Recently I had a colleague who shared that her organization had decided to change its name for from Nonprofit ABC to Nonprofit XYZ. Well, that’s easy enough to accomplish with a simple Articles of Incorporation Amendment and the payment of a $55 filing fee (in MN). PRESTO-CHANGE-O your name is changed!! But the name change was realllllllly drastic, like a whole totally different name. And they wanted to get far, far away from the old name. Which presented a problem…whenever they had to show their IRS Determination letter it had the old name on it and created a lot of donor confusion and unnecessary explanation. So what to do? Change your name with the IRS of course. duh. How do you get THAT done? But first, what kind of 990 do you file? If your org submits a Form 990, all you have to do is note the change on the 990 the next time you file. But if you file a 990N or 990EZ you need to send a real letter (no the IRS does not do “the email”). The letter needs to show:

1. Old and new organization names,
2. Your EIN (tax ID number), and,
3. Proof that the change was made with the appropriate state agency (ie: a copy of the Filed Amended Articles from the MN SOS).
4. A request that they issue a new “Affirmation Letter” (aka: IRS Determination Letter, redux)

For more info straight from the horses mouth check out the IRS pub.

Related Link: 6 Ways to Lose Your 501(c)(3) IRS Tax-Exempt Status (Without Really Trying)