Word Processing Best Practices and Predesigned Form Letter Examples

Salsa provides document templates that enable you to easily craft and upload donation form letters into Salsa CRM. This article provides a list of requirements and best practices to ensure that your form letters will work flawlessly. You will also find descriptions of and links to form letter templates.

Best Practices

• Before you begin, set your word processor options to Allow me to choose from all Word Processing options.
• Do not modify the table in the Summary Letter and Receipt Word templates. You can change the font and the content of the column headers but you cannot remove any rows or columns.
• Modify the predesigned letter content before you upload the template to Salsa CRM. They are compatible with Microsoft Word or OpenOffice.
• Spouse giving histories cannot be combined into single summary letters or receipts. If spouses donate, each spouse will receive a letter. If spouses want to receive only one letter, they must have donated as "donor" and "co-donor", and your data entry policy must ensure that one spouse is always the donor and the other is always co-donor.
• For standard donation letters, the {{Smart Addressee}} variable in the inside address contains the List As Name of the primary donor, or the combination of Contact Name and Organization Name for Organization contributions.
• For summary letters, the {{Smart Addressee}} variable uses the List As Name of the most recent donation in the list of Individual donor gifts. So, if the most recent donation contains a donor and co-donor, both names will appear in the List As name.
• The {{Smart Formal Salutation}} field, by default, contains the Title and Last Name of the donor(s). This field will default to the First Name if no Title is supplied.
• The {{Smart Informal Salutation}} field contains the Nickname field of the donor(s) and will default to the First Name if no Nickname is supplied.
• The {{Smart Address}} field contains the primary address of the primary donor.
• Regarding the Contact Name field of an organization type constituent record...
  • • Salsa CRM is able to parse Titles, First Names, and Last Names in most cases.
    • Salsa CRM cannot parse mIddle names or initials in that same field.
    • Everything after a comma would be ignored, like a job title.
      For example, Mr. William Gates, Director...
      • Title: Mr.
      • First Name: William
      • Last Name: Gates
• If you are emailing summary letters, the email content should always be in a text (TXT) format and the letter should be an attachment to the email, formatted as a Google Doc or Word document attachment converted to PDF.
• If the email must be in HTML, inline images must be hosted on a web site that is external to Salsa CRM and linked to from there. Salsa cannot host images used in HTML emails.
  
  PRO TIP: it's best to contract with a third-party well-versed in generating HTML email content to hand-code your email thank you letters.

Basic Donation Form Letter Examples

At the start of your Salsa CRM subscription, these documents listed in the table below are preloaded into your database. These predesigned letter templates can be useful as a starting-off point for how donation form letters can be formatted, using common Salsa CRM variables in the letters.

These documents are in Rich Text Format and focus on providing examples of how our data variables work. They are not in Microsoft Word format. Variables are automatically replaced with actual data points once the letters are associated with a Donation record and printed or emailed.

Thank You	A general Thank You letter for a donation received.
Memorial Thank You	A Thank You letter to the donor for a donation given in memory of a deceased person.
Acknowledgment	A letter to the caregiver indicating that a gift was made in honor or in memory of their loved one.
Honor Postcard	A postcard-sized letter to the caregiver indicating that a gift was made in honor of their loved one.
Honor Thank You	A Thank You letter to the donor for a donation given in honor of someone, including the honor reason.
Solicitation	A template that you can use as a starting point for a mail merge Solicitation.
Event	A template that you can use as a starting point to notify constituents by mail merge of an Event.
General Form Letter	A template that you can use as a starting point for any Form Letter.
Auction Thank You	A Thank You letter for a donation made for the purchase of an auction item.

Editing Existing Donation Form Letters

The process for downloading, modifying, and uploading forms is straightforward and simple.

Caution: Any table rows and columns in the word template must not be modified.

1. Select the template that you want to use from the Canadian or US/International template tables below.
2. Open the downloaded template in Microsoft Word or OpenOffice. In the case of a TXT file, open the template in your plain text editor.
3. Edit the template to customize the branding, contact info, and message. Ensure that you follow the best practices listed above.
4. Upload the modified template into Salsa CRM. Click here for detailed directions.

Example Receipts for Canadian Supporters

Registered Canadian charities can legally issue tax receipts for donations. The registered charity sets their own rules for their tax receipts, like minimum donation amounts for which they will issue a receipt.

Should a registered charity decide to issue receipts, their receipts must all conform to a particular standard that has been defined by the Canadian Revenue Agency (CRA). It is the charity’s responsibility to understand the CRA rules and apply them to their own business practices with regard to split receipting. If a registered charity is not in compliance with all the CRA regulations for issuing tax receipts they can face fines and potentially have their charitable status revoked.

The criteria for split receipting…

• Where a donor receives an advantage in exchange for a gift, a charity must be able to come up with an accurate figure for the fair market value (FMV) of that advantage.
• The gift, minus the advantage, still has to constitute a voluntary transfer of property and meet the intention to make a gift threshold.

Receipts must also contain the following information about the gift:

Gift Information	Charity’s Responsibility	Salsa CRM Field
A statement that it is an official receipt for income tax purposes.	Typed in the receipt template document.	N/A
The charity name and address as on file with the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA).	Typed in the receipt template document.	N/A
CRA registration number for the charity.	Typed in the receipt template document.	N/A
Municipal location where the receipt was issued.	Typed in the receipt template document.	N/A
A unique serial receipt number.	N/A	{{Receipt Number}}
Date the gift was received.	N/A	{{Gift Date}}
Date the receipt was issued.	N/A	{{Today’s Date}}
Donor’s full name including middle initial, and address.	N/A	{{Smart Addressee}} {{Smart Address}}
Total gift amount.	N/A	{{Gift Amount}}
Amount and description of any “advantage” received by the donor.	N/A	{{Advantage Amount}}
Eligible gift amount, which is the difference between the total and advantage.	N/A	{{Receipt Amount}}
Signature of an individual authorized by the charity to acknowledge gifts.	Image in the receipt template document or actual signature on printed page.	N/A
CRA name and website address https://www.canada.ca/en/services/taxes/charities.html	Typed in the receipt template document.	N/A
Written in English and/or French- Canadian as appropriate.	Typed in the receipt template document.	N/A

For Canadian clients, enter Canadian donations as you receive them throughout the year and include the receipt at the time of data entry. Summary receipts must be attached to the donation so that all donations for a particular donor will have the same receipt number within the same calendar year. This is not a requirement for US or international supporters where the letter may or may not be attached to the donation. 

Here are some pre-generated files that you can use as a basis for your Canadian receipts.

1. Please open the file with Google Docs.
   
2. Make a copy for your own folder.
   
3. Edit the files before importing them and using them in Salsa CRM.

Template Filename	Template Desciption
CA email one-time deductible receipt.txt	Official Donation Receipt for Income Tax Purposes, plain text format for emailing
CA one-time deductible receipt - letterhead.docx	Official Donation Receipt for Income Tax Purposes, with no graphics and ready to print on letterhead
CA one-time deductible receipt - logo.docx	Official Donation Receipt for Income Tax Purposes, with formatting and company header graphic for print
CA one-time deductible receipt.docx	One time deductible receipt, laid out as "tear off" for print
CA Summary Receipt - letterhead.docx	Donation Summary, with no header graphic and ready to print on letterhead
CA Summary Receipt - logo.docx	Donation Summary, with header graphic and simple formatting for print

Example Donation Letters for U.S. and International Supporters

Donors expect acknowledgement letters for all of their contributions. The IRS sets core standards for these messages that must be met by nonprofits.

Your letters should contain information required by the IRS as proof of giving for donors who want to write off their contribution on their tax return. They should also contain information about your mission so that people connect with you and want to help you out financially.

A formal donor acknowledgement letter should be sent for all contributions of $250 and over. You’ll need to send a letter for each individual gift a donor makes which meets this criteria. You can’t send only a mass acknowledgement letter with the dates of all $250+ gifts made during that year.

These letters should include the following information:

• A statement declaring the nonprofit’s tax-exempt status as a 501(c)3. This should include the nonprofit’s EIN (Employer Identification Number) so the donor may verify the organization’s status as a recognized nonprofit organization or advocacy group.
• The name of the donor that they used to make their gift. This is so they can avoid confusion when filing their taxes (and so that the IRS can spot fraudulent filings).
• Soft Credit constituents were instrumental in the donor making the gift to you but did not contribute to the gift. Co-donors directly contribute to gifts. You should not send acknowledgment letters for tax purposes addressed to Soft Credit. Soft credit addresses are available through the Advanced Query Wizard, but the content of the letter should not imply the gifts were tax-deductible.
• The full, legal name of your nonprofit organization.
• The received date the gift arrived at your nonprofit.
• A description of the donation. For cash gifts (including cash, checks, credit/debit card payments, and payroll deductions), this corresponds to the monetary value of the donation you receive. For non-cash gifts, simply describe the gift without assigning it a cash value.

In addition to these details, you will also need to acknowledge if your organization provided any goods or services to your donors in exchange for their gift. For most nonprofits, this would be something like a member t-shirt, a thank-you mug, or small gift card.

As you write your donor acknowledgement letter, be sure to abide by the following rules of thumb when referencing goods and services provided in exchange for donations:

• Always include a good faith estimate of the monetary value of any tangible goods or services provided.
  • Computers, software, furniture, and office equipment, for use by your organization or for special event auctions
  • Services, like meeting space, photocopy and mail services, and administrative/financial support
• Acknowledgements are also required for insubstantial or intangible good or services given, like legal, tax, or business advice; marketing and website development; and strategic planning.
• Be sure to acknowledge when a donor didn’t receive anything in exchange for their donation.

Here are some pre-generated files that you can use as a basis for your donation letters.

1. Please open the file with Google Docs.
   
2. Make a copy for your own folder.
   
3. Edit the files before importing them and using them in Salsa CRM.

Template Filename	Template Description [These letters are read-only. Please open the file with Google Docs, then make a copy for your own folder.]
Summary Letter-letterhead.docx	Donation Summary Letter for print, with no header graphic and ready to print on letterhead.
Summary Letter-Logo.docx	Donation Summary Letter for print, with header graphic and simple formatting
TY Email.txt	Thank you email, plain text format for email
TY Letter-Letterhead.docx	Thank you letter for print, with no header graphic and ready to print on letterhead
TY Letter-Logo.docx	Thank you letter for print, with simple formatting and header graphic
Pledge or Recurring Installment Update	Form letter for print to let supporter know which pledge or recurring installments are outstanding and which are paid. This letter should be applied to the pledge or Recurring record directly and printed as needed from there.

PRO TIP: If you want a "sidebar" aspect to your Template letter (for example, board members and executive staff along the left margin) it's best to create an image that contains your board member text, with a 2" wide by 6" high aspect (or more if your needs are more complex) and 300 DPI resolution. Add that image into your document as you would any other image.