Why You Need To Send End-of-Year Donation Receipt Letters

It’s that time of year! In the nonprofit world, the end of the year is the time to shine. Everything ramps up in November and December with Giving Tuesday and final pushes for donors to make a gift. With all this clamor, the last thing you should have to stress about is sending out those end-of-year donation receipt letters.

In my experience serving the great nonprofits of the United States and beyond, we receive so many questions about creating tax-compliant, end-of-year donation letters. The good news is the IRS allows you to both mail and email statements.

Whether you’re with Kindful or not, I wanted to share some questions our customers frequently ask about year-end donation letters that can help your nonprofit be prepared for the end of the year.

Who needs to send end-of-year donation receipt letters?

When it comes to sending donation receipt letters for tax purposes, there are two major criteria for nonprofits:

• An organization that receives contributions of $250 or more.
• An organization that provides goods or services to donors who make contributions of more than $75.

Why is sending end-of-year donation letters important?

First and foremost, the government regulates end-of-year donation letters in every country where legal nonprofit status is attainable.

Many of your donors are eligible to deduct donations from their taxes. Their end-of-year donation letters is proof that they made a donation to your cause. So make sure you make it available to them.

Can I create a donation receipt template for my emails and letters?

There are several tools that allow you to create donation receipt templates. You can check with your donor management platform, online fundraising platform, or email marketing platform. At least one of those tools should offer the ability to create templates. If your organization uses Kindful, it’s easy to create templates for your donation receipts.

From there, it’s just a matter of creating templates that include the information that’s required and are compelling for your donors.

How do I send end-of-year donation letters with Kindful?

To print tax summaries head to the Contacts page. From there, here are eight short and easy steps to print and mail out your tax summaries. These letters are already formatted to be used with a standard #10 envelope (or the option to use a #9 envelope).

If you’re not with Kindful, check with your donor management provider to see what features they offer to help you print your tax summaries and send donation receipt letters to your donors.

More resources

If you’re a Kindful customer, I recommend that you take a look at the article in our Help Center on Preparing For End-of-Year Tax Summaries. This will give you every resource you need to use Kindful to get your year-end donation letters out.

We sincerely wish you the best of luck in these finals days of giving. If we can do anything to help, please let us know. Email support@kindful.com and we are always happy to make your life easier.

For more on end-of-year donation letters, check out our Nonprofit Glossary page on What Is A Year-End Giving Letter? with nonprofit examples to help you get started.

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