# How to Accept Donations at a Community Event > A practical guide to taking gifts at pay-what-you-can events and the front desk, from cash and in-kind gifts to anonymous donations and refunds. Published: 2026-09-04 Author: Julian (OpenCommunity Team) ## Key takeaways - You can take gifts by cash, cheque, card, or in-kind, but you can only receipt a gift where the donor is named and the value is clear. - Anonymous gifts cannot be receipted, because a receipt has to name the donor. - Set a suggested amount if you like, but never let a minimum turn a family away at the door. ## Sort it out before the doors open The time to sort out donations is before your event, not when a line forms at the table. A few decisions up front (who can receipt, what people get in return, how you will record cash) save you from awkward corrections later. If your organization is a registered charity you can offer receipts. If not, you can still gladly accept gifts; you just cannot issue an official receipt. Receipting itself is federal, so the guidance below applies the same in BC as across Canada. ## Cash, cheque, card, and in-kind Community events attract every kind of gift. Handle each one cleanly: - Cash and cheque: record the gift and mark it collected once the money is in hand. For mailed cheques, the postmark date is the donation date, so keep the envelope. - Card or tap: the donation date is the day the payment processed. - In-kind: a gift of property, which needs a description and a fair market value, plus the appraiser's details if it was appraised. The CRA recommends an appraisal at $1,000 or more. Whatever the method, if the donor received something in return, record that value too, because it changes whether and how much you can receipt. [Split receipting explains the advantage rules](https://opencommunity.ca/blog/split-receipting-advantage-explained/index.md). ## Pay-what-you-can and donation-only events For a potluck, a fundraising film night, or a pay-what-you-can drop-in, nobody is charged a fixed fee and people give what they can. Two settings help: a suggested amount, which nudges without pressure, and an optional minimum. Keep one rule sacred: **money never blocks a sign-in**. A family should never be turned away over a donation, and declining should stay available on every screen. That is the same instinct behind [welcoming newcomers into community programs](https://opencommunity.ca/blog/how-to-welcome-newcomers-community-programs/index.md): the first ask should never be the barrier. If you use a percentage suggestion like round up 10%, remember it only works where there is a fee to calculate from. Always keep at least one fixed suggested amount as well, or a visitor with a free spot has nothing to round up. > Tip: For a donation-only event, decide the advantage value in advance. If people receive nothing beyond an ordinary visit, the answer may be zero, but zero is a decision you record, not a blank you leave. ## Anonymous gifts and what you cannot do A receipt has to name the donor, so an anonymous gift cannot be receipted. You can still accept and record it; it simply travels without a tax receipt. A few other limits are worth knowing before the night: - You cannot receipt services or volunteer time, only gifts of money or property. - You cannot issue a receipt if you cannot determine the value of what the donor received in return. - You cannot receipt a pledge until the money arrives. A promise to give is not yet a gift. - Refunds usually run through your payment processor, not your receipting tool, so cancel the receipt first, then refund the money. Where a gift shares a single payment with a fee, for example a round-up added to a drop-in charge, decide in advance how you will unwind it. If your payment processor can refund part of a combined charge, return the donation and leave the program fee in place. If it cannot, the fallback is to reverse the whole payment and re-take the fee, which is cleaner than leaving a receipt standing for money you gave back. Find out which applies to you before your first event, not at the counter. ## Tidying up afterwards Once the room is packed away, two things keep you clean. First, issue receipts from the records you already captured, rather than rebuilding them from a cash box and memory. Second, keep your numbering accountable: every receipt gets a unique serial number in one yearly sequence, and cancelled receipts stay on the books with a reason. When you report to the CRA on your annual return, you will be glad the source information is already consistent. For the fields every receipt must include, see [the basics of donation receipts](https://opencommunity.ca/blog/donation-receipts-community-organizations-basics/index.md). > Note: This article is general information only and is not legal, financial, or professional advice. For questions about your organization's obligations, consult a qualified professional or the relevant government resource (for example, the CRA for registered charity matters, or your provincial or territorial registry for nonprofit governance). ## Questions and answers ### Can we give a tax receipt for an anonymous donation? No. An official receipt must name the donor, so an anonymous gift cannot be receipted. You can still accept and record the gift for your own books. ### What is the donation date for a cheque received by mail? The postmark date on the envelope, so keep the envelope as proof. For card payments, it is the date the payment processed. ### Can we require a minimum donation to attend a pay-what-you-can event? You can set a suggested amount, and a minimum if you need one, but good practice is that money never blocks entry. Keep declining available on every screen, so a family can always take part without giving. ### How do we handle a refund on a donation? Refunds usually go through your payment processor. Cancel the receipt first, then process the refund, so you are not left with a live receipt for money that was returned. ### Do these rules change in BC? The receipting rules are federal and the same across Canada. What can vary by province is nonprofit incorporation and privacy law, not how you receipt a gift. ## More from OpenCommunity - [All resources](https://opencommunity.ca/blog/index.md): Browse every published guide. - [OpenCommunity features](https://opencommunity.ca/features/index.md): Explore the platform.