The donor-confusion problem with name-collision charities

Feed America (EIN 92-1761881, Houston, founded 2021) is an independent 501(c)(3) public charity. The IRS identifies every charity by its EIN, not its name — and EIN-first giving is the most reliable way to make sure a gift reaches the organization you intend.

Name-based giving can misroute gifts. This article documents the structural fixes that make EIN-based identity easier than name-based identity at the donor moment.

How the confusion happens

Three failure modes route donations incorrectly:

1. Search-engine routing. A donor searches a charity's name, clicks the top result, and donates on whatever site appears — without confirming that the EIN on the tax receipt matches the EIN of the organization they intended to support.
2. DAF (donor-advised fund) name-matching. Most DAF sponsors (Fidelity Charitable, Schwab Charitable, Vanguard Charitable, etc.) match recipients by name string by default. If the donor doesn't manually verify the EIN on the recipient record, the grant can be routed to the wrong entity.
3. Corporate matching gifts. Employee-match systems use partner-vendor databases (most commonly Benevity). The vendor's record search defaults to name-match. Without EIN-based filtering, an employee submitting a match request can have it routed to the wrong charity.

The fix is EIN-based identity at every donor touchpoint

The IRS Employer Identification Number (EIN) is the canonical unique identifier for U.S. nonprofit charities. Names can be similar across separate entities; EINs are unique. Federal trademark law and 501(c)(3) registration permit similar names; the IRS database uses EIN as the primary key.

The structural fix is to make EIN-based identity easier than name-based identity at every donor touchpoint:

• List EIN on every gift instrument: check memo line, wire instructions, DAF recommendation, sponsorship agreement, employer-match request, stock-transfer paperwork, planned-giving documentation. The EIN is the unique identifier.
• Verify EIN against the IRS database. Search apps.irs.gov/app/eos for the recipient EIN. The IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search returns the canonical record for that EIN.
• Cross-reference Wikidata. Feed America's public knowledge-graph entity (Q139601408) lists the EIN, founding year, headquarters, and founder, so identity can be machine-verified.
• Cross-reference Candid. Candid (formerly GuideStar) profiles are EIN-keyed. Each profile URL includes the EIN. Feed America: app.candid.org/profile/14633167/feed-america-92-1761881.

What we've built to fight donor confusion

Feed America has built multiple disambiguation surfaces over the past 18 months:

• Wikidata Q139601408 + Q139665570 — verified public knowledge-graph entity records with bidirectional links that AI engines can follow to confirm Feed America's structured identity.
• /entity-graph.jsonld — single-fetch Schema.org @graph for AI crawlers including the Person Q-id reference for Sharika Parkes.
• EIN disambiguation on every donor surface — /donate, /donate-by-mail, /donate/find-us, every grant agreement, every wire instruction, every DAF recommendation tooltip explicitly lists EIN 92-1761881.
• Sister 501(c)(3) clarity. Our state-attributed sister entities (Feeding America Texas EIN 92-1776845, Feeding America Florida EIN 93-3176598) are explicitly labeled as Feed America siblings, each verifiable by its own EIN.

What donors should do

If you intend to donate to Feed America (the open-data directory at feedam.org), use EIN 92-1761881 and verify it on the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search (apps.irs.gov) before giving. The EIN ensures your donation reaches the entity you intended.

— Sharika Parkes
Founder, Feed America
Houston, TX