The donation receipt is where small charities get into trouble most often — not from bad intent, but from receipts that are missing a required field or that treat a benefit as if it were a pure gift. A defective receipt can be denied for the donor and can expose the charity. Here’s what a receipt has to contain, and how to handle the common tricky cases.
First: only a charity can issue one
Only a registered charity (or another qualified donee) can issue an official donation receipt for income-tax purposes. A non-profit organization cannot, no matter how worthy the cause. If your organization issues official receipts without being registered, donors’ claims can be reversed.
What a valid receipt must contain
A receipt must state that it is an official receipt for income tax purposes and carry the information the Income Tax Regulations require. In practice that means:
- The charity’s name, address and registration number.
- A unique serial number and the place and date the receipt was issued.
- The date the gift was received (or year, for cash gifts).
- The donor’s name and address.
- The amount of the gift, the value and description of any advantage, and the eligible amount of the gift.
- The name and website of the CRA and an authorized signature.
- For gifts in kind, a description of the property and the name/address of the appraiser if one was used.
Missing any required element can make the receipt invalid — which is why a template and a consistent process matter more than people expect.
Split-receipting: when the donor gets something back
If a donor receives an advantage in return — a dinner, event admission, a round of golf, merchandise — you can only receipt the eligible amount, which is the gift’s value minus the fair market value of the advantage. For example, a $200 golf fundraiser where each player receives $135 of advantages (cart, meal, gifts) yields a $65 eligible amount. Two hard limits:
- If the advantage is more than 80% of the gift, there’s generally no donative intent and no receipt can be issued.
- If the advantage can’t be reasonably valued, no receipt can be issued.
The Québec credit
A proper receipt is what lets your Québec donor claim both the federal donation credit and the Québec donation credit on their TP-1. A defective receipt costs them both. That’s a donor-relations reason to get receipts right, not just a compliance one.
How we keep receipting clean
We keep the donation and donor records behind your receipts — so advantages are valued, split-receipting is applied, and your year-end totals reconcile to what you receipted (and to your T3010). See non-profit bookkeeping or talk to us. This is general information, not advice for a specific gift.
Frequently asked questions
Can a non-profit issue official donation receipts?
No. Only a registered charity or other qualified donee can. An NPO that issues official receipts exposes itself and its donors — the claims can be reversed.
A donor paid $200 and got a $135 benefit — what do we receipt?
$65 — the eligible amount is the gift minus the fair market value of the advantage. If the advantage were more than 80% of the gift, you couldn’t issue a receipt at all.
What makes a donation receipt invalid?
Missing any required element — the registration number, serial number, eligible amount, CRA website, authorized signature, and so on. A defective receipt can be denied for the donor, costing them both the federal and Québec credits.
Sources
- CRA – Sample official donation receipts
- CRA – What information must be on an official donation receipt
- CRA – Split receipting and the eligible amount of a gift
- CRA – Fundraising events: issuing receipts (advantage/eligible amount example)
- Revenu Québec – Tax credit for charitable donations and other gifts