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Donation acknowledgment letter template (IRS-compliant, Word)
Three fill-in-the-blank thank-you letters that include every element IRS Publication 1771 requires: your organization's name, the amount or a description of the gift, the date, and the "no goods or services" (or good-faith value) statement. Copy the text, or download all three as one Word file.
No email, no signup. The .doc opens in Microsoft Word, Google Docs, LibreOffice and Pages.
Cash gift — no goods or services
Use for checks, cash, card and online donations where the donor received nothing in return. This is the letter most small nonprofits send for every gift.
[Organization name] [Street address] [City, State ZIP] EIN: [00-0000000] [Date] [Donor name] [Donor street address] [City, State ZIP] Dear [Donor first name], Thank you for your generous gift of $[amount] to [Organization name], received on [gift date]. Your support makes [one sentence about what the gift helps you do]. [Organization name] is a tax-exempt organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. No goods or services were provided in exchange for this contribution. Please keep this letter for your tax records. With gratitude, [Signer name] [Title], [Organization name]
In-kind (non-cash) gift
Use for donated goods, equipment, food or supplies. Describe the property; do NOT state a dollar value — the donor is responsible for valuing it.
[Organization name] [Street address] [City, State ZIP] EIN: [00-0000000] [Date] [Donor name] [Donor street address] [City, State ZIP] Dear [Donor first name], Thank you for your in-kind contribution to [Organization name], received on [gift date]. We gratefully acknowledge the following donated property: [description of the item(s), e.g. "12 folding chairs and 2 tables" — no dollar value]. [Organization name] is a tax-exempt organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. No goods or services were provided in exchange for this contribution. As required by the IRS, this letter describes but does not value the donated property; the donor is responsible for determining its fair market value. With gratitude, [Signer name] [Title], [Organization name]
Event ticket, gala or auction (goods or services received)
Required by the IRS whenever a donor pays more than $75 and receives something in return (a dinner, tickets, an auction item). You must state the good-faith value of what they received and that only the excess is deductible.
[Organization name] [Street address] [City, State ZIP] EIN: [00-0000000] [Date] [Donor name] [Donor street address] [City, State ZIP] Dear [Donor first name], Thank you for your payment of $[total amount] to [Organization name] on [payment date] for [what they bought, e.g. "two tickets to our Spring Gala"]. In exchange for this payment you received goods or services with a good-faith estimated fair market value of $[value of goods/services] ([short description, e.g. "dinner for two"]). Under IRS rules, the amount of your payment that is deductible as a charitable contribution is limited to the excess of your payment over the value of the goods or services you received — that is, $[total minus value]. [Organization name] is a tax-exempt organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Please keep this letter for your tax records. With gratitude, [Signer name] [Title], [Organization name]
Filling these in for 20, 50 or 300 donors?
Paste your donation spreadsheet into the generator and it fills every field, picks the right statement for each gift (cash, in-kind, or event with a good-faith value), groups multiple gifts per donor into one year-end letter, and exports the whole batch as PDF or Word. Your first batch of letters is free. A subscription for more lists is planned — join the waitlist from the generator.
Frequently asked questions
Is a thank-you letter the same as a donation receipt?
For IRS purposes, yes — a "contemporaneous written acknowledgment" can be a letter, a receipt, a postcard or an email, as long as it contains the required elements. Most nonprofits combine the thank-you and the tax acknowledgment in one letter, which is what these templates do.
Do I have to send one for every gift?
The donor needs one to deduct any single gift of $250 or more. Below that, it is not legally required, but donors expect it and it costs you nothing. Many organizations send one letter per gift during the year and a year-end summary in January.
Can I send it by email?
Yes. An email that contains the same information is a valid written acknowledgment. Put the required statement in the body of the email, not only in a PDF attachment, so the donor's records are complete even if the attachment is lost.
What is the deadline?
The donor must have the acknowledgment by the earlier of the date they file their return or the return's due date (including extensions). In practice, mail or email year-end letters by January 31.
Why does the in-kind template not include a dollar value?
The IRS requires the charity to describe non-cash property, not value it. Stating a value can cause problems for both you and the donor. Leave valuation to the donor (and their appraiser, for gifts over $5,000).
What if the donor received a small thank-you gift, like a mug?
Token items of insubstantial value (the IRS publishes low-cost-article limits each year) can be disregarded, and you may still use the "no goods or services" statement. Anything more substantial — a meal, tickets, an auction item — needs the event template with a good-faith value.
These templates reflect IRS Publication 1771 as of 2026 and are provided for general information, not legal or tax advice. See our plain-English guide to the rules for details.