[robertkyxiota]

The Employer Identification Number is the one you want, its synomomous with a Tax ID Number. It is extremly easy to get, and in fact can be done online now.

The hard thing to get however (and the one that requires the $$$ and the Lawyers) is to get a Tax Exemption Number, which is the number that says you don't pay sales taxes (like churches or state agencies).

The EIN/Tax ID is what allows you to establish a bank account for an organization. Usually business require that information because that is whom they write the check out to, instead of trusting it in the hands of a individual. On the SS-4 form (or if you call) there's a question that you put that your a Non Profit Organization.

I work in the Student Organization Office at this university, and we are asked about this quite a bit.