Accepting Donations as a Booster Club: Cash, Stock, and Matches

What Makes a Gift Deductible

A donor can deduct a gift to the club when all of these are true:

1. The club is a qualified organization. Its 501(c)(3) status is current and not revoked. See How to Get 501(c)(3) Status and Losing and Regaining 501(c)(3) Status.
2. The gift is to the club, not to a student. IRS Publication 526 (external site) states that donors “can’t deduct contributions to specific individuals,” including gifts earmarked for a particular individual or family.
3. The donor received nothing in return, or the gift exceeds what was received. Payments for raffle tickets, event admission, or required fees are payments for a benefit, not gifts.

Two limits often surprise volunteers. A volunteer cannot deduct the value of time or services. A volunteer can deduct unreimbursed out-of-pocket costs of volunteering, including car use at the charitable rate of 14 cents a mile (Publication 526).

Types of Gifts

The club does not put a value on donated property. IRS Publication 1771 (external site) requires “a description (but not the fair market value)” of a property contribution. Valuing it is the donor’s job.

Donations of Stock

Stock gifts arrive most often in December from grandparents, alumni, and business owners. The club prepares once and then handles them routinely.

1. Open a brokerage account in the club’s name using the club’s EIN, with two officers authorized, before the first gift is offered. The gift acceptance policy should direct the treasurer to sell donated shares promptly; the club is not an investment fund.
2. Give transfer instructions privately. The donor’s broker needs the receiving brokerage, account number, and the club’s legal name and EINEINEmployer Identification Number: the nine-digit federal tax identification number the IRS assigns to the club. The club needs it to open a bank account, apply for 501(c)(3) status, and file its annual return.All terms. Do not publish account numbers on the website or in a newsletter.
3. Ask the donor to notify the club. Electronic transfers often arrive without the donor’s name.
4. Note the date of the gift. Under Publication 526, a properly endorsed stock certificate is delivered on the date it is mailed or delivered to the club, but when the donor’s own agent or the issuing company handles the transfer, the gift is not delivered until the shares are transferred on the company’s books. For a broker transfer, the date the shares arrive in the club’s account is generally the date to record.
5. Acknowledge the gift by number of shares and company name, with the statement that no goods or services were provided, if that is the case.
6. Sell and record. Record the gift and the sale proceeds in the books. Any difference between the value on the gift date and the sale price is recorded as a gain or loss.

The donor values the shares. IRS Publication 561 (external site) sets the fair market value of publicly traded stock as the average of the highest and lowest quoted selling prices on the valuation date. For deductions over $500, the donor files Form 8283; under the Form 8283 instructions (external site), publicly traded securities are reported in Section A even when worth more than $5,000, so the club is not normally asked to sign the form for a stock gift.

Non-cash gifts other than public stock are different. When a donor claims more than $5,000 for an item or group of similar items (Section B), the club signs the donee acknowledgment on Form 8283, and if the club sells or disposes of that property within three years it must file Form 8282 with the IRS and send a copy to the donor. A club that does not want that obligation can decline large non-cash gifts in its policy.

Employer Matching Gifts and Volunteer Grants

Many employers match their employees’ charitable gifts, and some make grants based on hours an employee volunteers. Each employer’s program sets its own rules: which organizations qualify, minimum and maximum amounts, and submission deadlines. Some programs exclude certain types of organizations, so the club should not promise a match before the employer confirms eligibility.

How matches work in practice:

1. The employee gives to the club and submits a match request through the employer’s program.
2. The employer or its giving administrator asks the club to confirm the gift and the club’s status. The treasurer answers promptly; unconfirmed matches expire.
3. The employer sends the match, often weeks or months later and sometimes bundled with other employees’ matches.
4. The treasurer records the match as the employer’s gift, separate from the employee’s own gift.

For volunteer grants, the club needs records of volunteer hours. Sign-in sheets for events and shifts make confirmation easy. A matching gift is still a gift to the club: it cannot be credited to the employee’s student any more than the original gift can. See Fundraising Rules for Booster Clubs.

A December reminder to families (“check whether an employer matches gifts”) is one of the highest-return messages a club can send.

Designated and Restricted Gifts

A donor may restrict a gift to a program purpose, such as new uniforms or the spring trip for the whole ensemble. The treasurer records the restriction and the club spends the gift only for that purpose. See Fundraising Ethics and Donor Trust.

A donor may not direct a gift to a specific student. The gift is not deductible, and accepting it as directed creates a private benefit problem for the club. The treasurer explains the rule and offers alternatives: an unrestricted gift, a gift to the whole program, or a gift to a need-based assistance fund that a committee awards on objective criteria.

Gift Acceptance Policy

A short written policy, adopted by the board, answers questions before a donor asks them:

• What the club accepts: cash, checks, online gifts, publicly traded securities, and goods useful to the program or an auction
• What the club declines: real estate, gifts with conditions the club cannot meet, gifts directed to individuals, and gifts from sources the district bars
• Who may accept gifts above a set amount (board approval)
• That donated securities are sold promptly
• That gifts of equipment for the school require district approval first
• How donor information is kept private

See Policies Every Booster Club Should Adopt.

Acknowledgment Rules in Brief

• A donor needs a written acknowledgment for any single gift of $250 or more, received by the earlier of the date the donor files a return or the return’s due date (Publication 1771).
• The acknowledgment states the club’s name, the amount or a description of property, and whether the club provided goods or services in return.
• For a payment over $75 that is partly a gift and partly a purchase, the club must give a written disclosure of the deductible amount; the penalty is $10 per contribution, up to $5,000 per fundraising event or mailing.

Details and templates are on Donation Receipts and Acknowledgment Letters.