Thank donors the right way

Year-end giving is picking up for our clients. As we've seen over the years, the fastest way to build trust and avoid headaches is to send clean, timely acknowledgments that hit the must-have elements and still sound human. Below is a simple checklist you can drop into your CRM template today. The “musts” are drawn from IRS guidance, but this is not tax advice. It is good nonprofit practice.

What every acknowledgment for gifts of 250 dollars or more must include

1. Your organization’s legal name.

2. The amount of any cash gift.

3. A description of noncash gifts without assigning a value.

4. A statement that no goods or services were provided, if true.

5. If goods or services were provided, a description and good-faith estimate of their value.

6. If only intangible religious benefits were provided, say so. Send it in time for the donor to file, which the IRS calls “contemporaneous.”

   
   

Special case call-out: If a donor pays more than 75 dollars and receives something in return, your disclosure must tell them that only the portion above the fair market value is deductible and provide a good-faith estimate of that value.

Timing that helps retention Aim to send within 48 hours when possible. Quick thank-yous correlate with higher first-year retention and better donor satisfaction.

Optional compliance note Some states require short fundraising disclosure statements on solicitations and certain donor communications. If your state does, include the standard sentence at the footer of your acknowledgment template. Check your state’s language.

Paste-ready sample paragraph “Thank you for your generous contribution of [Amount] on [Date] to [Organization Legal Name]. No goods or services were provided in exchange for this contribution. Your gift will be used to advance [program or mission phrase]. We are grateful for your partnership.”

For noncash gifts, swap the middle sentence to: “We acknowledge receipt of the following noncash contribution: [brief description]. We did not provide goods or services in exchange.” Remember not to assign a dollar value in the receipt.

Simplified task list to update your CRM templates today

• Kindful, Bloomerang, NEON, GiveButter, etc.: confirm your acknowledgment template has merge fields for amount, date, donor name, and organization legal name. Add a conditional block for quid pro quo language.

• Create a second template for non cash gifts that uses a description field, not a value field.

• Add a footer placeholder for any state disclosure sentence if required.

• Set an automation to send within 48 hours for online gifts and create a 2-day task for offline checks.

As your nonprofit begins to close out the final chapters of 2025 giving, clean, timely thank-yous are a small habit with a big retention payoff. Update the template once, then let your system do the work.