All referrals are sent to analysts at the EO Classifications Office in Dallas. After a
referral is made, the IRS will send an acknowledgement letter to all non-IRS sources
making a referral, unless it was made anonymously.
They should be required to process it, but only if it's not anonymous. I'm guessing anything anonymous is thrown in the bin unless it's super serious.
That statement doesn't mean they don't process anonymous submissions, it just means you don't get a letter saying they got it if you submit it anonymously. It's more likely that they just don't have the resources to follow up on every tip unless it's particularly egregious, given the number of churches who are definitely in violation in the US.
Yes, I'm sure they're still processed but I think it would make sense to give less credence to anonymous tips as they're less likely to be legit or serious than one that someone puts their name on.
are there any examples of someone successfully getting a church's exempt status taken away?
evidently there are a few examples, but probably only in really easy to pin on the church type situations. You probably need a printed doc from the church or a video of the pastor specifically mentioning a party or a candidate.
I'm sure it's a pretty hard process, but it seems like you should at least get a response on the status of the submission and that the church would be informed too. Getting the message that it's being investigated may at least be enough to spook many of them to stop.