Things You Should Know About Non-Profit Donor Acknowledgement Letters

An Overview of Donor Acknowledgement Letters for Non-Profit Filing

Donations made by charitable individuals serve as the fuel that keeps non-profit organizations running. While it is customary to show gratitude to donors, a simple thank-you letter may not suffice. With tax rules in place, organizations must send donor acknowledgement letters to donors who give a set amount of money.

If you are confused about non-profit donor acknowledgement letters, we’ve created a brief overview for you to follow.

Who Receives These Letters?

Leaning Over a Desk, A Man Writes Out a Letter

If you donated at least $250 to a specific non-profit organization in the past year, you should receive a donor acknowledgement letter. This essentially acts as a receipt, and serves as written proof that the donation was made on a specific date.

Non-profit organizations typically send these letters out before January 31st, just before tax season starts.

Why These Letters Are Important

Tax Documents & a Blue Computer Mouse

Sending donor acknowledgement letters timely and efficiently is important for non-profit organizations because donors can use them for tax preparation. This is because charitable donations are some of the expenditures that individual taxpayers can deduct on tax returns.

What These Letters Need to Include

Non-profit organizations should make sure they provide all the proper information on their donor acknowledgement letters so that preparing a donor’s tax deduction for charitable contribution is a seamless process.

A few key items that need to be included are:

  • The full legal name of your organization
  • The name of the donor
  • Acknowledgement that you run a 501c3 tax-exempt organization
  • The date the donation was received
  • A description of the donation, or the amount of money that was sent

Need help putting together your donor acknowledgement letters?
David Gallagher and his team are here to help you.

Related Posts