What are others expecting to see at deposit account opening time for a church? We've got the tax id that they used to open an account previously, but no documentation in the file to substantiate the organization structure of the church (is it a corporation? unincorporated association?) and it's eligibility as a non-profit (some folks seem to presume that because it's a church, it's automatically non-profit).

We get the same docs we would expect to see from any other entity - i.e. corporate resolution

A corporate resolution is easily fabricated and probably needs some further verification to ensure that it accurately represents the will of the governing body of the organization (if there is, indeed, such a governing body). Marginally better because it's a public record would be a copy of a corporate filing in your state capital, often accessible on the Web. At least it shows that someone filed the paperwork. But with religious organizations, it's often difficult to know whether a state filing is required.

If the church is an unincorporated non profit they would not be registered on our state registration site for businesses, we are asking for;

EIN

Meeting minutes on their letterhead signed by the secretary

Signature card

A fully executed resolution we have specifically made for unincorporated organizations/associations signed by the secretary and attested by one other officer

Complete ID and CIP for all signers