EIN Guide for New Jersey Nonprofits

An Employer Identification Number (EIN) is a nine-digit federal tax identification number issued by the IRS. Think of it as a Social Security number for your organization — the number that identifies the nonprofit to the federal government and to the banks and agencies it deals with.

The name is misleading. "Employer" Identification Number sounds like it's only for organizations with employees, but that's not how it works. A nonprofit needs an EIN whether or not it ever hires anyone, because the number does far more than payroll.

What the EIN is actually used for

• Opening a bank account — no reputable bank will open an account for a nonprofit without an EIN.
• Applying for tax exemption — your IRS Form 1023 or 1023-EZ requires the EIN.
• Filing the annual Form 990 — the EIN identifies your organization on its federal return.
• Handling payroll — if you do hire staff, the EIN is how you report employment taxes.
• Establishing the organization's identity — grantmakers, vendors, and donors reference it.

Because the EIN is required to open a bank account and to apply for exemption, it's effectively unavoidable. Every functioning nonprofit has one.

Timing matters, and there's a right moment in the formation sequence to get the EIN.

Incorporate first

Apply for the EIN after your Certificate of Incorporation is filed and the corporation legally exists in New Jersey. The EIN application asks for the entity's legal name and formation details, so you want the corporation to exist first. Applying before incorporation means guessing at information you don't yet have finalized.

Then get the EIN, then everything downstream

Once the corporation exists and you have the EIN, the rest of the setup unlocks: you can open the bank account, complete NJ-REG state tax registration, and apply to the IRS for exemption. The EIN sits at a natural hinge point in the sequence — after the entity exists, before the financial and exemption steps. Getting it at the right time keeps the whole formation moving without backtracking.

The good news: getting an EIN is genuinely simple and completely free when you go directly to the IRS.

The online method (fastest)

1. Go to the IRS EIN application at IRS.gov.
2. Select that you're applying as a nonprofit or other organization type as prompted.
3. Provide the corporation's legal name, its New Jersey address, and formation information.
4. Identify the responsible party — a director or officer with a valid Social Security number or ITIN who is authorized to act for the organization.
5. Submit. The EIN is issued immediately, and you can download and print the confirmation notice the same day.

The online application takes roughly ten minutes and is available during IRS business hours. Have your formation details and the responsible party's information ready before you start, because the session times out if you're idle too long.

If you can't apply online

An organization whose responsible party doesn't have a Social Security number or ITIN can apply by fax or mail using Form SS-4. These methods take longer — days by fax, weeks by mail — but they're the route for applicants without a U.S. taxpayer ID.

This deserves its own section because it costs founders real money. The EIN is free from the IRS. Always. There is no government fee for an EIN.

Some third-party websites present themselves as EIN "services" and charge for what the IRS provides at no cost. If you're paying only for an EIN, you're paying for nothing you couldn't get free in ten minutes at IRS.gov. What can be legitimately worth paying for is having your entire formation handled correctly — the Certificate of Incorporation with the right language, registered agent service, and the sequencing — where the EIN is one included step rather than the product itself. Just don't pay a standalone "EIN fee." Recognizing the difference keeps you from throwing money at a free government service.

A few predictable errors trip up nonprofit founders. Knowing them in advance saves aggravation.

Applying before the corporation exists

Get the Certificate of Incorporation filed first. Applying for an EIN for an entity that doesn't legally exist yet creates mismatches you'll have to untangle later.

Naming the wrong responsible party

The responsible party should be a real person who genuinely controls or directs the organization — typically a founding director or officer — not a placeholder. This is the individual the IRS treats as accountable for the entity, so choose someone appropriate and keep the designation current if leadership changes.

Getting more than one EIN

An organization needs exactly one EIN. If you apply twice — because the first confirmation got lost, say — you can end up with duplicate numbers and confused records. Save the confirmation notice the moment it's issued so you never need to reapply.

Losing the confirmation letter

The EIN confirmation (the CP 575 notice) is a document banks and grantmakers may ask for. Store it with your permanent corporate records alongside the Certificate of Incorporation and, later, the IRS determination letter. If it's lost, the IRS can provide a replacement letter, but it's far easier to keep the original safe.

Confusing the EIN with tax-exempt status

Having an EIN does not make your organization tax-exempt. The EIN is just an identifier. Exemption is a separate application to the IRS. Plenty of organizations have an EIN and are not (yet) exempt — the two are unrelated milestones, and conflating them leads to assuming you're exempt when you aren't.