Issue 2 · October 16, 2026 · 3-minute read

More Good

Tested tools and simple ideas that give your team time back for the work that matters.

Where nonprofits lose tax-exempt status most often

In 30 seconds

Georgia has the highest rate of nonprofits losing tax-exempt status, and Iowa the lowest. See where your state lands.

A free one-minute check tells you where your own status stands.

Already lost it? You can get it back, sometimes all the way to the day it ended.

The number

57,000

is about how many organizations a year lost tax-exempt status for missed filings from 2021 to 2025. Many had already closed their doors and never told the IRS.

Source: IRS Automatic Revocation of Exemption List, revocations posted through September 29, 2026; Ember analysis

01 We counted

Georgia has the highest rate. Iowa has the lowest.

We went through every case of a group losing tax-exempt status for missed filings from 2021 to 2025. Then we set each state against how many groups there have to file a yearly return.

Revocations: 285,573Years: 2021 to 2025Ranked: 50 states and DC

The rule: miss your yearly IRS return three years in a row, and your tax exemption ends on its own. Nobody at the IRS decides it. For many, losing it was paperwork, not wrongdoing.

The five highest rates

Groups losing status each year, for every 1,000 that have to file:

Georgia 48.6

Nevada 47.8

Louisiana 44.8

Idaho 44.2

Florida 42.9

Across the country it's 34.4. Iowa is lowest at 19.6, which puts Georgia at two and a half times Iowa's rate. By count, California had the most: 31,760 in five years.

Source: IRS Automatic Revocation of Exemption List (revocations posted through September 29, 2026) and IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File (September 8, 2026); Ember analysis

Here's the hopeful part. For most groups, staying off this list takes one short form a year, filed online. Three in four lost it on one day, May 15: the due date when your year ends December 31.

See where your state ranks

02 The one-minute move

Look up your own status

Type your EIN, the 9-digit number on your IRS letters, into our free status check. No EIN handy? Type the start of your legal name and pick your state. In about a minute you'll see whether the IRS has revoked your status, and the last yearly return it has on record.

Two missed years is the warning sign, and there's still time then to file and keep your status. Does your group normally bring in $50,000 a year or less? Then the fix is usually the e-Postcard, a short form you file online.

Check your status

03 Worth your time

Lost your status? There's a way back

“You get your status back by applying for it again.”

Our plain-English guide covers the four ways back and what each form costs. It also tells you how long the IRS is taking, and what to tell donors while you wait. Some groups get a shortcut. If you only needed the e-Postcard or the 990-EZ and it's your first time, apply within 15 months. The clock starts with your IRS letter, or with the day your name went on the IRS list if that came later. Apply in time and your status can go back to the very day you lost it.

Read the reinstatement guide

Coming up

Nov

Form 990 due

If your year ended June 30, or your year ends December 31 and you filed for an extension. The 15th is a Sunday, so the deadline moves to Monday.

Check your deadline

One question for you

Who files your yearly IRS return: a staff member, a board member, an accountant, or nobody in particular yet? Email hello@donewithember.org and tell us.

What’s new in Ember. Our Form 990 deadline page now sends you free reminders 30 days and a week before your due date, no account needed.

More time to do more good,
The Ember Team

Where nonprofits lose tax-exempt status most often

Georgia has the highest rate. Iowa has the lowest.

Look up your own status

Lost your status? There's a way back

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