What paperwork should I submit?

Please note that this article assumes that you are in the USA.

IF you have your own 501c3:

A 501(c)(3) determination letter received from the IRS works great!

The paperwork will look similar to this example paperwork.

IF you are covered by an umbrella denominational ruling:

1. Paperwork showing that your denomination is a 501c3 (like the example paperwork above)

2. Paperwork showing that your EIN number is part of the denomination (A group exemption letter. This is a letter from an officer confirming your place of worship as a subordinate under the group ruling of the national parent denomination, and must be composed on the letterhead of your national parent denomination.)

A note in EINs: If you're not sure what your Church's Federal Employer Identification Number (commonly abbreviated to FEIN, EIN, or Federal EIN) is, look at your W2 issued by the church or a year-end giving statement from the church. If you don't have those handy, get in touch your treasurer or with whoever issues the W2s for the church or whoever issues year-end giving statement for the church. The EIN will be 9 digits long, only contain numbers, and is usually formatted as either xx-xxxxxxx or xxxxxxxxx.

If you are submitting multiple pieces of paperwork, use this tool to combine them into one document.

If you don’t have access to this paperwork, you can reach out to your denomination with a message like the following:

Hi, this is [name] from [legal church name].

We are applying for Google for Nonprofits and need a group exemption letter proving our nonprofit status. Would you be able to send me the paperwork proving that our church is covered by the denomination’s 501c3?

It will need to include our EIN and proof of your 501c3 status. Ideally, it would also include my name.

Thank you!

If you don't have a group exemption through a denomination or a 501(c)3 determination letter

In this case, there are two paths forward—applying using your state tax exempt status or calling the IRS for a tax exempt letter.

Using State documents

Every state is different, but most states issue a certificate of tax exemption or some other piece of paperwork that proves that you are tax exempt. If you have that document, you can use that to apply for Google for Nonprofits. If you don't have that document, you may be able to download it from your Secretary of State's website.

Calling the IRS

You can call the IRS at (877) 829-5500 and request a letter confirming your nonprofits status.  The letter is free to you but it does take about 14 days to come in the mail, unless you are able to have it faxed to you.  If you answer “no” to the question “are you an authorized agent of this organization” the letter gets mailed to the address on file but you will still have to provide the church EIN, church name, and church address.  My understanding is that if you are an authorized agent you can have it mailed to you wherever.

If you're not sure what your Church's Federal Employer Identification Number (commonly abbreviated to FEIN, EIN, or Federal EIN) is, look at your W2 issued by the church or a year-end giving statement from the church. If you don't have those handy, get in touch your treasurer or with whoever issues the W2s for the church or whoever issues year-end giving statement for the church. The EIN will be 9 digits long, only contain numbers, and is usually formatted as either xx-xxxxxxx or xxxxxxxxx.