How to Determine Your Nonprofit’s NTEE Code

To determine your nonprofit’s NTEE code, match your organization’s primary charitable purpose to one of 26 lettered major groups in the National Taxonomy of Exempt Entities, then narrow to a two-digit activity within that group using the official descriptions from the National Center for Charitable Statistics. Cross-check your choice against how similar organizations are already classified in IRS records, and make sure the code lines up with the exempt purpose stated in your founding documents.

The code you land on will follow your organization into public databases, grant search filters, and the IRS’s exempt organization records, so it is worth getting right the first time.

How an NTEE Code Is Built

A basic NTEE code is a letter followed by two digits. The letter places your organization in one of 26 major groups, and the digits identify a specific activity inside that group.¹ The 26 letters roll up into 10 broad categories:

A: Arts, Culture, and Humanities
B: Education
C, D: Environment and Animals
E, F, G, H: Health
I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P: Human Services
Q: International, Foreign Affairs
R, S, T, U, V, W: Public and Societal Benefit
X: Religion Related
Y: Mutual/Membership Benefit
Z: Unknown/Unclassified

For example, B20 identifies elementary and secondary schools, and B40 covers higher education institutions.¹

Seven standardized suffixes describe activities that appear across every major group, such as advocacy, research, and monetary support:¹

01: Alliance/Advocacy Organizations
02: Management and Technical Assistance
03: Professional Societies and Associations
05: Research Institutes and Public Policy Analysis
11: Monetary Support for a Single Organization
12: Monetary Support for Multiple Organizations
19: Nonmonetary Support Not Elsewhere Classified

A high school booster club, for instance, combines B (education) with 12 (monetary support for multiple entities), pointing to B12 rather than the plain B20 code for the schools it supports.

One boundary worth noting: NTEE codes are not limited to 501(c)(3) charities. Trade associations under 501(c)(6), social welfare groups under 501(c)(4), and other tax-exempt entities all get an NTEE classification in IRS records.

What to Gather Before You Pick a Code

Before you open the taxonomy, pull three things together: your mission statement, your Articles of Incorporation, and a clear picture of how your organization actually spends its money and staff time. The code needs to reflect the primary exempt purpose described in your founding documents, not a secondary program.

Your Articles of Incorporation and bylaws contain the charitable-purpose language the IRS requires for exempt recognition. If those documents describe a youth mentoring organization but you choose an arts education code because of an after-school painting class, you have created a mismatch that can slow your application or prompt questions during review.

Know your target population and geographic scope too. An organization serving veterans falls under a different sub-classification than one serving children, even when both sit inside Human Services. The more precisely you can state who you serve and what you do for them, the easier the taxonomy becomes to navigate.

Matching Your Mission to the Right Code

Start with the letter. If your organization provides housing assistance, you are looking at L (Housing, Shelter). A food bank belongs under K (Food, Agriculture, and Nutrition). Once you have the letter, scan the sub-categories inside that group for the closest activity.

If your nonprofit runs more than one program, the code should reflect the activity that consumes the largest share of your budget, staff time, and organizational focus. The IRS does not publish a fixed percentage threshold for this call. It looks at the overall picture of where resources go. An organization that spends 80% of its budget on literacy programs and 20% on meal distribution should choose an education-related code, not a food services code.

Avoid defaulting to a generic “not elsewhere classified” code such as A99 or P99 just because the full list feels long. Those codes tell the IRS very little about your work and tend to invite follow-up questions. Specificity smooths the review. A generic code is acceptable only after you have worked through the full descriptions and genuinely cannot find a sub-category that fits.

During the application process, you may either select your own NTEE code or let the IRS assign one based on your application materials.² The IRS keeps the official record either way, and it can reclassify you if the code you picked does not match the activities described in your application.

Where to Look Up the Codes

The most direct source is the NCCS website, which publishes both a two-page summary list of all NTEE categories and a full-description document with the IRS definitions for each code.² Use the summary to find your letter, then move to the full descriptions to pin down the two-digit suffix.

Looking at how comparable organizations are classified is one of the fastest ways to sanity-check your choice. The IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search lets you look up any registered exempt entity by name or Employer Identification Number and see its assigned NTEE code.³ Find a few organizations whose missions closely resemble yours and see what codes they carry.

The IRS instructions for Form 1023 and Form 1024 also contain code lists and definitions tied directly to the application process.⁴ These reflect the IRS’s own reading of the categories, which can differ slightly from the NCCS descriptions, so it is worth cross-referencing both when your organization sits near a category boundary.

One point of confusion: since January 1999, newly applying organizations receive both an NTEE code and a North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code. NTEE classifies your organization by charitable mission. NAICS classifies economic activity and shows up on Form 990 for revenue reporting.⁵ Do not confuse the two when you are picking your NTEE.

Changing an NTEE Code That No Longer Fits

Sometimes a code was assigned incorrectly at the start. Sometimes a mission shifts over the years and the original classification stops matching what the organization actually does. Changing the code takes a written request to the IRS. It is not a checkbox on Form 990, and the business activity codes that Form 990 asks for are NAICS codes for revenue classification, not NTEE codes.

To request a change, write a letter that includes your legal name, EIN, current NTEE code, the code you are requesting, and an explanation of why the change is warranted. Attach supporting materials such as a revised mission statement, updated program descriptions, or a board resolution authorizing the shift. Send it to:

Internal Revenue Service
TE/GE Exempt Organizations
Room 6403
P.O. Box 2508
Cincinnati, OH 45201⁶

Processing times vary. For context, the IRS reports issuing 80% of Form 8940 determinations, a category covering miscellaneous exempt organization requests, within 215 days for applications submitted on or before January 13, 2026.⁷ A code change is a lighter request than a full determination, but plan for months rather than weeks.

Accuracy matters beyond the IRS record. Grant-making foundations and donor-advised funds routinely filter applicants by NTEE code, so an out-of-date classification can quietly keep you out of funding opportunities. Public databases like GuideStar display the code prominently, and donors researching your work may draw the wrong conclusions if it does not describe what your nonprofit actually does today.

1
National Center for Charitable Statistics. National Taxonomy of Exempt Entities (NTEE) Codes
2
National Center for Charitable Statistics. National Taxonomy of Exempt Entities (NTEE) Codes – Selecting Your NTEE Code
3
Internal Revenue Service. Tax Exempt Organization Search
4
Internal Revenue Service. Applying for Tax Exempt Status
5
Internal Revenue Service. Getting It Right: Verifying the Classification of Public Charities
6
Internal Revenue Service. Contact IRS Exempt Organizations
7
Internal Revenue Service. Where’s My Application for Tax-Exempt Status