed with the attorney general or another state agency, and a federal reinstatement does not restore it. That is a second roster with a second set of deadlines.