This quiz will test a person's knowledge on recording various types of donations.

According to IRS publication 1771, the value is never placed on the donor's statement - ie the written acknowledgment. This is the instructions about the information that should be on the donor's statement.
1. the name of organization
2. the amount of cash contribution,
3. a description (but not the value) of non-cash contribution,
4. a statement that no goods or services were provided by the organization in return for the
contribution, if that was the case,
5. a description and good faith estimate of the value of goods or services, if any, that an
organization provided in return for the contribution,
6. a statement that goods or services, if any, that an organization provided in return for the contribution consisted entirely of intangible religious benefits, if that was the case.

As stated in the IRS publication 1771, the church must send a written acknowledgement (donor statement) to the donor for any one time contribution over $250.00.

In person and private mail carriers must have the donation physically delivered to the charity (the church) by December 31st. This is different than the USPS which the IRS is fine with using the postmarked date.

According to IRS publication 526, page 21, donations that are equal to or over $5,000.00, a paid professional appraiser must be used and their written appraisal must be included with the donor's tax return.

According to the IRS website donations that equal $250.00 or more need an written acknowledgement.

According to the IRS website, non cash donations are not to have their value placed on the statement. Another resource is:

IRS Publication 561.

According to IRS publication 1771 page 4, under the Recordkeeping Rules, subsection 'Requirement', the date and amount are both needed. While the IRS publication 1771 says the donor is responsible for this information, the church should have it on the donor statement so they can match it their records such as a bank record like a cancelled check or bank statement.

According to IRS publication 526, page 21, the non cash donation under 5,000.00 can be figured out by the tax advisor (CPA) or the donor themselves. Once the donation is over 5,000.00 a paid professional appraiser must be used and their written appraisal must be included with the donor's tax return.

A volunteer can't deduct their time and services. However an attorney can ask for a GIK donation statement for things like travel expenses for the attorney to come and meet with your organization. Or say for all the cost of mailings to your organization. In other words the expenses have to be documented and not just a 'service' or 'time'. There are a lot of rules on this that the churches should review before giving out any donation statements to any volunteers.

When stocks are donated directly to the church instead of cash, the donor does not pay any 'capital gains tax' on the stocks. If the stocks appreciated a lot and the donor is in a top tax bracket, this translates to a 37% tax savings as of tax year 2020. And all the stock appreciation goes to the church. Avoiding the capital gains tax only works on stocks that are owned for at least one year. Keep in mind the more the church can advise donors on their giving options and how they benefit the donor the more the church could receive in donations.