For private, parochial and public schools, preschools and school foundations
School donation letters: tuition is never a gift, and how to acknowledge what is
Every January a parent asks the school office for a "donation receipt" for tuition. The answer is no — tuition, registration fees, activity fees and any "donation" expected as a condition of enrollment buy an education and are not charitable contributions (Rev. Rul. 83-104; Hernandez; Sklar), even at a church school. What is deductible is the truly voluntary gift above tuition: the annual fund, the tuition-assistance fund the school controls, the building campaign, and gifts to a public school district under Section 170(c)(1). Four templates below: the annual-fund acknowledgment with the "voluntary, no tuition reduction" sentence, the scholarship-fund letter, the courteous not-a-contribution letter for tuition, and the public-school gift letter.
Your first batch of letters is free. Donor data never leaves your browser.
Gift or payment? The school office cheat sheet
| Payment | Tax character | What the school sends |
|---|---|---|
| Tuition, in any number of installments | Payment for services — not deductible (Hernandez; Sklar) | Paid-tuition statement; never on the giving statement |
| "Donation" required by the enrollment contract, or paid in lieu of tuition | Tuition in disguise (Rev. Rul. 83-104) | Not-a-contribution letter (template 3) |
| Registration, book, lab, technology, sports, field-trip, lunch, after-care fees | Purchases for the child — not deductible | Ordinary invoice/receipt, no acknowledgment |
| Voluntary annual-fund gift; full tuition charged; no benefit | Deductible contribution | Acknowledgment with the voluntary / no-tuition-reduction sentence (template 1) |
| Gift to the school-controlled tuition-assistance fund | Deductible; school selects recipients | Scholarship-fund acknowledgment (template 2) |
| Gift earmarked for a named student | Gift to the family, not to the school (Rev. Rul. 62-113) | No tax receipt; see the Designated gifts page |
| Grandparent pays tuition directly to the school | Not a contribution; gift-tax exclusion for the payer (§2503(e)) | Paid-tuition statement and a thank-you note |
| Cash or supplies given to a public school or district | Deductible under §170(c)(1) for public purposes | District acknowledgment (template 4) |
| Gala ticket, auction item, raffle ticket | Quid pro quo; raffle never deductible | §6115 disclosure with good-faith value — see Auction page |
| Gift to a state-listed scholarship granting organization | Deductible less any state credit over 15%; from 2027 may qualify for the §25F federal credit instead | SGO issues the receipt; school sends thanks only |
Annual-fund gift acknowledgment
The letter for a parent, grandparent or alumnus who gives above tuition: amount, date, EIN, the no-goods-or-services statement, and the sentence that the gift was voluntary, was not a condition of enrollment and reduced no tuition — with a reminder that tuition is billed separately.
[School letterhead — name, address, EIN] [Date] [Donor name] [Address] Dear [First name], Thank you for your gift of $[amount] to the [School name] Annual Fund, received on [date]. Annual Fund gifts pay for what tuition does not: this year they are funding [example: new science-lab equipment, the reading specialist, and financial aid for 14 families]. Your gift was entirely voluntary. It was not required as a condition of your child's enrollment, it did not reduce any tuition or fees, and no goods or services were provided in exchange for it. [School name] is a tax-exempt organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, EIN [00-0000000]. Please keep this letter with your tax records; tuition and required fees are billed separately and are not included here. With gratitude, [Signer name] [Title] [School name]
Scholarship / tuition-assistance fund acknowledgment
States that the financial aid committee selects recipients, that donors do not name a student, and that nothing went to the donor's own family — the facts that make a scholarship gift deductible. Includes an optional sentence for state tax-credit programs.
[School letterhead — name, address, EIN] [Date] Dear [First name], Thank you for your contribution of $[amount] to the [School name] Tuition Assistance Fund, received on [date]. Gifts to this fund are awarded by the school's financial aid committee to families who qualify under our published need-based criteria. The committee selects the recipients; donors do not choose or name a student, and no part of your gift was applied to tuition for a child of your family. No goods or services were provided in exchange for this contribution. [School name] is a tax-exempt organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, EIN [00-0000000]. [Optional, state credit programs: Because you received, or expect to receive, a [State] tax credit for this gift, your federal charitable deduction may be reduced by the amount of the credit under Treasury Regulation §1.170A-1(h)(3). Please share this letter with your tax preparer.] This year the fund is helping [number] students attend [School name]. Thank you for making that possible. Sincerely, [Signer name] [Title]
Not-a-contribution letter for tuition and fees
The kind reply to the parent who asks for a donation receipt for tuition: explains Rev. Rul. 83-104 in plain words, offers a paid-tuition statement for state credits or 529 plans, and invites genuinely voluntary gifts. Send with a copy of your annual-fund letter.
[School letterhead — name, address, EIN] [Date] Dear [First name], Thank you for asking about a donation receipt for your [tuition / registration fee / activity fee / payment described as a donation in lieu of tuition] of $[amount] paid on [date]. We want to be careful to give you accurate information. Under IRS rules, payments that provide an education for your child — tuition, required fees, and any amount expected as a condition of enrollment or that reduces tuition — are payments for services rather than charitable contributions, even when made to a church school and even when a school describes them as "donations" (Revenue Ruling 83-104; IRS Publication 526). For that reason [School name] cannot issue a charitable acknowledgment for this payment, and it will not appear on a year-end giving statement. We are glad to provide a paid-tuition statement for your records; some families use it for state education credits, dependent-care benefits or 529-plan distributions, which have their own rules. Gifts to [School name] that are entirely voluntary and over and above tuition — to the Annual Fund, the Tuition Assistance Fund or the building campaign — are deductible contributions, and we acknowledge every one of them with a letter like the one enclosed. Thank you for being part of [School name]. Sincerely, [Signer name] [Title]
Public school or district gift acknowledgment
For a principal or business official acknowledging cash or classroom supplies given directly to a public school: cites Section 170(c)(1), states the public purpose, includes the no-goods statement and describes property without valuing it.
[School district letterhead — name, address, EIN] [Date] Dear [First name], On behalf of [School name] and the [District name] Board of Education, thank you for your gift of [$[amount] / the following items: [description — e.g., 30 graphing calculators, 12 boxes of copy paper]] received on [date] for [purpose — e.g., the fifth-grade classrooms / the music program / general use]. [District name] is a public school district, a political subdivision of the State of [State]. Contributions to a governmental unit that are made for exclusively public purposes are deductible under Section 170(c)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code. No goods or services were provided in exchange for this contribution. [For property: we have described the items but have not assigned a value; the fair market value is determined by you.] Your gift will be used for [purpose] at the discretion of the school. Thank you for investing in our students. Sincerely, [Signer name] [Title — e.g., Principal / Superintendent / Business Official]
Tuition rows in the generator
Paste the development office's gift export — not the tuition ledger. If a cash row's Notes read like tuition, a registration or activity fee, a payment "in lieu of tuition" or a "required donation", the generator adds a WARNING citing Rev. Rul. 83-104 and points you to the not-a-contribution letter above; the letter is still produced so the decision stays with you. Rows noted as annual fund, scholarship fund, tuition assistance fund or building fund are not flagged, and a gift earmarked for a named student gets the earmarking warning instead. Year-end statements for families then show only real gifts.
School donation questions
Is private school tuition a charitable contribution?
No. Tuition buys an education for your child, so it is a payment for services, not a gift — even to a school run by a church, and even if the school is a 501(c)(3). The Supreme Court settled the principle in Hernandez v. Commissioner (1989), and the Ninth Circuit applied it to religious-school tuition in Sklar v. Commissioner (2008): no part of tuition is deductible, including any part attributed to religious instruction. Schools should never list tuition on a giving statement.
Our school calls part of the bill a "donation" and sets tuition low. Can parents deduct that part?
Almost never. Revenue Ruling 83-104 says a parent's payment to a school is tuition, not a gift, when there is an enrollment contract requiring it, a plan that lets parents pay a "contribution" in lieu of tuition, earmarking for a particular child, no significant tuition charge, unusual pressure to give, or fundraising appeals that are part of admissions. Calling the payment a donation does not change what it buys. Only a gift that is genuinely voluntary — the school charges full tuition, families who do not give are treated identically, and the gift earns no tuition reduction — is a contribution.
What does Rev. Rul. 83-104 actually allow?
It approves the ordinary case: a school charges tuition that covers its costs, runs a building or annual fund drive directed at parents and the whole community alike, nobody is pressured, non-contributing families are not disadvantaged, and the appeal is not part of the admissions process. Gifts in that setting are deductible. It disallows payments under a contract, payments in lieu of tuition, and "voluntary" gifts where the school charges little or no tuition and expects parents to make up the difference.
What should a school's acknowledgment say to make the distinction clear?
Use the standard IRS Publication 1771 content — amount, date, your name and EIN, and the statement that no goods or services were provided — and add one sentence: the gift was voluntary, was not required as a condition of enrollment, and did not reduce tuition or fees. Then say that tuition and fees are billed separately and are not included. Templates 1 and 2 do this. The sentence protects the parent at audit and reminds your own staff never to merge the tuition ledger into the giving statement.
A grandparent paid a child's tuition directly to the school. Do they get a donation letter?
No. Paying someone's tuition is a payment for that student's education, not a contribution to the school. For the grandparent it is a gift to the family — and tuition paid directly to the school is excluded from gift tax under IRC §2503(e) with no annual limit, which is why many grandparents do it. Send a paid-tuition statement and a thank-you note, not a charitable acknowledgment.
Can a donor give to our scholarship fund and ask that it go to a particular student?
If the donor chooses the student, the payment is a gift to that student's family, not a deductible contribution (Rev. Rul. 62-113; this is the earmarking rule). Scholarship gifts are deductible when the school controls the money and selects recipients under objective criteria, the donor's wish is at most a non-binding preference, and nothing goes to the donor's own children or dependents. Template 2 states that the committee selects recipients. The Designated gifts page has the longer version of this rule.
Is a gift to a public school or school district deductible?
Yes. A public school district is a governmental unit, and contributions to it for exclusively public purposes are deductible under IRC §170(c)(1); the district does not need a 501(c)(3) ruling. Classroom supplies and cash gifts both qualify. The acknowledgment should name the district, say the gift is for public purposes, include the no-goods-or-services statement and, for property, describe without valuing (template 4). Gifts routed through a separate PTA or foundation are acknowledged by that organization instead.
What about registration, book, lab, technology, sports and field-trip fees?
Fees that are required for a child to enroll, take a class, play on the team or go on the trip buy something for that child and are not contributions, even when the school is a charity and even when the fee is called a donation. The same goes for lunch accounts, uniforms, before- and after-school care and summer camp. Paying a fee for a different child chosen by the school from its hardship fund is a gift; paying it for a named child the donor picked is not.
Our school holds a gala, auction and raffle. Are those gifts?
They are quid pro quo payments. For an event ticket over $75 the school must tell the attendee in writing the good-faith value of the dinner and entertainment and that only the excess is deductible (IRC §6115). Auction purchases are deductible only to the extent the price exceeds the item's published fair market value, and raffle tickets are never deductible. The Auction and Quid pro quo pages have the exact wording.
Donors to our state scholarship tax-credit program get a state credit. How do we acknowledge them?
The acknowledgment is the normal one: amount, date, no goods or services from you. A state tax credit is a benefit from the state, not from the school or scholarship organization. Under Treasury Regulation §1.170A-1(h)(3) the donor must reduce the federal charitable deduction by the credit received or expected unless the credit is 15 percent or less of the gift, so many scholarship organizations add a courtesy sentence pointing that out (template 2 includes it as an option). The donor's preparer handles the arithmetic.
What is the new federal scholarship tax credit (Section 25F) and does it change our letters?
Beginning with 2027 contributions, an individual may claim a federal income tax credit of up to $1,700 for cash gifts to a scholarship granting organization that appears on a participating state's list filed with the IRS; the federal credit is reduced by any state credit for the same gift, and a donor cannot also deduct the amount credited. Schools themselves are not SGOs. If your tuition-assistance program is run through a listed SGO, the SGO issues the receipt and will follow the forthcoming IRS guidance on its contents; your own acknowledgment for direct gifts to the school does not change.
Can a donor-advised fund grant pay a child's tuition?
No. A DAF grant that pays tuition, or fulfills a parent's enrollment obligation, confers more than an incidental benefit on the advisor and triggers excise taxes under IRC §4967 (and on the sponsor under §4966). Schools should decline DAF grants that are earmarked for a particular student's tuition and tell the sponsoring organization why. DAF grants to the general scholarship fund or annual fund are fine and get a thank-you letter, not a tax receipt (the sponsor already issued one). See the DAF page.
Are tuition payments at least deductible some other way?
Not as a charitable gift, but families may have other options that are none of the school's business to certify: several states offer tax credits or deductions for private K-12 tuition; 529 plan distributions can pay K-12 tuition (the federal limit rises to $20,000 per student per year beginning in 2026); dependent-care benefits can cover before- and after-school care for young children. Give parents an itemized paid-tuition statement so they can use whichever applies.
Does the generator help with school giving statements?
Yes. Paste your development-office export, not the tuition ledger. If a cash row's Notes read like tuition, a registration or activity fee, a payment "in lieu of tuition" or a "required donation", the generator adds a WARNING citing Rev. Rul. 83-104 and points you to the not-a-contribution letter on this page — the letter is still produced so you decide. Gifts noted as annual fund, scholarship fund, tuition assistance fund or building fund are not flagged. A gift earmarked for a named student is flagged under the earmarking rule.
General information based on Internal Revenue Code §§170(c)(1), 170(f)(8), 2503(e), 4966, 4967, 6115 and 25F; Treas. Reg. §1.170A-1(h)(3); Revenue Rulings 62-113 and 83-104; Hernandez v. Commissioner, 490 U.S. 680 (1989); Sklar v. Commissioner, 549 F.3d 1252 (9th Cir. 2008); and IRS Publications 526 and 1771. Not legal, tax or accounting advice.