Donation Receipts are emails sent to your donors after they have donated. It serves to confirm that their donation has been made and allows you to thank them personally for their contribution.
We allow you to customize your donation receipt with the use of merge tags. Here are a few examples of what those are and how they work:
{{first_name}} - inserts the donor first name
{{last_name}} - inserts the donor last name
{{display_amount}} inserts the intended donation amount (minus the CauseVox tip) and it is also automatically added into the default transaction information
{{transaction_info}} - inserts transaction information about the donation
For the full list of merge tags, see our donation receipt merge tags support article.
If you need some assistance or ideas on what to write, you can check out our blog post to learn how to write a great donation receipt for your nonprofit, or here are two examples of donation receipts that you can use for your fundraising site:
Note: These examples are intended for educational purposes and do not substitute professional legal and tax advice.
i. Tax Deductible Donation Receipt (For US-based charities)
Hi {{full_name}},
Thank you for your donation. This letter serves as your receipt for tax purposes and certifies that you have made this donation as a charitable contribution.
Here’s our tax information:
Organization Name: End Poverty
7900 Woodmont Avenue
Bethesda, MD 20814
Telephone: 555-396-1146
Email: [email protected]
EIN: 10-1371549
Here’s your contribution information:
Donated on Behalf of: Bekka Bridge
Total Charge: $82.50
Displayed Amount: $75.22
Date: 07/27/2020 04:20 PM UTC
Donor Name: Marvin Costas
Comment: Thank you for the work you do!
Transaction ID: TX123456789
Address: 7900 Woodmont Avenue, Bethesda, MD 20814
Thank you for your donation of $75.22 to End Poverty.
This donation should appear on your credit card statement as “EndPoverty.org”. No goods or services were provided in exchange for your contribution.
Again, thank you for your generous donation!
Sincerely,
EndPovertyNow.org
ii. Non-Tax Deductible Donation Receipt
Hi {{first_name}},
Thank you for your contribution to ORG NAME. This letter serves as your transaction receipt.
Here is your contribution information:
Donated on Behalf of: Bekka Bridge
Total Charge: $82.50
Displayed Amount: $75.22
Date: 07/27/2020 04:20 PM UTC
Donor Name: Marvin Costas
Comment: Thank you for the work you do!
Transaction ID: TX123456789
Address: 7900 Woodmont Avenue, Bethesda, MD 20814
Thank you for your donation of $75.22 to End Poverty.
This transaction should appear on your credit card statement as “ORG NAME”. This contribution is not tax deductible.
Again, thank you for your generous contribution!
Sincerely,
ORG NAME
We already have a template built in, but feel free to alter it and make the donation receipt your own!
Here's an example of how the {{transaction_info}} tag will display in your email receipt:
To set up your customized donation receipt for one-time, recurring and pledge donations, follow the steps below:
Step 1: Under Campaigns, select your campaign Settings (gear icon).
Step 2: Under Sites & Forms, select the donation form.
Step 3: Select your One-time, Recurring or Pledge Donations from the left navigation.
Scroll down to the receipt section to edit the content of the donation receipt. Insert any merge tags as applicable and Save in the lower right hand corner.
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Step 4: Optional: Send a test email to your admin account by selecting Send Test E-Mail.
Step 5: Select General on the left navigation to send a copy of the donation receipt to yourself (or another team member) on the donation receipts and Save.
For Recurring and Pledge Receipts
Step 6: Repeat Step 1, then select the Recurring Donations, or Pledges under Donation Form. You can also access the Recurring Donations or Pledges through the Donation Form settings in the left navigation at any time.
Step 7: Edit the content of the donation receipt. Insert any merge tags applicable and Save.
Your recurring donation or pledge installment payment receipt automatically has a secure link at the bottom of the message so donors can update payment details for their recurring donation or update payment details for their pledge.
Here's how the Member Portal link and descriptive text will display at the bottom of your email receipt: