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How to verify your nonprofit and the benefits of doing so
How to verify your nonprofit and the benefits of doing so

All 501(c) registered nonprofits are eligible for verification by Givebutter and can receive a special badge and exclusive benefits.

Max Friedman avatar
Written by Max Friedman
Updated this week

Benefits of getting verified ✨

A special checkmark indicates your nonprofit status across all Givebutter pages, giving donors peace of mind and added confidence when giving to your organization. If you verify your nonprofit on Givebutter, you'll also have access to the following benefits.

ACH payments 🏦

Verified nonprofits can process ACH payments! Givebutter is excited to offer ACH as a lower-cost payment option on any campaign with no additional setup required. ACH is activated automatically for all verified nonprofit accounts. Learn about ACH payments on Givebutter →

DAF payments 💰

Get direct access to the $234B sitting in Donor-Advised Funds — never again worry about missing out on DAF donations. Learn about activating DAF payments →

Shorter pending period 💸

Instead of the standard 72-hour pending period, verified nonprofits have access to a shorter 48-hour pending period for all transactions!

Outbound Engage SMS messages 💬

Only verified nonprofit accounts on Givebutter have access to Engage SMS, which allows you to send targeted outbound text messages to your supporters.

Sponsored auction items via Winspire 📣

Verified accounts on Givebutter get access to our partnership with Winspire, allowing you to seamlessly add high-quality travel packages to your Givebutter auction.

Additional benefits ➕

  • Receipts sent to donors always include your EIN.

  • Receive exclusive and early access to new features, resources, and co-branded materials exclusively for verified nonprofits on Givebutter.

  • Engage is automatically activated for verified nonprofit accounts. Other accounts must request access and meet additional requirements in order to send out emails.

  • Appear in various prominent locations of the Givebutter website as verified fundraising and donation options for visitors (coming soon)!

How to verify your account ✅

If your organization holds nonprofit status with the IRS, you may qualify for verified status on Givebutter. We also support the verification of fiscally-sponsored organizations using a parent EIN.

We use the GuideStar nonprofit database to verify nonprofits on Givebutter. Please note that you will need a GuideStar profile linked to your nonprofit’s EIN to proceed with verification on Givebutter. Read more about claiming your GuideStar profile →

Your organization must have a profile on GuideStar in order to verify.

To start the verification process on Givebutter, log in to your Givebutter dashboard, go to Settings, About, and then Account Verification. Verify Your Nonprofit is Step 3.

step 3 verification
  • Check the box to indicate that you are a legal or authorized representative of the nonprofit you are attempting to verify, and click Get started.

  • You'll be prompted to select an organization type. We support both registered nonprofits and fiscally-sponsored or shared EIN organizations. Enter your EIN in the box and click Submit.

Your nonprofit verification will be automatically approved as long as your verified email address has the same domain as the URL listed for your organization in the GuideStar Database. If you receive an error message, you may need to take additional action.

Shared EINs and Umbrella Organizations ☂️

Organizations that hold nonprofit status under a fiscal sponsorship, umbrella, or parent EIN are eligible for verification too! This is done the same way as you would verify a standard nonprofit EIN, but you'd select Group exempt or sponsored in the registration process. Read more about verifying a fiscally sponsored organization →

Errors + Troubleshooting ⛔

"This EIN was not found on GuideStar" / "No GuideStar profile"

If your organization’s EIN isn’t found, this is because your nonprofit’s EIN isn't in the GuideStar database yet. They may not yet have a profile created for your organization, especially if your organization received nonprofit status recently. GuideStar logs new EINs weekly. You’ll need an up-to-date GuideStar profile for your organization before your EIN will be recognized in our system. Please note that creating a user account/login on GuideStar does not automatically create a nonprofit profile. Read more about claiming your GuideStar profile →

"No website listed on GuideStar"

If no website is listed on your nonprofit's GuideStar profile, you won't be able to automatically verify. Please visit your nonprofit's GuideStar profile to add your website. Updates can take several days to register in the GuideStar database. You also have the option of manually verifying your information.

"Email domain doesn't match website on GuideStar"

If the email address you verified on your Givebutter account has a different domain from the website listed on your GuideStar profile, you won't be able to automatically verify. For example, if your GuideStar profile has greatnonprofit.org listed as your website, your verified email address must be on the same domain, ie. [email protected].

To fix this, update the email address you use on Givebutter. Please note that this will change your login email used for Givebutter. If you change your email address, you'll be sent an email to verify your new login email. After verifying your new email, return to the account verification process to proceed.

If you do not have access to an email address on the organization’s domain, your verification request must be manually reviewed.

Manual verification 🔍

Some instances require a manual review of information by our Trust and Safety team. You'll need to input the contact phone number of your organization and a copy of your organization's IRS Determination Letter. The first sentence of the letter should say something similar to "We're pleased to tell you we have determined you're exempt from federal income tax under Internal Revenue Code Section [...]."

  • Maximum upload size is 5MB per file

  • We support CSV, XLSX, TXT, DOC, PDF, RTF, PNG, SVG, and JPEG files

Please allow 1-3 business days for our team to review your documents. You'll receive an email when our review is complete. If you make a mistake, you can upload additional documents. If any action by you is required, we'll let you know in your dashboard and via email.

What does a determination letter look like? See below!

Givebutter reviews all manual verification requests on a case-by-case basis, and acceptance is not guaranteed. If GuideStar determines that your organization does not have nonprofit status or is not in good standing with the IRS, your verification request will be denied.


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