Business Master File

Within the context of charitable giving, a list of public charities which is updated monthly. The list can be downloaded directly from the IRS' website, but is very large and thus is available only as a compressed ASCII text or Excel spreadsheet file. IRS formerly issued this information in Publication 78, but now makes it available on their website with the Exempt Organization Select Check tool. The list is incomplete, since not all charities are listed (e.g., religious organizations).