The Short Answer

No federal rule requires a 501(c)(3) to state its status or its Employer Identification Number (EIN) on its website. Show both anyway. Donors and grantmakers check eligibility in the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search, which finds you by EIN or legal name, and at least one donor-advised fund sponsor asks charities to put the number on their site.

Information checked against the sources linked below on 29 September 2026.

This page covers public charities; private foundations differ on donors. The federal duty that does apply is to make your filings available, which follows the status section.

At a Glance: Law, Practice and Expectation

What the website shows or does Who it applies to Status Source
A statement of 501(c)(3) status and the EIN All 501(c)(3)s Not required by the federal rules reviewed; strong practice See the next section
The legal name registered with the IRS, alongside any trading name All 501(c)(3)s Practice, and how the IRS search lists you IRS search tool
The exemption application (Form 1023 or 1023-EZ, with supporting documents and IRS letters), for inspection and copies 501(c)(3)s that applied for recognition Law 26 U.S.C. 6104(d)(1)
26 CFR 301.6104(d)-1
Each Form 990 or 990-EZ, with all schedules, and any Form 990-T filed after 17 August 2006, for three years All 501(c)(3)s that file one Law 26 U.S.C. 6104(d)
IRS
Exact copies posted online in place of supplying copies Optional Law (an exception) 26 CFR 301.6104(d)-2
Donor names and addresses withheld Public charities, not private foundations Law Schedule B instructions
A written statement where a donor gets goods or services for a payment over $75 501(c)(3)s Law 26 U.S.C. 6115
Disclosure wording, and in Florida a registration number, on solicitations Depends on the state State law See the state section
Governing documents, conflict of interest policy, financial statements Form 990 filers Not required; the 990 asks how you did it Form 990 instructions, Part VI, line 19

Why Show Your 501(c)(3) Status and EIN

What the law says

I found no federal provision that requires a 501(c)(3) to show its status or its EIN on a website. The public disclosure rule in 26 U.S.C. 6104(d) is about making filings available, not about a web page. The one federal rule that prescribes a statement in fundraising runs the other way: 26 U.S.C. 6113 applies to an organisation "which is not described in section 170(c)", and requires it to state "that contributions or gifts to such organization are not deductible as charitable contributions for Federal income tax purposes". A 501(c)(3) is not asked to say the opposite.

Donation receipts do not require the EIN either. For "any contribution of $250 or more", 26 U.S.C. 170(f)(8) denies the donor a deduction without "a contemporaneous written acknowledgment". IRS Publication 1771 says the charity "must assist a donor by providing a contemporaneous written statement containing: 1. the name of the organization 2. the amount of any monetary contribution 3. a description (but not the fair market value) of any contribution of property", followed by the statement on goods or services. The organisation's EIN is not on the list. Where a donor pays more than $75 partly for goods or services, 26 U.S.C. 6115 adds a written statement that "provides the donor with a good faith estimate of the value of such goods or services".

State rules vary and can go further. Florida requires the organisation's name at the point of solicitation, and a registered charity must "conspicuously display the organization or sponsor's registration number issued by the department" on "every printed solicitation, written confirmation, receipt, or reminder of a contribution". That is a state registration number, not the EIN.

Why it matters in practice

It is how the IRS lets people check you. The Tax Exempt Organization Search lets anyone check an organisation's "Eligibility to receive tax-deductible charitable contributions", and invites them to "Search by employer identification number (EIN) or organization name". Names are the weak route: "Organizations are listed under the legal name or a 'doing business as' name that are on file with the IRS. Common or popular names of an organizations are not on file." A donor who knows you by a trading name may not find you. An EIN on your site settles it in one search.

Donor-advised fund sponsors ask for it. Fidelity Charitable's guidance for nonprofits says: "To make sure donors can find your organization, ensure that the name your organization is doing business as matches the name you have registered with the IRS, and make it easy for donors to find your TIN on your website." That is one sponsor's stated practice, not a legal rule, but it describes how a gift from a donor-advised fund finds its recipient.

The number is already public. The same IRS tool searches Form 990 filings by EIN, so publishing it puts nothing on your site that a donor could not already find there.

My recommendation: put the legal name, "a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization" and the EIN in the footer, on the donation page and on every receipt.

What Federal Law Requires You to Make Available

Section 6104(d) covers "the annual return filed under section 6033", any unrelated business income tax return filed by "an organization described in section 501(c)(3)", and "the exempt status application materials". They must be "made available by such organization for inspection during regular business hours by any individual at the principal office", and at regional offices with three or more employees.

The application includes supporting documents and "any letter or other document issued by the Internal Revenue Service concerning the application (such as a favorable determination letter ...)" (26 CFR 301.6104(d)-1). Each annual return must be available "for a period of three years beginning on the date the return is required to be filed (determined with regard to any extension of time for filing) or is actually filed, whichever is later".

Copies follow the same regulation. In person, "an organization shall provide such copies to a requester on the day the request is made"; in writing, it "shall mail the copy of the requested documents ... within 30 days from the date it receives the request", for no more than a reasonable fee.

The Pension Protection Act of 2006 (Public Law 109-280) added Form 990-T for 501(c)(3)s, applying "to returns filed after the date of the enactment of this Act", 17 August 2006. The IRS confirms that 501(c)(3)s "must make available for public inspection Forms 990-T".

For a public charity, the statute "shall not require the disclosure of the name or address of any contributor to the organization". The Schedule B instructions confirm it, and add that other information on the schedule "is required to be made available for public inspection unless it clearly identifies the contributor". A private foundation is different: "Schedule B is open to public inspection for an organization that files Form 990-PF."

Posting Online: the "Widely Available" Exception

Under 26 CFR 301.6104(d)-2, you need not supply a copy of a document you have made "widely available", by posting it "on a World Wide Web page that the tax-exempt organization establishes and maintains or by having the document posted, as part of a database of similar documents of other tax-exempt organizations, on a World Wide Web page established and maintained by another entity".

Either way, the page must clearly inform readers "that the document is available and provides instructions for downloading it"; the document must be in a format that "exactly reproduces the image" of what was filed, apart from information the law lets you withhold; and anyone must get it "without payment of a fee to the tax-exempt organization or to another entity maintaining the World Wide Web page". The entity maintaining the page must have "procedures for ensuring the reliability and accuracy of the document".

  • A third-party site is not a general alternative. It counts only as part of such a database, and only if that site meets the same conditions.
  • Inspection survives. An organisation using the exception "must nevertheless make the document available for public inspection".
  • You still have to answer. A requester must be told "where the documents are available (including the address on the World Wide Web, if applicable)", "within 7 days of receiving the request" if they ask in writing.

A retyped summary or a designed annual report does not qualify, because neither "exactly reproduces the image" of the return.

State Solicitation Disclosures

Some states require specific wording on solicitations. Requirements vary by state; this covers only states whose own regulator's page I checked, and it is not a full list.

New York. The Attorney General's guidance under Executive Law 174-b requires "a statement that a copy of the organization's latest annual financial report may be obtained from the organization or from the Attorney General's Charities Bureau's Website", with the organisation's address, a programme description (or a statement that one is available) and the Attorney General's telephone number.

Florida. FDACS requires: "A COPY OF THE OFFICIAL REGISTRATION AND FINANCIAL INFORMATION MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE DIVISION OF CONSUMER SERVICES BY CALLING TOLL-FREE WITHIN THE STATE. REGISTRATION DOES NOT IMPLY ENDORSEMENT, APPROVAL, OR RECOMMENDATION BY THE STATE." On a website it "must be conspicuously displayed on any webpage that identifies a mailing address where contributions are to be sent, identifies a telephone number to call to process contributions, or provides for online processing of contributions".

Pennsylvania. The Solicitation of Funds for Charitable Purposes Act requires on "every printed solicitation or written confirmation, receipt and reminder of a contribution": "The official registration and financial information of (insert the legal name of the charity as registered with the department) may be obtained from the Pennsylvania Department of State by calling toll free, within Pennsylvania, 1 (800) 732-0999. Registration does not imply endorsement."

Maryland. The Secretary of State requires a disclosure statement "on all written solicitations and receipts", covering the availability of the current financial statement and of documents filed under the Act.

Only Florida's text names web pages. Treating a donation page as a written or printed solicitation elsewhere is the cautious reading, and the one I would follow.

What Is Practice, Not Law

The Form 990 on your own site. Not required, but the one piece of practice that also discharges a legal duty.

Governing documents, conflict of interest policy and financial statements. The Form 990 instructions say "Federal tax law doesn't require that such documents be made publicly available unless they were included on a form that is publicly available". Part VI, line 19, still asks how you made them available, on a return anyone can read.

Annual report, board list, audited financials. Funder expectation, not a federal requirement.

The Self-Check

  • Legal name, 501(c)(3) status and EIN appear in the footer, on the donation page and on receipts.
  • The name on the site matches the name in the IRS search tool.
  • The Form 1023 and each Form 990 and 990-T still in its window are posted as exact copies, with Schedule B donor names and addresses removed.
  • Someone knows to tell a requester where the documents are, within seven days of a written request.
  • Donation pages and receipts carry the wording for each state you solicit in.

This page summarises federal rules and selected state rules as checked on 29 September 2026. Rules change and state requirements vary. Confirm with the IRS, your state charity regulator or a qualified attorney before relying on it.

The UK equivalent is Charity Commission website requirements, which runs on a different statute and reaches a different answer.

If you want your own site read against these rules rather than assumed to meet them, the Blueprint Audit checks what your website publishes against what the law requires and what a funder looks for, and says which gaps matter.