ABCs: Annual Blessing of Charitable Receipts, Part 2 - Gift info
For many charities and churches, it’s time to prepare charitable tax receipts. This blog continues a series on turning the chore of annual receipts into a blessing.
The Apostle Paul tells the Corinthians that administering the collection honours the Lord (2 Cor 8:19-21). Yes, the government has rules and we want to honour our donors, but first and foremost we want to honour God.
Assume that God is going to see each receipt.
The goal is both accurate and grateful communication. This post leans into accurate, the next post will talk about adding thank-you letters to annual receipts.
Correction to Part 1 - Donor info: Right after hitting send, I corrected the post because deceased donors still get a final receipt. The advice to carefully correct your donor database still applies.
How to receipt correctly
When I start working with a client, I donate right away. Two reasons: one, it’s easier to ask others to support the cause when I am already a donor and two, I want to experience the receipting process.
My receipting experiences are all over the map, assuming the map includes places like late, wrong and indifferent.
Here are some mistakes to avoid and some resources to help.
Mistakes to avoid
Don’t receipt gifts received from a charity or foundation
For instance, your church should not be issuing receipts to CanadaHelps; as a charity, they receipt the donations they receive, then pass funds to Canadian registered charities.
I’m a big fan of CanadaHelps - they handle all the technology and the receipting and then deposit the money straight into your charity’s bank account. Yes, they retain a small percentage for their charitable work of helping charities. I doubt your charity could hire someone to do the receipting for less.
Don’t receipt if you are not sure who gave the gift
If the daughter writes a cheque but wants her dad to get the receipt, that’s not going to work. There is a useful infographic on this CRA webpage that might help.
Anonymous vs. confidential
Some donors wish to remain anonymous. That’s fine, but what if they want a receipt? Your charity needs the donor’s name and address in order to issue a receipt and must keep that information on file in case the receipt needs to be re-issued.
Perhaps what the donor means is that they do not wish to be contacted by your charity. Respect their wishes by investing in staff training and good donor management software.
If a donor truly wishes to be anonymous – with no information stored by your charity – a good option is donating through a platform like CanadaHelps or setting up a gifting account with an organization like Abundance. Both of these organizations will handle the receipting and have options for donating money anonymously.
Resources
To state the obvious: I am not an accountant nor a lawyer, merely a humble blogger passionate about the spiritual discipline of giving. Here are some resources I’ve found useful:
Sample receipt to copy
There are very specific requirements for receipting. The CRA offers sample receipts here:
Remember that your organization needs to keep copies of receipts issued. Your charity must be able to reissue a receipt if required.
Call a friend
Invest in training for your treasurer. The Canadian Council of Christian Charities is a great place to start. www.cccc.org A membership is a worthwhile investment and they offer many resources on receipting, church policies and much more.
Canadian Charity Law Blumberg’s Canadian Charity Law Firm offers a comprehensive blog and resource website at https://www.canadiancharitylaw.ca/
Each receipt tells a story
Each receipt tells a story. Someone cares enough about your organization to send you money. Your ministry is that important to them.
Could you begin with a prayer of gratitude before you start the work of balancing the books and preparing receipts? Remember too that your work as a steward of these generous gifts is a gift in and of itself. May you find blessing in the task.
