Why it matters
The acknowledgment is the first stewardship step and the one donors notice most. Sent within a few days, warm and specific about what the gift will do, it tells the donor their money landed somewhere that pays attention.
Under IRS rules, a donor needs a written acknowledgment to deduct any single contribution of $250 or more. It should state the amount (or describe non-cash property), and say whether the donor received any goods or services in return, with a good-faith estimate of their value if so. Check the exact wording with your accountant.
How Steward shows it
In Fundraising, under Money in, Acknowledgments lists gifts nobody has marked thanked. Choose a template, tick the gifts, preview, then print the letters and mailing labels. Each donor gets one letter listing every gift in the batch. Printing changes nothing; you press "Mark as sent" once the letters are in the post.
Thank-you emails are drafted on Home under "Thank-yous ready", and you send them from your own mail.
Related terms
- Tax receipt Tax receipt is the name for the written confirmation a nonprofit gives a donor so they can deduct a gift. A US donor needs one to deduct any single contribution of $250 or more.
- Stewardship Stewardship is everything a nonprofit does after a gift arrives: thanking the donor, showing them what the gift did, and keeping the relationship warm so they choose to give again.
- Quid pro quo contribution Quid pro quo contribution means a payment to a nonprofit that is partly a gift and partly in exchange for goods or services, such as a gala ticket that includes dinner. Only the part above the value received is deductible.
The free Lost & Found audit reads a giving export in your browser and shows your lapsing donors and what they used to give. Nothing is uploaded. Then bring the same file to a 20-minute demo.