Golf Tournament / Goods & Services Letter

Kim Berry

Does anyone have a sample letter that is sent to sponsors after a golf tournament?  We need wording on how to acknowledge tax-deductible portion of gift/sponsorship.  Also, any guidance on how to build query from event module is most welcome.  May cross post this to get maximum exposure.

JoAnn Strommen

Kim,



We don't have the event module so I really can't help you there. 



For our events, no part of the sponsorship is considered a gift/tax deductible.  How do you plan on figuring what is tax deductible?  Are you looking at cost of items they provided?  That can get really messy.  If ABC Company has their name on flyers and the shirts given out that is their sponsorship. (Generally the funds for a sponsorsihp from the sponsors come from their 'advertising' budget not donations.) Not sure how you can separate out a gift part if we are using the same definition for 'sponsorship.'  Maybe it means something different to you.



Our letter would be along the lines of 'thank you for sponsoring event XYZ with detail as to what they did if applicable.  Event was enjoyed by all.  Thank you for partnering with us..."



My 2 cents.

Jennifer Donlevie

We provide wording similar to:  the costs of goods and services was $XXX. the balance may be considered tax deductible as is allowed by law.  something along those lines.  Good luck with those event queries - they aren't very easy to get started with - mine seem to take many trial and errors before I get the information I need.

Kim Berry

Thanks for your replies, JoAnn and Jennifer.  Sorry for the cross posts - I thought each forum area had different people subscribed/following and since I wanted several pieces of expertise I thoguht I should post in each category.  Won't do it again!



We have several different sponsorship levels and they get specific benefits based on the level - the value of the goods and services is comprised of cost of round of golf, meals, and per item cost of player giveaways.  We have a specific dollar figure of goods & services received for each sponsorship level. 



We have the basic wording in terms of saying thanks for your sponsorship at X level and then noting that you received Y amount in goods and services.  I guess what I was looking for more than anything was help with the query of the event module - what fields do I need to select and pull in order to do my merge?  Thanks to anyone using the event module who can point me in the right direction there.



Kim



 

Jenny Norton

Hi Kim, we have a golf outing with similar benefits.  We use letter codes in our batch processing of the gift/payment and have a separate golf letter.  We do not list out what the benefits were but we list the tax deductible amount.  Do you use the benefits when you process the gift/payment?  On the letter, we list: 

Gift Amount:       $500.00

Tax Deductible: $260.00

The tax deductible amount is the receipt amount which is calculated automatically in the batch if you've entered in the benefits.  We also have the language at the bottom of the letter that says Your contribution may be tax deductible as provided by law.  Please retain this document for tax filing purposes. 

Jenny

 

Kim Berry

Ever hear the phrase about the past coming back to haunt you?  Prior to converting to RE our practice was to send a general thank you for being a sponsor/see you in July letter and then we would issue the goods and services letter after the event.  Tried to get staff using the event module in advance of the tournament but couldn't so followed same practice - sponsors got generic letter and now we want to issue the goods & services letter.



So yes, we had a separate letter, but it was generic and now I need to create the letter for tax purposes.  I did not/do not have a separate batch where all of the golf gifts were entered, so I think I need to query based on event codes and then do a merge pulling the receipt amount which is in the event module.



This is our first year in RE and just starting to use the event module so still not sure how everything does/does not relate.  Thanks for your continued advice and responses!

Cathleen Mai

I am not 100% sure I understand what you are trying to do.

Is the receipt amount on your gift record different from the gift amount, or in other words did you link the benefits from your event to the gift record? Where the gifts entered under a separate appeal?

If so, you could send acknowledment letters out of the mail module ( Donor Acknowledgment letters), using a conditional mail merge with the appeal ID as the condition.

 

John Heizer

Kim Berry:

Thanks for your replies, JoAnn and Jennifer.  Sorry for the cross posts - I thought each forum area had different people subscribed/following and since I wanted several pieces of expertise I thoguht I should post in each category.  Won't do it again!



We have several different sponsorship levels and they get specific benefits based on the level - the value of the goods and services is comprised of cost of round of golf, meals, and per item cost of player giveaways.  We have a specific dollar figure of goods & services received for each sponsorship level. 



We have the basic wording in terms of saying thanks for your sponsorship at X level and then noting that you received Y amount in goods and services.  I guess what I was looking for more than anything was help with the query of the event module - what fields do I need to select and pull in order to do my merge?  Thanks to anyone using the event module who can point me in the right direction there.



Kim



 

Unless you have some unique needs, I advise against trying to use a Query.  Use the Receipts or Acknowledgment Letters in the Mail module.



And, to repeat the RE Mantra: Query is a grouping tool, not an Export tool.  Use Export to get the data out.

Jennifer McHale

As strange as this sounds, I think you will need to create a Constituent Query.

From there, you can pull "Events" and select those who participated in your golf tournament.

I find it's hard to use an Event Query and get actual constituent information out of it.

Kim Berry

Again, thanks all for your feedback and suggestions. Sorry if I'm not being clear about what I'm trying to do.



We used event module to track attendance (sponsors, registrants, participants) and what I need to do now is send final receipt to sponsors showing the sponsorship level/donation amount, the amount received in goods and services and the tax deductible amount.  Just trying to figure out where those figures live in RE.



Because I'm still relatively new, my first reaction was to do a constituent query as Jennifer suggested, and I think I have almost everything I need - just finding out that my data entry may not have been as accurate as I would have liked and am going back to fix that.  Also, I do know that query is grouping tool and I should use export to get the info out, but thanks for the reminder on that, John.



I'll be ready for the bCRE exam in no time!

Tracy Forkin

Hello,



Here are a couple of examples of what we use:



Please retain this correspondence for federal income tax purposes.  The amount of your contribution that is deductible for tax purposes is limited to the excess of your contribution over the value of the goods and services that were provided to you in conjunction with this gift.  We estimate the fair market value of these goods and services to be $350.00 per couple.



Please retain this correspondence for federal income tax purposes.  If you are participating in the tournament, or purchased a player spot or dinner ticket, the amount of your contribution that is deductible for tax purposes is limited to the excess of your contribution over the value of the goods and services that were provided to you in conjunction with this gift.  We estimate the fair market value of these goods and services to be as follows: $1,746.25 per player spot for a 3-day package or a sponsorship package, $335.00 for a single player spot at Sakonnet Golf Club, and $180.00 per ticket to the Monday night reception & dinner. 





 

Shela Hidalgo

We are right in middle of our 1st ever golf tournament.



Here is the tax language we use:

We appreciate your total contribution of «Gift_Amount» received on «Gift_Date». For federal income tax purposes, the fair market value for participation as a golfer in this event is $158. Contributions over and above the fair market value is a tax deductible charitable contribution subject to IRS regulations.  Therefore, for Federal income tax purposes, your contribution deduction is limited to «Donation_Amount_» Berkshire Children and Families, Inc. is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization (Tax ID #04-2226238).



 

Lauren Halterman

Kim,

Here is what I do. I send a letter as soon as I get the registration/sponsorship. When I book the check, I use a golf batch I created. I fill in the gift field and the receipt amount field - the receipt amount is where I put it the tax-deductible amount. I also have an attribute in my batch where I describe what they are paying for (ex. Hole Sponsorship, a foursome, two golfers, whatever). And in my batch I assign the golf letter to the gift.



In mail, I have my golf letter, which is conditional based upon what is filled in in the attribute field. In my letter I am able to pull the gift amount, the reciept amount and the description of what they paid for.



I do have an event set up for this but do not use it to generate golf letters.



At this point, it may just be easiest for you to export your golf donors to an excel spreadsheet and manually update the spreadsheet with what you need prior to running a mail merge.



Good luck!

Kim Berry

Lauren - thanks for the detailed reply. I think I'll be able to get the letters out (as suggested by you, others - doing constituent query and then exporting info for mail merge) this year. Hopefully next year we'll know what all of our expenses are sooner in the process so we can figure out the tax-deductible portion and just sent one acknowledgment when the gift is received that can be used for tax purposes.



Kim