If you are a campaign or nonprofit with its own bank account, choose Company when you connect Stripe and use your organization’s EIN. Choose Individual, with your SSN, only if you are an individual who will personally receive the money. FundHero can’t give legal or financial advice, so confirm what applies to you with an advisor.
Company or Individual?
Stripe, FundHero’s payment processor, asks which entity type you are when you connect your account.
| Choose | Uses | When |
|---|---|---|
| Company | An EIN | You are a campaign or nonprofit, you have a bank account set up for the organization, and you are not receiving personal income from your FundHero account |
| Individual | An SSN | You are an individual receiving the money personally |
The FundHero setup screen lists "EIN (Business) or SSN (Individual)" among the things you need. Stripe must verify an EIN or SSN under U.S. law before it can pay you.
Do I need an EIN?
An EIN is a tax ID for your organization. Even if you won’t have employees, it is a good idea for your campaign to have its own tax entity rather than be tied to a personal Social Security number.
Many candidate and local political committees are classified as 527 political organizations by the IRS. That classification doesn’t make contributions tax-deductible. Most such committees don’t need to file annual tax returns. Confirm your status on the IRS page for political organizations.
Most campaigns can get an EIN online from the IRS in a few minutes. See the IRS EIN application.
A separate campaign bank account
A bank account separate from your personal finances matters more than the EIN. It is a legal requirement for many campaign committees. When you open one you’ll usually need your EIN and your committee paperwork. See the FEC guidance on tax ID and bank accounts.
If you chose the wrong option
You can’t change the entity type in FundHero. Stripe has to update it. See Stripe’s guide to updating legal entity information and contact Stripe. You can also email mail@fundhero.io and we’ll point you in the right direction. For other changes, see Update your bank details.