Year-end donor letters from Excel or Google Sheets

What the sheet needs

One row per gift, with at least three columns:

• Donor name. One column ("Ortiz, Joe & Ann" or "Joe and Ann Ortiz"), or separate first and last name columns.
• Gift date. 01/04/2026, 1/4/26, 2026-01-04 and "Jan 4, 2026" are all read. Day-first dates (04/01/2026 meaning 4 January) are detected when the column makes it clear.
• Amount. With or without a dollar sign or thousands separators. Refunds written as (40.00) or -40.00 are recognized.

Optional columns make better letters: a fund or designation (shown on each line), the address as separate parts or one column (placed for a #10 window envelope), email (for the email list), and payment method, so gifts of stock or in-kind gifts are set aside instead of landing on a cash letter. Column names do not have to match ours. The tool guesses each column from its header and its values, and you confirm or change each guess.

Title lines above the header ("St. Brendan Parish, Contributions 2026") are fine. So are several sheets in one workbook: you pick the sheet. Up to 100,000 rows and 25 MB.

Getting it out of Excel

Choose the .xlsx file itself; there is no need to save it as CSV. Dates are read from the cell format, so a time zone cannot move a gift to the day before. Older .xls files and CSV exports work too. Rows you have hidden or filtered out in the workbook are noted, so you can tell whether they belong in the letters.

Getting it out of Google Sheets

Use File → Download → Microsoft Excel (.xlsx) or Comma-separated values (.csv) and choose that file. Or select the rows, including the header row, copy them, and use Paste rows instead on the home page. Pasting reads the same columns as a file.

Tidy these before you start, or let the review catch them

• Subtotal and total rows. A "Subtotal" or "Total" you typed between gifts would double the amounts. The tool recognizes these lines and keeps them out, as in the example.
• Blank, zero or unreadable amounts. Listed with the row number and the reason, so you can fix the sheet and run it again.
• One donor, two spellings. "Baker, Ruth" and "Ruth Baker" or "Bob" and "Robert": possible duplicates are shown in pairs to merge or keep apart.
• Gifts dated outside the year. Rows from 2025 or 2027 are listed. A check written in December and entered in January can be included one row at a time, and its date is marked on the letter.
• Gifts entered twice. Same donor, date, amount and fund in two rows are flagged so you can leave one out.

At the end, the tool shows the file's total, the total in the letters and the total set aside. If you type the figure from your books, it tells you whether they match.

What you get

Every letter can be previewed on screen for free, and the first three download free as PDFs. The $29 season pass, one payment per organization, adds the rest: one PDF per donor in a ZIP file, one print file sorted by last name or ZIP code, and a CSV with each donor's email text for your own mail merge. Giving Receipts does not send emails for you. The wording on each letter follows IRS Publication 1771; the acknowledgment requirements guide explains it, and the statement template shows the full text.

Honest limits

• Your spreadsheet is read in your browser and is not uploaded to us. That also means we cannot fix a file for you. If a column is read wrongly, change the guess in step 2 or correct the sheet.
• The letters cover cash gifts. Gifts of property are listed for a separate acknowledgment, which you write yourself.
• The tool does not decide what a donor may deduct or give tax advice.

Giving recorded in QuickBooks instead? See donor statements from a QuickBooks report.

Giving Receipts turns the records you provide into letters. It does not give tax, legal or accounting advice and is not affiliated with the IRS. For your organization's situation, ask a tax professional. Sources and how we use them: About and sources.