What Is a Donation Receipt?
A donation receipt is the form that charities and other organizations use to record the items they receive from donors. It documents the money, clothes, food, or services they’ve received. When you issue a donation receipt to donors, you reap the following benefits:
- provide proof that a donation occurred with no expectation of anything in return
- meet requirements for a 501(c)(3) donation letter
- make it easy for donors to claim charitable deductions on their taxes
- express your gratitude to donors for their generosity
Depending on the gift, you may not be legally required to issue a receipt. The Internal Revenue Service only requires a receipt for tax-deductible donations over $250.
Should I Issue a Receipt for a Donation of Less Than $250?
Consider providing a receipt even if the donor gave less than $250 as a courtesy. Plus, an acknowledgment letter for a donation gives your organization a chance to connect with the donor and show how their gift is hard at work.
As new donations come in, you’ll need a way to keep up with receipt creation. Using Legal Templates’ donation receipt template, you can have receipts pre-filled except for a few spaces for unique information, including the donor’s name and donation amount. Get donation tax form support by using our document builder today.
How to Write a Donation Receipt
Writing a donation form for a nonprofit includes adding information for your organization, the donor, and the donation. When you use our builder, you simply input the details of your unique situation. Legal Templates’ document editor ensures you include all necessary information per the IRS donation receipt requirements.
1. Indicate Your Filling Out Preference
Legal Templates gives you several options for filling out donation receipts. If you have all the donation details on hand, you can enter them online. Then, simply download, print, and send the completed receipt to your donor. If not, print a blank receipt and fill it out by hand later.
If you have some of the information but not all of it, you can fill out however much you want, save the form online, and come back to it later. Using our document editor, you can add your charity’s information up front and then conveniently save the personalized template whenever needed.
2. Give Your Organization’s Details
Name your organization as the receipt provider and state whether the IRS recognizes it as tax-exempt. Most commonly, this means being a 501(c)(3) organization, which is exempt from federal income tax and eligible to receive tax-deductible donations.
While other types of tax-exempt organizations exist (like 501(c)(4) social welfare groups), only certain types, like 501(c)(3)s, allow donors to claim a deduction on their taxes. If your organization qualifies, you can include that information in the organization section of the receipt. If your organization is tax-exempt, you must provide the following information about the organization:
- employer identification number (EIN)
- address
- contact details
- representative information
If you don’t yet have all the necessary donor and donation information, you can print your forms at this point and fill in the receipts as you get donations. The following steps will only apply if you choose to complete everything online.
3. Write Donor Information
Record the donor’s information, including their:
- name
- address
- contact information
It is crucial that you have the donor’s current information so that they can receive the documentation needed to claim a tax deduction. Without accurate records, donors may not have what they need to support their charitable contribution deductions when filing their taxes. For regular donors, essential documentation includes an annual tax receipt, which summarizes their donations for the whole year.
4. Record the Donation
Use our donation receipt template to:
- record the date of the donation
- indicate whether it was monetary or non-monetary
- list the amount and payment type for monetary donations
- describe the items or services in detail for non-monetary donations
If you received a non-monetary donation, you only have to estimate its value on our form. The donor is responsible for providing the fair market value of their donation for their taxes.
Although you do not technically have to do the math for the donor on the donation’s tax deductibility, it may make it easier for them come tax time. If you exchanged any gifts at the time of donation, subtract their value from the donation, as those portions will not be tax-deductible.
5. Ensure Legal Compliance
Our template ensures legal compliance by explicitly stating, “No goods or services were provided in exchange for this donation.” The IRS offers some guidance if other circumstances are true. You must make these adjustments yourself, as our template does not provide them.
For example, suppose your organization provided goods or services in return for contributions. In that case, you must provide a description and a good-faith estimate of the value of what you provided on your gift receipt for a donation. Also, if your organization gave intangible religious benefits in exchange for the donation, the receipt must make this statement, per the IRS.
Sample Donation Receipt
View a free sample donation receipt template below to learn how to provide acknowledgment to a donor. When you’re ready, use our document editor to fill out your own. It’s printable in PDF or Word format.
