Statement of donations¶
In short: A statement of donations is a summary letter of one donor's giving over a chosen period. Open the donor, open Statement, adjust the date range, and download it as PDF or XLS. It is not a tax certificate — for a deduction, issue a Section 18A certificate instead.
Overview¶
A statement of donations is a summary letter listing all the donations a single donor made over a chosen period. It is not a Section 18A tax certificate and cannot be used to claim a tax deduction — it's a convenient record you can give a donor (for example at year end, or on request) showing everything they gave. For a tax certificate, issue a Section 18A certificate instead — see Issuing a single Section 18A certificate.
Before you start¶
- The statement is generated per donor, so open the donor whose statement you want.
- The wording, columns and default period come from your statement settings. Set these once — see Statement settings.
What a statement contains¶
- A title (from your statement settings).
- A description paragraph addressed to the donor, which can use placeholders ActiveDonor fills in automatically:
- %donor_no% — the donor's number (zero-padded, e.g. 00042).
- %donor_name% — the donor's full name.
- %date_today% — today's date (d-m-Y).
- A table of receipts in the period, with the columns you chose in settings. The available columns are Project, Section 18A, Receipt Type, and Receipt Method (each receipt's date and amount always appear).
- A footer (from your statement settings).
Producing a statement¶
Step 1: Open the donor's statement¶
Open the donor, then open the Statement (statement of donations) for that donor. ActiveDonor opens the statement screen pre-filled from your statement settings, showing the donor, the default period, and a count and total of receipts in that period.
Step 2: Adjust the date range¶
Change the date range if you want a different period. The receipt count and total update for the selected period.
Step 3: Review the wording¶
Review the title, description and footer. You can adjust them for this one statement here without changing your saved settings.
Step 4: Download¶
Generate the statement in the format you need:
- PDF — a printable letter.
- XLS — an Excel spreadsheet of the donations.
Statement vs Section 18A certificate¶
| Statement of donations | Section 18A certificate | |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose | A summary record of a donor's giving | A tax certificate for an income-tax deduction |
| Used to claim a SARS deduction? | No | Yes |
| Reported to SARS in the IT3(d) file? | No | Yes |
| Covers | All receipts in a chosen period | Only Section 18A-eligible donation(s) |
If a donor needs to claim a tax deduction, issue a Section 18A certificate. Use a statement only as a giving summary.
Common issues & solutions¶
| What you see | What it means | How to fix it |
|---|---|---|
| The period shows no donations. | No receipts fall in the selected date range for this donor. | Widen the range or check the donor's receipts. |
| The wording or columns are wrong. | They come from your statement settings. | Change them under Statement settings, or edit them on the statement screen for a one-off. |
Placeholders print literally (e.g. %donor_name%). |
The placeholder spelling is off. | Use the exact spellings: %donor_no%, %donor_name%, %date_today%. |
FAQ¶
Can a donor use a statement of donations to claim tax? No. A statement is only a giving summary. For a tax deduction the donor needs a Section 18A certificate.
Can I include non-18A donations on a statement? Yes — a statement covers all the donor's receipts in the chosen period, not just Section 18A-eligible ones.
Can I get it in Excel? Yes — choose XLS instead of PDF when you download.
How do I change the standard wording or columns? In Statement settings. You can also override them per-statement on the statement screen.
Related¶
- Statement settings
- Issuing a single Section 18A certificate
- Section 18A certificates explained