The value of a volunteer’s time for in-kind services donated to a nonprofit organization is not tax deductible, and an organization should never state the dollar value of a volunteer’s services in an acknowledgment letter. However, it may be appropriate to provide volunteers with an acknowledgment letter that generally describes the services they provided so that volunteers can deduct certain eligible unreimbursed expenses.

According to Internal Revenue Service guidance, donations made via credit card are eligible for the charitable deduction in the year in which the charge is made on the donor’s credit card, regardless of when the donor pays the credit bill or when the nonprofit ultimately receives the funds. See IRS Revenue Ruling 78-38 and Publication 526.

The short answer is that donors are permitted to treat a charitable contribution as made on the date it is placed in the mail via U.S. Postal Service, even if the check is not delivered or cashed until the following year, see Treas. Reg. § 1.170A-1(b). While it is not the charity’s responsibility to establish the date of delivery in the acknowledgement letter, you want to be as helpful as you can be to your donors. This can lead to some tricky situations.