Please, if you run the website or a development office of a tax-exempt charity, place your EIN, address, and 501c3 status prominently on your website. It will make it much easier for me to give you money.

All too often I hear about a neat charity that deserves support. Then I go to the website and I find a form that includes a donation link run by a third party. Which is great for a quick one off credit card donation. But sometimes I’m trying to give a larger donation from my Donor-Advised Fund. Which means I have to look up the business on my bank’s website and often it’s not easy. Many charities operate under one name then raise funds via a separate company, often an umbrella parent company that handles the tax logistics. I want to be triply sure I get the right company!

The EIN makes this simple. It’s the tax ID code that uniquely identifies businesses. Every DAF makes it easy to look up a charity by its EIN. It’s also very helpful for finding a company at a charity research site like Charity Navigator or Guidestar. Having your legal business street address easily findable also helps. It makes it easy to verify that you’re paying the right company, and in a pinch you can often look up a business by its address.