501(c)(3) compliance
HometownLift sends gift acknowledgements and year-end donor statements from your org profile, and gives your treasurer a ready quid pro quo disclosure template for tickets and events. One dashboard, no separate compliance tool.
The challenge
Every $250+ donation needs a written acknowledgement that meets IRS Pub. 1771 requirements. Most small orgs hand-edit a template, miss a few, and find out at audit time which donors never got one.
When a donor pays $200 for a gala dinner worth $50, the IRS requires a written disclosure stating only $150 is deductible. Most volunteer-run orgs have never heard of this rule, and risk penalties when they get audited.
Treasurers spend the first three weeks of January cobbling together donation totals from spreadsheets, emails, and bank statements. Donors get statements weeks late, or never at all.
Many states require nonprofit fundraising registration before you can solicit donations from residents. Most volunteer-run orgs have no idea this rule exists until they get a letter from the state attorney general.
The HometownLift approach
Every donation $250 and above triggers a written acknowledgement that includes your org's name, EIN, the gift amount, and a statement that no goods or services were provided. Pulled from your org profile, sent automatically. IRS Pub. 1771 compliant.
When a donor pays $200 for a gala ticket worth $50, the disclosure must say only $150 is deductible. Your compliance page has a ready template with your org's name and EIN filled in; you add the fair market value and send it. Have your counsel review it first.
Every January, each donor whose gifts totaled $100 or more gets one consolidated statement listing every donation from the previous year, broken down by date and campaign. Purchases like concessions and merchandise are not included. Auto-rendered from your EIN, tax status, and donation history. No treasurer required.
HometownLift surfaces per-state nonprofit fundraising registration notes for the states you accept donations from, so your director knows where you might need to register before launching a multi-state campaign. Not legal advice, but a real heads-up.
Every gift, every fee, every payout: timestamped, donor-attributed, and exportable to Excel. When the IRS, state regulator, or your annual auditor asks, you have the data ready in one click.
Compliance is built in, like everything else in HometownLift. Connect Stripe, enter your EIN and tax status, and your compliance suite goes live the same day.
FAQ
No. HometownLift generates the standard correspondence and disclosures the IRS requires for typical 501(c)(3) operations. For complex tax situations, multi-state campaigns, or audit support, work with a CPA or nonprofit attorney. We give you the foundation; they handle the edge cases.
The compliance suite supports 501(c)(3), 501(c)(19), and other common tax-exempt types. Set your tax status during onboarding and the templates adjust language accordingly.
Booster clubs that operate under their school district's EIN can use HometownLift, but compliance documents will reference the parent organization. We recommend most booster clubs file for their own 501(c)(3). We can point you to resources, but the actual filing is handled by you or a CPA.
All compliance correspondence is sent via email through the platform with delivery tracking. Bounced emails surface in your dashboard so your treasurer can resolve them. Statements are also viewable from each donor's profile in your CRM.
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