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?
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
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