Article: Helpful Tips For Finding Charities in Groundswell

Can’t find the nonprofit you’re looking for? Don’t worry, it’s usually easier than you think!

Groundswell includes millions of charitable organizations from both the United States and around the world, but sometimes organizations appear under their legal name rather than the name they’re commonly known by. Before submitting a request to add a new organization, we recommend trying a few different search strategies.

Start with the organization’s Tax ID or Charity ID

If you know the organization’s identification number, this is almost always the fastest and most reliable way to find it.

Depending on where the organization is located, you can search using:

United States: EIN (Employer Identification Number)
United Kingdom: Charity Commission Number
Canada: CRA Registration Number
Australia: ACNC Charity Number
Other countries: The organization’s official charity registration number, if one exists

Searching by an official registration number helps avoid issues with abbreviations, punctuation, alternate spellings, or organizations with similar names.

Don’t know the Tax ID?

No problem! Here are a few easy ways to find it:

Visit the organization’s website. Many nonprofits list their EIN or charity registration number in the website footer, on their donation page, or within their annual reports or financial documents.
Search online. Try searching for the organization’s name followed by “EIN,” “Tax ID,” or “Charity Number.”

Example: Team Rubicon + EIN
Use your country’s charity registry. Many countries maintain searchable databases of registered charities, such as the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search in the United States or the UK Charity Commission Register.

Search by the organization’s name

If you don’t have the organization’s Tax ID, searching by name is a great place to start.

Many nonprofits operate under a name that’s different from their legal name.

For example, you may know an organization as:

ASPCA

…but it may be listed under its legal name:

American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals

If your first search doesn’t return any results, try searching for the organization’s legal name instead.

If your search returns multiple organizations, Groundswell’s filters can help you quickly narrow the list to find the nonprofit you’re looking for.

You can filter results by:

Country – Narrow results based on organizations located in a specific country.
Organization Size – Narrow results based on the size of the nonprofit.
Issue Area – Find organizations working in causes such as education, health, disaster relief, the environment, animal welfare, and more.
Eligible For – Filter organizations based on what they’re eligible for within Groundswell, such as donations, volunteering, or matching.

Using filters can be especially helpful when searching for organizations with common names or when you’re exploring nonprofits within a particular cause or region.

More search tips

Search using fewer words

Sometimes less is more.

Instead of searching for an organization’s full name, try searching for just one or two distinctive words.

For example:

❌ Friends of the San Francisco Animal Rescue Foundation

✅ San Francisco Animal Rescue

or simply

✅ Animal Rescue (with a location filter for San Francisco)

This often returns more results and can help if the organization is listed slightly differently.

Double-check your spelling

A small typo can prevent search results from appearing.

If you’re unsure of the spelling, search using only part of the organization’s name.

Searching for international organizations

International organizations are often listed using their official legal name in their home country.

For the best results:

Search using the organization’s official charity registration number whenever possible.
Try the organization’s legal name rather than its commonly used name.
Remove extra words or punctuation from your search.

Still can’t find the organization?

If you’ve tried the suggestions above and still can’t locate the nonprofit, it may not yet be available in Groundswell.

You can submit a request to have the organization reviewed for addition to our database. Learn more about that process HERE.

U.S. organizations

Most U.S. organization requests are reviewed within 3–5 business days. Our team will let you know whether the organization was already available under a different name or if it needs to go through our verification process before it can be added to Groundswell’s database.

International organizations

International organizations require additional verification before they can be added to Groundswell.

This review includes verification by our international partner, CAF America, and may require outreach to the organization to confirm eligibility. Because this process involves multiple parties, international reviews can take up to 90 days, depending on how quickly all required information is received.

Our team will keep you updated throughout the process and let you know once the review has been completed.