Every January, donors need one document that totals their year of giving — and the IRS requires written acknowledgment for any single contribution of $250 or more. GoodBooks generates these statements for the whole donor list in one shot, laid out to fold into a standard #10 window envelope.
Find it under Reports → Annual Giving Statements.
The roster
Pick the Calendar Year and you get every donor with completed gifts that year: name, address, gift count, and total given. Donors at or above $250 get a "$250+ acknowledgment required" badge, and the footer counts how many written acknowledgments you owe.
From here:
- Print All Statements — one printable stack, one page per donor, ready for a folding machine and window envelopes. Use the browser's print dialog (Print All / Save PDF) to print or save.
- The per-row print icon generates a single donor's statement — also available from the donor's contact record (Giving Statement button on their Donations tab), handy when someone calls in March asking for a copy.
Statements are designed for print or save-as-PDF; there's no bulk email — mail them, hand them out, or attach a saved PDF to a personal email.
What's on the statement
Letterhead with your logo, legal name, address, and EIN; the donor's name and address positioned for the envelope window; and the year's gifts — date, method, campaign, and amount — with a total and a campaign summary.
The tax language adapts to your organization: a verified 501(c)(3) public charity gets the full IRS acknowledgment (no goods or services provided, tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3), and — when the total warrants it — the statement that this serves as the written acknowledgment required for contributions of $250 or more). Organizations without verified charity status get neutral wording advising donors to consult their tax advisor. Verify your status under Settings → Organization → Public Charity Status.
The deductible / non-deductible split
This is the statement's quiet superpower — it separates what's deductible from what isn't, automatically:
| Situation | How it's handled |
|---|---|
| Ordinary gift | Fully deductible. |
| Gift via DAF or QCD payment type | Entirely non-deductible (the donor already received their tax benefit). |
| Campaign marked Non-Deductible | Entirely non-deductible. |
| Campaign marked Partial Deduction with a Fair Market Value (gala dinners, auctions) | The FMV portion is non-deductible; the rest is deductible. |
When any non-deductible amounts exist, the statement shows a separate Non-Deductible Contributions section with its own total and an explanation, so the deductible total up top is the number the donor's tax preparer can actually use. Set campaign tax treatment on the campaign form — see Understanding Campaigns.
Good to know
- Statements cover the calendar year (January 1 – December 31) — that's the tax year donors file on, regardless of your fiscal year.
- Only completed gifts appear. Pledge balances and soft credits don't — a statement is a record of money received, which is what the IRS wants.
- Anonymous gifts have no donor, so they don't generate statements.
- Print a test statement before running the whole stack to check your logo, address block, and envelope alignment.
- Per-gift thank-yous are a different document — see Donation Receipts.
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