Nonprofit Donation Tracking Spreadsheet
Every registered charity knows the terror of receipting season: a donation you forgot to receipt, an eligible amount calculated wrong, a CRA receipt missing a mandatory field. Two habits prevent all of it: log every donation when it arrives, and check every receipt against CRA's requirements before it goes out.
CRA's official donation receipt requirements, in plain language
An official donation receipt from a registered charity must include, among other things:
- ☐ The charity's name and address
- ☐ The charity's CRA registration number
- ☐ A unique receipt serial number
- ☐ The date the donation was received
- ☐ The donor's full name and address
- ☐ The eligible amount of the gift (the amount minus the value of any advantage given to the donor)
- ☐ A description of any advantage given (e.g. gala dinner, auction item)
- ☐ The signature of a person authorized by the charity
- ☐ A statement that the receipt is for income tax purposes, with CRA's name and website address
This is a plain-language summary of the key fields — not the full official list. Non-cash gifts (securities, property) have additional requirements, and you cannot issue receipts for donations of time or services.
Free lite donation log
Five rows, the fields that matter. Print it or copy it into a spreadsheet:
| Date | Donor | Amount | Receipt # | Receipt sent ☐ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
What the tracker logs
The full Donation Tracker is an Excel log built around the fields your records actually need — the same ones that feed CRA's official receipt requirements:
- Date received — the date the gift arrived, not the date you entered it.
- Donor's full name and address — exactly as it should appear on the receipt.
- Amount and payment form — cash, cheque, card, e-transfer, with reference numbers for reprints.
- Fund or campaign — general, gala, building fund, so restricted gifts stay traceable.
- Advantage given — and the automatically calculated eligible amount, so every receipt carries the right number.
- Receipt number and sent status — sequential, unbroken receipt numbers and a "receipt sent ☐" flag: the cheapest audit insurance there is.
Automatic summaries show totals, eligible amounts, and outstanding receipts at a glance. For the thinking behind each field, see what a Canadian donation record must include.
Who it's for
Registered charities where receipting falls on a volunteer treasurer or a part-time administrator. If receipts currently go out in a January panic from a shoebox of e-transfer screenshots, this is the system that replaces the panic.
What's included
Two files: an .xlsx donation log with automatic summaries (works in Excel and Google Sheets) and a checkbox-by-checkbox PDF of every mandatory field CRA requires on an official donation receipt — the same plain-language checklist summarized on this page. Both are designed to keep you audit-ready all year, not just in tax season.
Related guides
- What Information Should a Canadian Donation Record Include? — eligible amount vs. advantage, and record-keeping tips.
- Donation Receipt Checklist (Canada) — the mandatory CRA receipt fields and the errors that invalidate receipts.
- Nonprofit Administration Checklist — donation receipting in your yearly admin cycle.