Advancement · Grants and Funding

Thank the donor.
Get the wording right.

A school foundation’s thank-you letter does a legal job too. Gifts of $250 or more need a written acknowledgment; a gala ticket over $75 needs a statement of what the donor got back; a donated laptop is described, never valued. Record each gift and the letter writes the required sentences for you.

Record a giftWhat you get
$12one-time · every device you sign in on
Buy · $12

Included with Caveat Classroom and Whole-school licenses. Or get it in the Grant writer’s desk, $49 for 32 items.

Gifts and letters

The worked example is made up: a school foundation’s $500 check, a $150 gala ticket that included a $60 dinner, and a gift of twelve laptops. Saved on this device only.

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What you get

Advancement · Grants & Funding$12 · included with Classroom and Whole-school licenses

What you finish with
A record per gift with the organization, EIN and signer; donor, address, date, kind, amount or description; anything given in return and its value; the date the letter went out. Works out the deductible part, flags which IRS statements the letter needs and letters not yet sent, totals gifts and required letters, and prints an acknowledgment letter with the right statements.
Who it is for
Staff and volunteers who thank donors for school foundations, PTOs, booster clubs and other 501(c)(3) organizations.
Format
Browser letter tool with a saved record per gift. Prints the acknowledgment letter, a gift log for the year or a blank form; downloads a spreadsheet (.csv) for the books; exports and imports a file.
Access
$12 one-time, yours on every device you sign in on; the tool opens once you are signed in with it. Included with Caveat Classroom and Whole-school licenses. Also in the Grant writer’s desk ($49) and the Advancement Suite pass ($99), and 1 more bundle. Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives
The Grants & Funding space in Caveat Advancement.
Support
Questions about access, an order or a correction: team@caveatacademic.com.

How to use it

  1. Fill in the organization once, then duplicate the record for each new gift.
  2. Record the amount, or describe the property without a value.
  3. Note anything the donor received and its fair market value.
  4. Print the letter, sign it and send it promptly.
  5. Download the spreadsheet for your records at year end.

Record a gift

The rules in brief

Which letter a gift needsUnder $250, nothing in returnA letter is good practice; a bank recordor receipt can be enough for the donor.$250 or moreA written acknowledgment is required:amount, and whether anything was given inreturn.Over $75, something in returnA quid pro quo disclosure: the deductiblepart is the payment less the valuereceived.Property or stockDescribe it; do not value it. The donorhandles the valuation.
A single gift is counted on its own: two $200 checks are two gifts under $250.

What a written acknowledgment includes

For a single gift of $250 or more, the donor needs a written acknowledgment from the organization that gives its name, the amount of cash or a description (not the value) of property, and a statement of whether the organization gave goods or services in return, with a description and good-faith estimate of their value if it did. The donor must have it by the time the return is filed.

The quid pro quo rule

When a donor pays more than $75 and receives something in return, such as a dinner or event ticket, the organization must tell the donor in writing that only the amount above the value received is deductible, and give a good-faith estimate of that value. Small token items and intangible religious benefits are treated differently.

Sources

  1. Internal Revenue Service. Publication 1771: Charitable Contributions, Substantiation and Disclosure Requirements (irs.gov).
  2. Internal Revenue Service. Publication 526: Charitable Contributions (irs.gov).
  3. 26 U.S.C. § 170(f)(8) and § 6115 (uscode.house.gov).
  4. Internal Revenue Service. Charitable contributions: written acknowledgments (irs.gov/charities-non-profits).

The worked example is made up. This tool follows the federal rules in IRS Publication 1771 in general terms and is not tax advice; your organization’s accountant has the final word on any gift. Nothing you type is sent to Caveat; donor details stay in this browser. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.