Recommended best practices for recording non-cash donations in Churchteams
*We recommend that you seek out and follow IRS guidelines for how to handle and report all contributions to charitable organizations.
Definitions
Cryto-currency is a digital currency that exists solely online. Non-cash donations include things like stock, automobiles, and other material goods that people give. Charitable fund donations are checks that come in from charitable trusts or funds that the donor set up to receive tax benefits in the year the fund was set up. The funds can then be dispersed in subsequent years but are not considered tax-deductible when dispersed from the charitable fund.
Acknowledgment
In any case, the church should record the transaction and send an email or snail mail acknowledgment (contribution statement) of receipt of the donation. It is up to the individual to assign a value to material goods they will claim on their taxes. One suggested practice for additional receipting other than the contribution statement is to create the acknowledgment receipt as an email in the email editor and keep this as a Saved Template. Go to Communicate > Email > Templates to create and save an email template.
Here is some sample text.
Hi ,
Thank you for your in kind donation of ______.
We acknowledge receipt of your donation on ________.
No goods or services were provided in exchange for this contribution. We encourage you to consult your tax advisor regarding any tax deductions.
Please retain this statement as a record of your contribution.
Your donation will make a meaningful different in the ministry of _______. Please feel free to reach out to us with any concerns or questions.
Sincerely,
Setup for Recording the Donation
Go to Settings > Giving > Contributions. Add Crypto-currency, Non-cash, and Charitable Funds as giving methods. You are now ready to enter the donations into a batch (Giving > Enter Batch) if you would like or directly to a person's giving record. The video below walks you through that process and shows you related reports.
* Please note that a crypto-currency transaction cannot be handled through the Churchteams payment processor; you must use a separate vendor. You will only use Churchteams to record and report the donation. Some churches choose to use The Giving Block, a crypto donation management service, just for this.
Entering Donation - Video Example With Reports