EIN
The nine-digit Employer Identification Number the IRS assigns to a US organisation, written as 12-3456789. It is the only reliable way to tell two similarly named organisations apart, and it is stored and rendered as a figure so a column of them aligns digit for digit.
Part of the GrantTrove grant funding glossary — one entry for every field the catalogue stores.
Also called Employer Identification Number · Federal Tax ID · Taxpayer ID
In detail
Organisation names are not unique, are inconsistently abbreviated, and change. An EIN does none of those things, which is why it is the join key behind any claim that a funder and a recipient are the same entity across two datasets.
An EIN identifies a legal entity, not a program or a chapter. A national organisation and its state affiliates commonly have separate EINs, and a fiscally sponsored project has none of its own — it applies under its sponsor’s.
Against a portal ID
An EIN identifies an organisation across every dataset that mentions it. A portal ID identifies one opportunity inside one portal and means nothing outside it. The two are different fields with different lifetimes and we never use one where the other belongs.
How GrantTrove stores it
- EINs are rendered mono with tabular figures in a fixed nine-digit format, so a column of them can be scanned rather than read.
- An organisation with no EIN on record shows Not stated rather than a blank, because a missing identifier is exactly the case where a blank invites a wrong match.
Common questions
Do I need an EIN to apply for a grant?
For almost all government programs, yes, along with a registration in the funder’s own system. The notice governs and the record links to it.
Can two organisations share an EIN?
No. One legal entity, one EIN. A fiscally sponsored project applies under its sponsor’s EIN rather than holding one.
Why format it as 12-3456789?
It is the IRS format, and a single fixed format means an EIN copied from our page matches an EIN typed into a form.