Why households ask for one
A household that deducts its gifts on a federal tax return needs proof of them. For a gift of money of any size, the IRS asks for a bank record, or a written communication from the mosque showing the mosque’s name, the date and the amount. For any single gift of $250 or more, the IRS requires a written acknowledgment from the mosque, and the donor must have it by the time they file.
Getting that acknowledgment is the donor’s responsibility, and the IRS doesn’t penalize a mosque that doesn’t send one, though it says a charity must assist donors by providing a written statement. Without it, the donor can’t claim the deduction, so requests pile up every January. Sending each household one statement at the same time saves the treasurer weeks of writing letters one at a time.
Gifts under $250
Separate gifts under $250 are not added together for the $250 rule. The IRS’s own example: weekly offerings of less than $250 each don’t count toward the rule, even if they add up to more than $250 over the year. Those smaller gifts still need a record, and a yearly statement that lists every gift by date provides it. That way, the same statement works for every household, no matter how much it gave.
What the statement shows
For gifts of $250 or more, IRS Publication 1771 lists what the acknowledgment must contain:
- The mosque’s name.
- The amount of each gift of money, whether it came as cash, a check, a card or an online payment.
- A description, but not a value, of any gift of property, such as donated furniture. Valuing it is the donor’s job.
- A statement that no goods or services were provided in return, if that is the case. A common wording is “No goods or services were provided in exchange for these contributions.”
- If something was provided, a description of it and a good-faith estimate of its value.
- If only intangible religious benefits were provided, a statement saying so. The IRS's example is free admission to a religious ceremony.
Also include the household’s name and address, the date of each gift and the fund it went to. These details make the statement clearly the household’s own and easy to check. Leave Social Security numbers off: the IRS says the acknowledgment doesn’t need them.
One statement for the year, on paper or by email
There is no IRS form for this. One acknowledgment, such as an annual summary, can cover several gifts of $250 or more, and a letter, a postcard or a computer-generated statement is acceptable. It can be mailed or sent electronically, for example by email to the donor.
When to send it
The donor must have the acknowledgment by the day they file their return or by the return’s due date (including extensions), whichever comes first. The IRS notes that charities typically send them no later than January 31 of the year after the gifts, and that is the date households expect.
Dinners, auctions and other gifts that buy something
When a payment of more than $75 is partly a gift and partly for something in return, such as a ticket to a fundraising dinner, the mosque must give the donor a written disclosure. It says that only the amount above the value of what they received is deductible, and gives a good-faith estimate of that value. The IRS’s example is a $100 ticket for a concert worth $40: the deduction can’t be more than $60, and the disclosure is needed even though $60 is less than $75.
- Give the disclosure in writing, either when you ask for the money or when you receive it, and put it where the donor will see it, such as on the ticket or the receipt, not in the fine print.
- The IRS’s penalty for missing it is $10 per payment, up to $5,000 per fundraising event or mailing, unless the mosque can show reasonable cause.
- Small items with the mosque’s logo, such as a mug, can fall under the IRS’s token exception. Its dollar limits change each year, so check the current figures on irs.gov before relying on it.
Fees aren’t gifts
Weekend school fees, hall rentals and payments for a trip buy something, so they don’t belong on a giving statement. Keep fees and gifts in separate records from the start, so the year-end statement lists only gifts. Ask the mosque’s accountant about anything that is partly both.
A January routine
- Close the year. Make sure December’s last count is locked and deposited, and that every online gift has arrived.
- Check the donors. Each gift on a statement needs a known giver: a named envelope, a check or an online gift. Loose cash given anonymously can’t go on anyone’s statement.
- Check the addresses. A household that moved or changed its email gets its statement late, or not at all.
- Make the statements and check a few by hand. Before anything goes out, pick five households and compare their statements with the year’s count sheets and bank records.
- Send them by January 31, by email to households that have agreed to it and by mail to everyone else, and note the date each one was sent.
- Fix mistakes openly. If a household reports a missing gift, find it in the count records, then send a corrected statement marked as replacing the first.
Sources: IRS Publication 1771, Charitable Contributions: Substantiation and Disclosure Requirements, and the IRS pages on written acknowledgments and quid pro quo contributions (both last reviewed by the IRS on June 28, 2026), checked October 27, 2026. Ask the mosque’s accountant how the rules apply to its situation.