What Should an In-Kind Donation Receipt or Acknowledgment Letter Include?
Last updated October 29, 2026
An in-kind donation receipt, often called an acknowledgment letter, should name your organization and the company, give the date you received the donation, describe the item plainly with its quantity, and say whether you gave the company anything in return. It should not put your own dollar value on the item. Before you send one, check the company's own rules: some programs require a specific form, and at least one in our directory asks you not to send a receipt at all.
This is general information, not tax advice. Rules on acknowledgments and deductions are set by the IRS and can change, so check with a tax professional, or point the company to its own advisor, for anything beyond the basics here.
Receipt, thank-you and recognition are three different things
Organizations often mix these up, and each one answers a different need.
| What | Who it is for | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Receipt or acknowledgment letter | The company's records | Confirms what you received, when, and whether anything was given in return |
| Thank-you note | The person who said yes | Warm, personal, sent within days; see how to thank a company for a donation |
| Recognition at the event | Your guests | A spoken or printed thank-you, planned before you apply |
A thank-you note can carry the acknowledgment, but keep the factual part complete and easy to find, because that is the part a company may file.
What to include
| Field | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Your organization's legal name | Matches the name on your IRS determination letter |
| Your tax ID number | Many programs ask for it when you apply; repeating it ties the record together |
| The company's name, as it gave | The donor of record, which may be a parent company rather than the store |
| Date you received the donation | The date of the gift, not the date of your event |
| Description of the item and quantity | What was given, in plain words: "four admission passes," "one gift basket" |
| Whether anything was given in return | Our thank-you guide notes that the IRS lists this statement among what a written acknowledgment for a gift of $250 or more must contain |
| Signature and contact | Someone the company can reach about the record |
Leave the value out
Our thank-you guide explains the core rule: for a non-cash gift, the written acknowledgment describes the item, but not its value. What the item is worth for the company's own records is for the company and its advisor to decide. If a company states a value itself, as the Sacramento Zoo does for its standard four general admission passes, note it in your own log as the company's figure, and ask a tax professional before putting any number on the receipt.
If you gave something in return
If the company received anything from you in exchange for the gift, say so, and ask a tax professional how to word it. Do not guess.
Follow the company's own rules first
A program's own requirement beats any general template. Examples from our directory:
- Pentel requires acknowledgment of any donation, and for a donation over $75 in value it requires an acknowledgment on your letterhead stating the amount of product received.
- Canon U.S.A. asks that, if it makes a donation, you return written documentation on a Tax Acknowledgement of Donation form that Canon provides. Use that form rather than your own.
- California State Railroad Museum Foundation asks that you not send a receipt, because as a nonprofit it gets no tax deduction for the donation. A thank-you note is still welcome.
When a company's page says nothing about receipts, send a short acknowledgment anyway. It costs one page and gives both sides the same record.
Plan your event recognition before you apply
Several programs ask how you will acknowledge the donation at your event as part of the request. Brooks Brothers, Mandarin Oriental, New York, The Breakers Palm Beach and Oriental Trading Company all ask for it on their request forms, and New Hampshire Motor Speedway asks how donors will be recognized. Decide your answer before you start filling in forms, then do what you said.
Sample acknowledgment wording
Adapt this to your organization and to any rule the company publishes:
ORGANIZATION LEGAL NAME, tax ID NUMBER, gratefully acknowledges receipt of the following donation from COMPANY NAME on DATE RECEIVED: DESCRIPTION AND QUANTITY OF ITEMS. No goods or services were provided in exchange for this donation. Thank you for supporting EVENT NAME.
Then sign it and add a contact name, email and phone for your organization. If something was given in return, replace the second sentence on a tax professional's advice.
Keep your own copy
File a copy of every acknowledgment with the original request and the company's reply. Gift cards and certificates are easier to track in their own record; the donated gift card log is built for that, and the donor thank-you kit and post-event donation wrap-up checklist cover the rest of the follow-through. If your group is not a 501(c)(3), read whether you need a 501(c)(3) to get product donations before promising a company any particular tax treatment.
Frequently asked questions
Should an in-kind donation receipt include the item's value?
No; describe the item and quantity and leave the value to the company and its advisor, as our thank-you guide explains. This is general information, not tax advice.
Is a thank-you note the same as a donation receipt?
Not quite: a thank-you note is personal, while the acknowledgment is the factual record of what was received, when, and whether anything was given in return. One letter can do both.
Do some companies have their own acknowledgment form?
Yes; Canon U.S.A., for example, asks you to return its own Tax Acknowledgement of Donation form.
Who should we ask about tax questions on a donation?
A tax professional; this page is general information, not tax advice.