Check 1,000 nonprofits' IRS status in one run, free and offline

Description and use

The charity-check tool lets users verify up to 1,000 nonprofit IRS statuses offline by downloading public IRS files and matching EINs from a spreadsheet, producing a detailed CSV with eligibility and revocation flags.

Problem

Organizations that give money to other nonprofits must verify each recipient is still an IRS-recognized charity, but the IRS lookup site checks only one organization at a time and paid services are required for bulk checks.

Outcome

The tool enables donors to verify up to 1,000 nonprofit IRS statuses offline, producing a detailed CSV with eligibility, revocation, and other flags, while keeping sensitive data local.

Workflow

• 1. Prepare a CSV with an EIN column.
• 2. Run python charity_check.py grantees.csv -o checked.csv.
• 3. The script downloads IRS Publication 78, the automatic‑revocation list, and optionally the Exempt Organizations Business Master File.
• 4. It caches the files and matches each EIN, adding status and related columns to the output CSV.
• 5. Review the new columns (e.g., irs_status, revocation dates, foundation code) before making grant decisions.

Evidence

The IRS lookup site, Tax Exempt Organization Search, checks one organization at a time. Paid services check in bulk.

Source

I built charity-check, a free and open tool that does the bulk check on your own computer.

Source

It downloads three IRS files: Publication 78, the automatic‑revocation list and, with --bmf, the Exempt Organizations Business Master File (1.96 million rows).

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Spreadsheet damage is handled: EINs with dashes, without dashes, saved as 530196605.0, or missing the leading zero all work.

Source

charity-check only downloads the public IRS files and does the matching locally, so your list never leaves your machine.

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