How do you include the non deductible amount for a donor's membership level rather than their individual gift in an acknowledgement letter?
For example:
Donor A gives $25 on 4/20, & now has a membership of only $25 which isn't enough to have any perks that are non-deductible. Therefore the non deductible amount is $0 - no problem generating this letter. (using the "goods_services_value" field in the acknowledgement letter report exported into excel)
However....
Donor B gives $25 on 4/20, & now has a membership level of $250 which comes with non-deductible items such as beverages, comp tickets, etc. So now the non deductible amount relies on their collective giving as oppossed to their one-time gift that is mentioned in the letter.
How have other's included non-deductible amounts from memberships in their thank you letters? Is it enough to have the amount broken down on an attached membership perks card? Is this in sync with IRS guidelines?
If I understand correctly, Donor B gave a gift that was not large enough to qualify for a membership, and then subsequently (in the same fiscal year, I imagine) gave a second gift. If you add the two gifts together, you get enough for a membership. Right? And I take it your business practice is to automatically give a membership when the money reaches the right level.
The first thing I would do is determine if the donor wants a membership (and the resulting benefits). Sometimes they just want to make a gift!
If they do want a membership, you need to check on how you recorded the first gift. If you put it in a general fund, you might want to reclass it as membership, then when you add the second gift it will trigger the membership record (like the membership update process works now). Since you have already sent a tax letter deducting the full amount of the first gift, none (or only a small amount) of the second gift would be deductible since it all goes to “purchase” the benefits. Or, you could mark the letter as “Revised Receipt” and show both gifts with the non-deductible amount.
Here is the language we include with our membership cards. The values are drawn from the ack_ltr report.
Your gift of $ MERGEFIELD "recd_amt" «recd_amt» made on MERGEFIELD trn_dt \@ "MMMM d, yyyy" «trn_dt», less the value of goods and services received ($ MERGEFIELD "goods_services_value" «goods_services_value»), is deductible to the fullest extent of the law.
I’d be happy to chat offline if you want more details.
_______________
Julie P. Hamre
Development Associate
Strathmore Hall Foundation, Inc.
5301 Tuckerman Lane
North Bethesda, MD 20852-3385
301.581.5136; fax 301.581.5201
www.strathmore.org
Become a Strathmore Member!
Support what you love. Members enjoy advance
ticket purchase, discounts in the Shops at
Strathmore and Tea Room and access to special events.
Join now at http://www.strathmore.org/support/membership.asp
or call (301) 581-5135
-----Original Message----- From: Tessitura Development Forum [mailto:forums-development@tessituranetwork.com] On Behalf Of Sarah Parker Sent: Monday, April 20, 2009 3:32 PM To: Julie Hamre Subject: [Tessitura Development Forum] Acknowledgement Letters: IRS Non Deductible Amnt How do you include the non deductible amount for a donor's membership level rather than their individual gift in an acknowledgement letter? For example: Donor A gives $25 on 4/20, & now has a membership of only $25 which isn't enough to have any perks that are non-deductible. Therefore the non deductible amount is $0 - no problem generating this letter. (using the "goods_services_value" field in the acknowledgement letter report exported into excel) However.... Donor B gives $25 on 4/20, & now has a membership level of $250 which comes with non-deductible items such as beverages, comp tickets, etc. So now the non deductible amount relies on their collective giving as oppossed to their one-time gift that is mentioned in the letter. How have other's included non-deductible amounts from memberships in their thank you letters? Is it enough to have the amount broken down on an attached membership perks card? Is this in sync with IRS guidelines? This message was sent automatically to you by www.tessituranetwork.com because you subscribed to the Tessitura Development Forum. You may reply to this message to post to the Development forum or visit the site to search, read and post to the forums.
This message was sent automatically to you by www.tessituranetwork.com because you subscribed to the Tessitura Development Forum. You may reply to this message to post to the Development forum or visit the site to search, read and post to the forums.
Hey, I'm across the way and would be happy to help you out. I think you may have it backwards. Usually the donor makes a donation, say $250 and part of the donation is for non-deductible items such as beverages etc... There is a field in the membership table that allows you to put in the amount that is not deductible. Then when the ack letter is run, you can tell it to say your tax deductible amouny is cont_amt - good_service_value.
If a second donation comes in, depending on your membership rules, the membership will upgrade or increase in value. The ack letter will only reflect the second payment.
Christian
From: Sarah Parker <bounce-sarahparker9580@tessituranetwork.com>Sent: 4/20/2009 2:31:38 PM
I apologize for not composing my question clearly enough. We just started utilizing these two features so we're still in crash course mode. Taking in what everyone said however I looked back to how our memberships are currently set-up and see the "Goods and Servies Value" had not been filled in. My confusion stemmed from our benefits being documented through Premiums which were set-up with the deductible amount - rather than the memberships.
I see the mistake now - thank you everyone for your dilligence! <3
Thank you Christain - sorry for the delayed response! I'd really appreciate that (if offer still stands) anytime you're available. We're reinventing/improving upon our acknowledgement / memberships / premiums & how they correspond with eachother for letters and it would be soooo helpful to have a Kid Genius in the area.
Monika, I am also working with this issue right now. We populated the goods and services values into benefits and then added that field in our ack letters, but it wasn't until recently that I noticed it is pulling the accumulated benefits, not the benefit value of just that particular gift. We have several multi gifts per year people, and that obviously has the potential to move them up to the next tier of membership(different benefit value) What did you work out with tessitura that worked for you? This seems like it would be an issue for all orgs that provide non tax deductable benefits to their patrons...
From: Monika Jouvert <bounce-monikajouvert7203@tessituranetwork.com>Sent: 4/22/2009 2:03:30 PM