[Gfeliciano]

A 3rd party event coordinator sends a check for $5,000 (this is the amount raised minus expenses) with a list of donors and the amount they gave individually which totals roughly about $7,000. The event coordinator has asked that each individual donor receive an acknowledgement for their gift.

If we enter each person into RE with their gift amount, the total will be more than the check amount. Has anyone had to deal with this type of issue?

[Melissa Siobhan]

If the check they gave you is a personal check from an individual or a business they (and not the other individuals) are the legal donor and the only one you can send a tax receipt to. You can search the archives at www.fundsvcs.org where we discuss these legal receipting issues all the time. If you wish to soft credit these people and send them a letter of thanks you can do that. Soft crediting allows you to soft credit multiple people and the total of multiple soft credits can go over the original gift amount.

Even if you had gotten the actual checks from the individuals - if this was an event where people bought tickets and got dinner or some other benefits in return you would need to issue Quid Pro Quo receipts telling them only the part above the value of the benefits would be a tax deductible gift.

In this case you likely need some kind of instruction sheet for 3rd party event holders telling them how to peoperly process gifts if they want the individuals donating to get a tax deduction - if they do then all checks need to be made out to your org directly.

[nisaac]

You mentioned that everyone on the list needed an acknowledgement - not a receipt. I don't think that is a problem. You can receipt the check writer and acknowledge/thank those on the list.