The short answer
When someone gives a church property instead of money, the church describes the gift in writing but does not put a value on it; valuing it is the donor's job. Some gifts bring added paperwork. The church may sign the donor's Form 8283, file Form 8282 if it disposes of certain property within three years, or furnish Form 1098-C for a donated vehicle. The IRS does not treat volunteer time as a deductible gift.
Describe the gift, never value it
A member drops off a nearly new piano. Another family donates a used minivan for the youth ministry. A retired couple transfers shares of stock in December. Each is a real gift, and each puts a different form or deadline on the church's desk.
The first rule is the same for all of them. IRS Publication 1771 says the written acknowledgment for a gift of property contains a description, but not the fair market value, of the property, along with the church's name and the goods-or-services statement. A donor needs that acknowledgment for any single noncash gift valued at $250 or more. The IRS's own valuation guide, Publication 561, is written for donors and appraisers. Putting a number on the piano is the donor's job, with an appraiser where one is required.
What a statement should say is covered in year-end contribution statements. The receiving side is simpler: one log entry per gift, made when it arrives.
- Date received, donor's name, and who accepted it for the church
- A plain description and its condition ("upright piano, good working condition")
- Any restriction the donor placed on its use
- What the church plans to do with it: use it, give it away or sell it
- Copies of any IRS form the church signs or files for it
When a donor brings Form 8283
Donors who claim a deduction of more than $500 for noncash gifts file Form 8283 with their own return. The Form 8283 instructions say Section A covers property claimed at $5,000 or less per item or group of similar items, and also publicly traded securities. The church does not sign Section A.
Section B covers items claimed at more than $5,000, which need a qualified appraisal. Part V of Section B is the donee acknowledgment, and the church signs it. The instructions say the signer must be an official authorized to sign the organization's tax returns, or a person specifically designated to sign Form 8283. The form itself states that the acknowledgment does not represent agreement with the claimed fair market value. Signing confirms the church received the property on a date. It is not an endorsement of the number.
Part V also asks whether the church intends to use the property for an unrelated use, and commits the church to file Form 8282 if it disposes of the property within three years. Answer the use question honestly, keep a copy of the signed Section B, and add the item to a three-year list.
Selling the property within three years: Form 8282
The instructions printed on Form 8282 call property listed in Section B of Form 8283 charitable deduction property: donated property other than money and publicly traded securities with a claimed value over $5,000. If the church sells, exchanges, consumes or otherwise disposes of it within three years after receiving it, the church generally files Form 8282 within 125 days after the disposition and gives the original donor a copy.
The form lists two exceptions: items the donor marked on Form 8283 as appraised at $500 or less, and items consumed or distributed without payment in carrying out the church's exempt purpose. The penalty for failing to file is generally $50 per form. The form also says the church must keep a copy of Section B of Form 8283 in its records, which is why the three-year list matters: the person who sells the piano in year two may not be the person who signed for it.
| Gift | What the church does | Form or deadline |
|---|---|---|
| Household goods, supplies or equipment | Describes the item and its condition; no value | Acknowledgment for gifts the donor values at $250 or more |
| Property the donor claims at over $5,000 (not public stock) | Signs Form 8283 Section B, Part V; keeps a copy | Signature confirms receipt, not the value |
| That property sold or given away within three years | Files Form 8282; copies the donor | Within 125 days after the disposition |
| Car, boat or airplane claimed at over $500 | Furnishes Form 1098-C or equal acknowledgment; files with IRS | 30 days after sale or contribution; IRS copy by February 28 |
| Publicly traded stock | Records transfer date, security and shares | No Form 8282 for public securities |
| Volunteer time | Thanks the volunteer; no gift receipt for hours | Out-of-pocket costs of $250 or more can be acknowledged |
Vehicles, boats and airplanes
Donated vehicles follow their own rules, and Publication 1771 says its general rules do not apply to a motor vehicle, boat or airplane with a claimed value over $500. The Form 1098-C instructions say the church files a separate Form 1098-C with the IRS for each such vehicle and gives the donor an acknowledgment with the same information. Copy B of Form 1098-C may serve as that acknowledgment.
Timing depends on what the church does with the vehicle. The acknowledgment is due within 30 days after the sale if the church sells it, or within 30 days after the contribution if the church will make significant use of it, materially improve it, or give or sell it well below value to a person in need. IRS Publication 4302, the charity's guide to vehicle donations, says Form 1098-C is filed with the IRS by February 28 of the following year, or March 31 if filed electronically.
The sale price matters to the donor. Publication 526 says that when no exception applies, the deduction for a vehicle claimed at more than $500 is generally the smaller of the gross proceeds from the church's sale or the vehicle's fair market value. Record the sale date, the buyer and the gross proceeds exactly.
Gifts of stock
Stock usually arrives as a transfer into the church's brokerage account. Whether the church sells it promptly or holds it is a decision for leadership, and it belongs in a written gift policy. For the giving record, the date matters. IRS Publication 526 says a properly endorsed stock certificate is delivered on the date it is mailed or delivered to the church, but a certificate given to the donor's agent or the issuing company for transfer is not delivered until the shares are transferred on the company's books.
Keep the broker's transfer confirmation with the deposit records. It shows the date, the security and the number of shares, which is what the acknowledgment describes. Publicly traded securities are not charitable deduction property for Form 8282, so a prompt sale generally does not trigger that form.
Donated services and supplies in the books
Volunteer hours are generous, but Publication 1771 says donors generally cannot deduct the value of services they give. A volunteer who pays real out-of-pocket costs while serving is different, and Publication 1771 describes what an acknowledgment says for unreimbursed expenses of $250 or more: a description of the services and the goods-or-services statement.
How noncash gifts appear in the church's own statements depends on its basis, compared in cash or accrual for church books. Cash-basis books usually do not record donated items at all. Under GAAP, the FASB's ASU 2020-07 requires contributed nonfinancial assets to appear as their own line, apart from cash gifts, with disclosures about how they were used and valued. FASB guidance also recognizes donated services only when they create or enhance nonfinancial assets, or require particular professional skills, provided by people who have them, that the church would otherwise have to buy. How to measure those amounts for the church's statements is a question for its CPA.
When a gift raises a question the log cannot answer, such as an unusual restriction or a sale to a board member, write it down and take it to leadership and the CPA before acting. Gift records reconciled to the books are part of the giving records work a bookkeeper can take on, and a fundraising auction of donated items has its own rules in fundraiser gift or purchase.
