The rule is short. A donor who gives you $250 or more cannot claim the deduction unless you have given them a written acknowledgment, and the IRS says what that acknowledgment has to contain. Get it wrong and it is the donor who loses the deduction, which is a poor way to treat the people who fund you.
What the acknowledgment must say
The IRS's written acknowledgments page lists the contents: the "name of the organization", the "amount of cash contribution", a "description (but not value) of non-cash contribution", and either a "statement that no goods or services were provided by the organization" or a "description and good faith estimate of the value of goods or services" that were. Churches add a line that only intangible religious benefits were provided.
The sentence most small organizations forget is the goods-and-services one. If the donor got nothing, say so, in those words. An acknowledgment without that statement is incomplete.
What it does not need
No form, no letterhead, no signature. IRS Publication 1771 says plainly that "there are no IRS forms for the contemporaneous written acknowledgment" and that "letters, postcards, or computer-generated forms with the above information are acceptable". An email with the right contents is a receipt.
The same publication clears up the $250 question for churches and anyone with weekly givers: "separate contributions of less than $250 will not be aggregated". Five gifts of $60 do not become one gift of $300 for the acknowledgment rule. A year-end statement is still a kindness, and your donors will ask for one, but the law is per gift.
When it has to arrive
"Contemporaneous" has a definition. Publication 526 says the donor must get the acknowledgment "on or before the earlier of: the date you file your return for the year you make the contribution; or the due date, including extensions, for filing the return". The same publication notes that organizations "typically send written acknowledgements to donors no later than January 31 of the year following the donation".
In practice there is no reason to wait. A receipt sent the moment the card clears is contemporaneous by any definition, and a thank-you that arrives in seconds is read differently from one that arrives in February.
When the donor got something back
If someone pays you more than $75 and receives something in return, a dinner, a ticket, an auction item, that is a quid pro quo contribution and the rule changes. The IRS's quid pro quo page requires a disclosure that tells the donor the deductible amount is limited to the excess over the value received and gives "a good faith estimate of the fair market value" of what they got. Its example: a donor gives $100 and receives a concert ticket worth $40, the deductible part is $60, and because the payment is over $75 the disclosure is required. The penalty for skipping it is "$10 per contribution, not to exceed $5,000 per fundraising event or mailing".
What a good thank-you says
The receipt satisfies the IRS. The thank-you is for the donor, and it lives in the same email. Four things, in this order:
- Thank them in the first line, by name, for the specific amount. Not "Dear supporter".
- Say what it will do. One concrete sentence. "Your $50 covers a week of groceries for one of the twelve families we are supporting this month."
- The receipt block. Organization name, EIN, date, amount, the goods-and-services statement. Fund name if they chose one.
- One person's name at the bottom. The director, the pastor, the treasurer. Not "The Team".
No ask for a second gift, no newsletter pitch, no social buttons. This email has one job.
Monthly donors get one every month
A recurring gift is a series of separate contributions, each with its own date and amount, and each needs its own receipt. A single confirmation when the subscription starts does not cover the eleven charges that follow.
In Webkio, the receipt goes out automatically when a gift succeeds, with the reference, date, fund and amount, and every monthly renewal gets its own. You write the subject line and the message in Donations settings; put your EIN and the no-goods-or-services sentence in that text once and every receipt carries it. The donate page post covers what the page itself needs to say about receipts.
Questions
Does a donor need a receipt for a gift under $250?
The written acknowledgment rule applies at $250 and above. Below that, the donor's own bank or card record is enough for the IRS. Send one anyway; it is the thank-you, and it is the email they will file.
Can the acknowledgment be an email?
Yes. Publication 1771 says there is no IRS form and that computer-generated acknowledgments are acceptable. What matters is the contents, not the paper.
Do we have to send year-end statements?
Not by law, if each gift was acknowledged when it was made. Donors ask for them anyway because it saves them adding up twelve emails, so a January statement is good practice rather than a requirement.