How to Set Up a Charity Bank Account
By setting up a charity bank account, potential donors can donate to your cause with an added sense of security. To setup your charitable account, you must have a beneficiary. The beneficiary can be living or you can setup an account in the memory of someone who is deceased. While the exact procedures for setting up a charitable bank account will slightly vary by institution, there are certain protocols that are standard across the banking industry.
Contact the IRS (Internal Revenue Service) to apply for an EIN (Employer Identification Number) if the purpose of the charity bank account is to cover expenses of a deceased individual, such as funeral expenses, or the welfare of the deceased's family members.
You should also obtain an EIN if you intend to name more than one beneficiary on the charitable account. The EIN will be mailed to you on official IRS letterhead.
Visit the bank where you want to establish an account. Advise the banking representative that you wish to establish a charitable account for an individual.
Complete the application to open the charity account. Some of the information you will have to include on the application is the name of the charity, the beneficiary's name, the beneficiary's social security number, and the beneficiary's date of birth.
If the purpose of the charitable account is to cover the expenses of the deceased, you must include the EIN instead of the deceased's social security number. Also use the EIN if you are naming more than one beneficiary on the account.
Present authorization from the living beneficiary that grants you permission to open a charitable account on his behalf if he (or she) is over the age of 18. If the individual is not present, you can obtain a notarized letter indicating that the beneficiary is aware of the account being opened and has given you permission to open the account under his name.
List the name of the individual whom you want to have rights to access the funds in the account. This individual will be responsible for accessing the funds and distributing them to the beneficiary. If the beneficiary is over the age of 18 and competent enough to access his own funds, you can list his name as the sole signatory.
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