There are many types of non-profit organizations working towards various educational, religious, scientific and charitable goals. Some of these organizations are more well-known than others. If you're interested in working with an organization by donating goods or your services you can check the non-profit status of the organization to be sure it is a real charitable organization. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) provides a non-profit status search tool.
Log onto the Internal Revenue Service website. Select the "Charities and Non-Profits" tab located at the top of the web page. This will take you to the webpage that contains tax information and for charities and other non-profit organizations.
Select the "Search for Charities" link located on the left side of the webpage. Click the "Search Now" button. Enter your search terms into the appropriate field. You can search for the organization by entering its name into the appropriate field and you can search by city and state. Click the "Search" button to retrieve your search results.
Read your search results. Your search results should contain the organization's name, its location and its deductibility code, which ranges from one to six. The deductibility code is a coding system used by the IRS to identify each organization listed by type and limitation on the deductibility of charitable contributions to the organization. For example, if a charity has a number four deductibility code then it is a private foundation, generally with a 30 percent deductibility limitation. If the organization does not have a deduction code by its name then it is a public charity with a 50 percent deductibility limitation. The deductibility limitation represents the most you can deduct from your gross income for charitable contributions for that year.
