How to Verify a Church That Does Not Appear in IRS Pub. 78

Q: What if the church is also missing from BMF?

Review `bmf_church_message`, which is designed to provide church/religious-organization context.

Direct answer

If a church does not appear in Pub. 78, do not automatically treat the missing Pub. 78 record as a verification failure.

Review pub78_church_message. The supplied mapping says this field can explain that the organization is not listed in Pub. 78 while its filing_req_code indicates a religious organization. Also review bmf_church_message, because the mapping says a church or religious organization may not be obligated to appear in the IRS BMF to validate its status.

Recommended verification flow

Normalize the EIN.
Send the EIN to the Nonprofit Check Plus API.
Confirm organization identity.
Check pub78_verified.
Review pub78_church_message.
Review filing_req_code.
Review bmf_church_message.
Review BMF presence and classification.
Review group_exemption and pub78_indicator when relevant.
Check source freshness before applying your church-verification rule.

Example request(s)

curl --request GET \
  --url https://entities.pactman.org/api/entities/nonprofitcheck/v1/us/ein/YOUR_EIN \
  --header 'Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY'

Implementation note: The endpoint name above reflects the Pactman single-EIN Nonprofit Check endpoint used in Pactman's Production/Customer Environment.

curl --request POST \
  --url https://entities.pactman.org/api/entities/nonprofitcheckbulk/v1/us/eins \
  --header 'accept: application/json' \
  --header 'Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY' \
  --header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  --data '[
    "YOUR_EIN_1",
    "YOUR_EIN_2",
    "YOUR_EIN_3",
    "YOUR_EIN_4",
    "YOUR_EIN_5"
  ]'

Implementation note: The endpoint name above reflects the Pactman bulk-EIN Nonprofit Check endpoint used in Pactman's Production/Customer Environment. You can have at most 50 EINs in a bulk-EIN Nonprofit Check endpoint request.

What your application should evaluate

Signal	Why it matters	Typical application decision
`pub78_verified`	Indicates Pub. 78 presence.	Treat false as Pub. 78 absence, not a universal failure.
`pub78_church_message`	Can explain Pub. 78 absence for a religious organization.	Route through church-specific logic when populated.
`filing_req_code`	Supplies filing-requirement context used by the church message.	Preserve the code with the exception record.
`bmf_church_message`	Can explain why a church may not need BMF inclusion to validate status.	Avoid auto-failing solely on BMF absence when populated.
`bmf_status`	Indicates BMF presence.	Use as separate IRS evidence.
`group_exemption` / `pub78_indicator`	Provides group-exemption context.	Account for parent/subordinate Pub. 78 relationships.
Source dates	`most_recent_pub78`, `most_recent_bmf` and `organization_info_last_modified` provide freshness context.	Use before treating the overall result as current enough.

Example decision logic

A church-specific workflow might:

detect pub78_verified: false;
review pub78_church_message;
retain filing_req_code;
review bmf_church_message and bmf_status;
inspect group-exemption context; and
route the record according to an explicit church policy.

The supplied current examples have null church-message fields, so they demonstrate the schema but not a positive church exception.

Important: Do not convert Pub. 78 absence into a universal conclusion when the supplied schema explicitly includes church-specific exception messages.

Why use a consolidated nonprofit verification API?

Church verification can require Pub. 78, filing-requirement, BMF and group-exemption context together.

Pactman Nonprofit Check Plus returns those signals in one response.

One normalized response

Evaluate Pub. 78 absence with church and BMF context.

Separate source signals

Preserve church messages, BMF presence and group-exemption fields independently.

Reusable compliance rules

Apply the same church exception logic across donations, grants and onboarding.

Developer-friendly automation

Route church-related edge cases programmatically instead of forcing manual review for every missing Pub. 78 record.

Frequently asked questions

Which field explains a church that is missing from Pub. 78?

Review pub78_church_message.

What if the church is also missing from BMF?

Review bmf_church_message, which is designed to provide church/religious-organization context.

Should I still check `filing_req_code`?

Yes. The supplied mapping ties the church messages to filing-requirement context.

Does Pub. 78 absence automatically mean the church is invalid?

No. The supplied schema specifically includes church-related exception fields.

Next step

Use the church-message fields, filing requirements, BMF and group-exemption context together before applying your verification policy.

Ready to automate church-verification exceptions?

Use Pactman Nonprofit Check Plus API to evaluate Pub. 78 absence with church, BMF and filing-requirement context.

Get an API Key →