What exactly must a contemporaneous written acknowledgment include for donations of $250 or more?
Executive summary
A contemporaneous written acknowledgment is the formal receipt a donor must have to claim a federal income tax deduction for any single charitable contribution of $250 or more; it must be obtained by the donor no later than the earlier of the date the donor files the return for the year of the contribution (including extensions) or the return’s extended due date to be “contemporaneous” [1] [2] [3]. The Internal Revenue Service and related guidance specify exactly what information that acknowledgment must contain: donor-identifying details, date and amount (or description for noncash gifts), and a clear statement about any goods or services provided in return, with special rules where intangible religious benefits or unreimbursed expenses are involved [4] [5] [3].
1. What the acknowledgment must show about the charity and the gift
The acknowledgment must identify the donee organization by name and provide the date of the contribution, and for cash gifts it must state the exact amount of cash contributed while for property gifts it must describe the property contributed (amount for cash; description for noncash) so the donor and the IRS can substantiate the nature and timing of the gift [4] [5] [6].
2. What the acknowledgment must say about goods or services provided
If the charity provided any goods or services in whole or in part in exchange for the gift, the acknowledgment must state whether any goods or services were provided and, if so, provide a description and a good-faith estimate of their value — that disclosure is required because it reduces the deductible amount and failure to include it can expose the organization to reporting penalties [5] [4].
3. Timing rules that make an acknowledgment “contemporaneous”
To meet the contemporaneous standard the donor must receive the written acknowledgment on or before the earlier of the date the donor files the original tax return for the year of the contribution (including extensions) or the return’s extended due date; the IRS explicitly cautions donors to obtain it by then because without it a deduction for a $250+ gift is disallowed [1] [2] [3].
4. Special statements for noncash gifts, unreimbursed expenses, and religious benefits
Noncash contributions require a description (not necessarily a valuation) of the property in the acknowledgement and special rules apply for particular property types (autos, inventory, securities), donors of unreimbursed out‑of‑pocket expenses must obtain an acknowledgment that addresses those expenses, and gifts made in exchange for intangible religious benefits require a statement to that effect in the acknowledgment [5] [3] [1].
5. Form, delivery, and recordkeeping — what satisfies the IRS
There is no prescribed IRS form for the contemporaneous written acknowledgment; it can be a paper letter, postcard, or an electronic communication such as an email addressed to the donor, and one document may substantiate multiple qualifying gifts if it contains all required information, but donors must retain the acknowledgement in their records rather than attaching it to the return [3] [6] [1].
6. Practical notes and common pitfalls for donors and nonprofits
Practitioners and nonprofits routinely send acknowledgments no later than January 31 following the tax year to satisfy timeliness and may aggregate multiple $250+ gifts into a single acknowledgement if it lists each contribution, but a cancelled check or bank record alone does not suffice for $250+ gifts (it may for smaller gifts), and donors bear responsibility for obtaining the contemporaneous written acknowledgment to claim the deduction [7] [8] [9].