The national Boys and Girls Clubs of America uses EIN 13-5562976, but that number belongs only to the national headquarters. If you donated to a local club, you need that club’s own nine-digit EIN, which is different. Every local Boys and Girls Club is typically its own independent nonprofit corporation with its own tax ID, so using the national number for a local gift creates mismatched records at tax time.
Why Local Clubs Have Their Own EIN
Boys and Girls Clubs of America runs as a decentralized network. Each local club is an autonomous corporation organized under the laws of its own state, with an independent board that controls programs, staff, and finances. The national organization does not supervise, direct, or control the chartered local member clubs, and BGCA’s consolidated financial statements do not include local clubs’ financial positions or operating results. Each club carries its own EIN, files its own tax returns, and manages its own bank accounts and payroll.
For a donor, this matters because your contribution was legally received by the local corporation, not by the national office. Reporting the national EIN for a gift made to a local chapter attributes it to the wrong entity. The club that actually received your money is the one whose EIN belongs on your records.
How to Find a Local Club’s EIN
Start with the club’s own website. Most chapters display the EIN on their donation page or in a footer. If you’ve given before, check the acknowledgment letter or email receipt the club sent you. Written acknowledgments must include the organization’s name and the contribution amount, and the EIN often appears on them for the donor’s convenience.
If those turn up nothing, three free databases can help:
- IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search lets you look up any organization by name or EIN and confirm its tax-exempt status.1Internal Revenue Service. Tax Exempt Organization Search
- ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer offers summary data and full Form 990 documents in PDF and digital formats, searchable by organization name, keyword, city, or EIN.2ProPublica. Nonprofit Explorer
- Candid, formerly GuideStar, lets you search nearly two million organizations by name, EIN, or keyword with a free registration.3Candid. Candid Search
Very small clubs that file only the Form 990-N electronic postcard may not appear in every third-party database. ProPublica’s Nonprofit Explorer, for instance, does not include organizations that file only the 990-N.2ProPublica. Nonprofit Explorer If a search comes up empty, call the club’s administrative office or development director. Staff handle this request regularly and can give you the EIN directly, which also avoids the risk of relying on a third-party site that hasn’t refreshed its data.
Confirming the Club Is Still Tax-Exempt
Finding the EIN is only half the job. You also want to confirm the club is currently recognized as tax-exempt, since that status is what makes your donation deductible. The IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search tool lets you check Publication 78 data, which is the official list of organizations eligible to receive tax-deductible charitable contributions.1Internal Revenue Service. Tax Exempt Organization Search
Tax-exempt status is not permanent. Organizations that fail to file a required annual return for three consecutive years automatically lose their exemption by operation of law under Section 6033(j) of the Internal Revenue Code, effective on the filing due date of the third missed return.4Internal Revenue Service. Automatic Revocation of Exemption The IRS updates the revocation list monthly, and you can search it through the same Tax Exempt Organization Search tool. A club that lost its exemption may have since been reinstated, which also appears on the list.
One related point on how a club shows up in IRS records: some local clubs are covered by a group exemption held by a parent organization, identified by a four-digit Group Exemption Number (GEN). The GEN is not the same as an EIN. A club under a group exemption still has its own unique EIN. If you can’t find an individual determination letter for a club, the group exemption is likely the reason.5Internal Revenue Service. Group Exemption Process
When You Actually Need the EIN on a Tax Form
You generally do not need to enter a charity’s EIN on Schedule A of Form 1040 when deducting cash donations. Schedule A reports the total amount of your charitable contributions, and for cash gifts the IRS requires you to keep a bank record or written communication from the organization showing its name, the amount, and the date. The EIN is not a required field on Schedule A itself.
The EIN becomes formally necessary in a few specific situations:
- Non-cash donations over $500. If you donate property, clothing, electronics, or other goods worth more than $500, you must file Form 8283. Section B has a dedicated field for the donee organization’s EIN, and non-cash gifts valued over $5,000 also require a qualified appraisal.6Internal Revenue Service. Form 8283 (Rev. December 2025)7Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 8283 (Rev. December 2025)
- Employer matching gifts. Most corporate matching programs require the recipient nonprofit’s verified EIN before processing a match. Without it, the request stalls or gets rejected.
- Grant applications and foundation due diligence. Foundations use the EIN to verify exempt status, review Form 990 filings, and confirm eligibility before awarding funds.
- Your own records. Even when a form doesn’t require the EIN, keeping it with your donation records makes verification faster if the IRS ever questions a deduction, especially when several organizations share similar names.
Keep the club’s EIN filed alongside the acknowledgment letter for each gift. That combination, the right nine-digit number tied to the right receipt, is what makes the paperwork line up if anyone ever asks.