Below, we have outlined seven recommendations to help United Way Finance teams simplify donor tax receipts and improve their receipting process. These steps will ensure the accurate and timely delivery of receipts, and reinforce donor trust.
As workplace campaigns wind-down across North America, United Ways are shifting from fundraising mode into one of their most important operational moments of the year: donor tax receipting.
With strict timelines, donor expectations, and compliance requirements all converging at once, this seasonal transition can be intense. That said, with the guidance of these seven steps, year-end receipting can move from a pressure point to a moment of strategic growth.
To experience stress-free receipting, you must begin the process with high-quality donor data. Before running any batches or processes, allocate time to perform a strict and comprehensive review of the donation records that feed your receipts.
Common errors found in donation records include:
Undertaking a data clean up before you begin receipting will prevent unnecessary corrections, reprints, and donor inquiries, later.
If your United Way uses a CRM (e.g. Andar/360), access available clean-up tools (like validation reports and donor merge functions) to ensure data accuracy before any receipt is issued.
Maintaining consistency is important to donors, it’s important to auditors, and it’s important to teams within your organization. The committed use of a receipt template helps maintain a consistent experience for everyone involved in the receipting process.
The template for your donation receipts should include:
Align your Finance department, Resource Development staff, and IT teams around one standardized receipting format. When everyone is committed to the same template and definitions, any chance of confusion disappears and your distribution improves.
Automation is a very powerful and efficient way to reduce your staff’s workload and improve data accuracy. Look for opportunities to automate time-consuming or repetitive tasks, such as:
When you implement automated processes, it reduces mundane work, shortens timelines and helps your team focus on reviewing exceptions (such as unusual gift types, anonymous donors, or records with incomplete information), rather than processing everything manually.
Before emailing thousands of donation receipts to your supporters, perform a small test on a sample batch of in-house email addresses.
The review of your test email should ensure the accuracy of:
You may consider asking your IT, Resource Development, and/or Donor Services departments to help validate the test email. An additional review may catch overlooked issues and builds shared confidence in the final outcome.
When sending out donor receipts, timing is important. Many United Ways aim to complete their year-end distribution of receipts between early January and mid-February, depending on the volume of donations.
There are two common approaches to distributing receipts:
Make all the teams in your organization aware of your receipt distribution schedule. This will help affected staff members prepare for the influx of donor inquiries related to donation receipts.
It should be expected that even the most carefully prepared receipting process will generate a few questions from donors. In anticipation of this, be proactive and get prepared for common scenarios.
Donor-facing staff should be prepared with:
When your support team is prepared and properly aligned, they respond to donors faster, reduce back-and-forth communications, and create a far smoother, more reassuring experience for donors.
With staff turnover, role transitions, and seasonal shifts common across United Ways, thorough documentation is essential for maintaining continuity and preserving institutional knowledge. A well-documented receipting process not only supports new or transitioning staff, it also strengthens consistency, accuracy, and audit readiness year after year.
The documentation of your process should include:
Taking time to capture this information now ensures that the next person to prepare receipts, whether it’s you or someone new, can pick up the process without significant challenges. Your organization (and your future self) will be grateful for the clarity and efficiency that well-crafted documentation provides.
Year-end receipting doesn’t have to be a stressful process. With clean data, clear templates, automation, testing, and strong communication, your United Way can deliver a smooth, compliant, and donor-friendly experience.
A well-executed receipting process reflects the professionalism, care, and trust that are hallmarks of the United Way movement. This tax season, let your receipting workflow demonstrate the strength of your financial stewardship and your commitment to every donor who invests in you and their community.
BONUS: download a copy of the Year-End Donor Receipting Checklist.
