Free printable
Charity Donation List: Free Printable
By Jason Su · Updated October 12, 2026
Most donation records fail in the same place: the name. “The animal shelter” is not enough for a check, a memorial notice, or a tax return — and after a passing, the family is often the one left trying to work out which shelter someone meant.
This sheet records the organizations that matter, with the details each of them actually needs.
What makes a line useful
Four details make a line useful, and people usually skip the third:
- The full legal name. It is usually longer than the name everyone uses, and it is what a receipt must say.
- How to give — mailing address, online giving page, or a phone number.
- The tax status, if a deduction will be claimed. The IRS publishes a Tax Exempt Organization Search precisely so you can confirm an organization’s status before you rely on it.
- What you want them to do with it. A general gift, a memorial gift, or something specific.
If you are also deciding where memorial donations should be suggested, this list is what makes that line in an obituary easy to write — see the Obituary Information Sheet for where it goes.
The sheet
Organizations that matter to me
| Organization (full legal name) | Why this one | How to give | Tax status confirmed? |
|---|---|---|---|
If donations are suggested in my memory
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| First choice organization | |
| Second choice | |
| Exact wording for the notice | |
| Where should gifts be sent | |
| Should flowers be declined instead |
What to give, and what to keep
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Cash gifts usually made to | |
| Anything given that is not cash (household goods, clothing, furniture) | |
| Where the receipts and acknowledgements are kept | |
| Who handles the giving, if not me |
How to use it
- Write the legal name, then check it. Search the IRS’s Tax Exempt Organization Search for the organization, and copy the name exactly as it appears.
- Fill in how to give for each line. A list of names without addresses is what makes a family search for an hour on a Sunday.
- Mark the two you want suggested at a service, and write the wording you would want used.
- Keep acknowledgements with the year they belong to. A receipt for a non-cash gift is worth little once it is separated from the return that claims it — what to do with old tax returns explains why.
- Record where this sheet lives, using the free Document Inventory.
What the tax rules require, if you claim a deduction
These come from the IRS, and they are worth knowing before you give away a garage full of furniture (IRS Publication 561):
- Used household items and clothing are valued at what they would sell for, not what they cost when new.
- They must be in good used condition or better to be claimed at all.
- A written acknowledgement is required from the organization for any gift of $250 or more.
- A single item, or a group of similar items, valued over $500 means a Form 8283 goes with the return — and above $5,000, a qualified appraisal as well.
Which means: ask for the receipt at the time you give, and say what you gave. An acknowledgement with no description is the item families cannot reconstruct later.
Frequently asked
Is this the same as a will’s charitable bequest?
No. This is a working list of organizations and how to give to them. Leaving money to a charity in a will is a separate instruction in the will itself, and a lawyer should draft it.
How do I confirm a charity is legitimate?
Start with the IRS’s Tax Exempt Organization Search for the tax status, and use the organization’s own published address and phone number rather than one from a message or email. If a request for money arrives unprompted and urgent, do not use the contact details in that request.
Should I include organizations I no longer support?
Yes, with the year you stopped. A record of “we gave here until 2019” tells your family more than a blank space does.
Next step
Write the two organizations you would actually want named, with their full legal names and how to give. Two good lines are worth more than twenty half-finished ones.
This is a record sheet, not tax or legal advice. Deduction rules, substantiation requirements, and organization status change over time — confirm the details with the IRS sources linked above and with a tax professional about your own return.