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Sponsorship & Event Registration Receipts

Goal: Set up sponsorships and ticketed fundraising events so the IRS-compliant tax receipt the system sends automatically reflects the right deductible amount.

Sponsorships and event registrations are quid pro quo contributions — the sponsor or attendee usually receives goods or services (logo placement, table seats, dinner, swag) in exchange for their payment. IRS Publication 1771 requires receipts for these payments to disclose the fair market value (FMV) of what they received, and the deductible portion is the amount paid above that FMV.

Ayuna handles this for you when you set the FMV on each sponsorship package and event registration level.

Two emails, not one​

After a sponsor or registrant pays, they get two emails:

  1. Confirmation email — friendly, immediate. Shows what they signed up for, the total charged, and (when applicable) the breakdown between the sponsorship/registration amount and the processing fee they covered. Notes that the formal tax receipt will follow.
  2. Tax receipt — official, IRS-compliant. Sent right after the payment settles. Includes:
    • Affiliate legal name and EIN
    • Receipt number, payment date, payment method
    • Total paid
    • Fair market value of goods/services received
    • Tax-deductible amount (total paid minus FMV)
    • 501(c)(3) statement
    • PDF attachment of the same content for the donor's records

Pay-later sponsorships only get the formal tax receipt once the payment actually settles — never before, so we don't issue receipts for failed or cancelled payments.

Setting Fair Market Value on sponsorship packages​

When you create or edit a sponsorship package (under Fundraising → Sponsorships → Packages):

  1. Add the package's individual benefits (logo placement, tickets, table sponsor, etc.).
  2. For each benefit, fill in Fair Market Value — your good-faith estimate of what that benefit would cost if purchased separately (e.g., the retail value of the dinner tickets, advertising rate-card value of the logo placement, etc.).
  3. The package's total FMV is the sum of the benefit FMVs. The receipt uses this to compute the deductible portion.

Tip: When in doubt, err toward a higher FMV — under-disclosing benefits is the IRS-penalty side of the §6115 line, not over-disclosing.

Setting Fair Market Value on event registration levels​

When you create or edit a registration level (under Fundraising → Events → [event] → Registration Levels):

  1. Set the Price as you normally would (per ticket or per table).
  2. Expand the Tax Receipt Details section.
  3. Fill in:
    • Fair Market Value ($) — the value the attendee receives at that level. For a $200 gala ticket with a plated dinner valued at $75, the FMV is $75 and the deductible portion will be $125.
    • FMV Description — plain-language summary that appears on the receipt: "Plated dinner, two drink tickets, and silent-auction access."

For purely contributory registrations (e.g., a $50 "supporter" tier with no actual ticket benefits), leave FMV at $0 and the receipt will treat the full amount as deductible.

For bundle tiers (one purchase covers multiple attendees, like a $2000 table for 8), set the FMV at the per-unit level. Ayuna multiplies by units when issuing the receipt.

What the payer sees​

For a $250 ticket with a $75 FMV dinner and a $7.50 processing fee covered by the attendee:

  • Confirmation email: "Subtotal $250.00 + Processing Fee $7.50 = Total Charged $257.50. Your tax receipt will be emailed separately."
  • Tax receipt: "Total paid: $257.50. Fair market value of goods/services received: $75.00. Tax-deductible portion: $182.50."

When FMV isn't set​

If you skip the FMV fields, the receipt will treat the full amount as tax-deductible. That's fine for sponsorship packages or registration levels where the sponsor/attendee genuinely receives nothing (a "naming" sponsorship with no benefits, an early-bird supporter ticket with no event access). For anything where they do receive something — a meal, a seat, swag, advertising — set the FMV to keep your affiliate on the right side of IRS §6115.

Checking what was sent​

Open the sponsorship or registration record. Both confirmation and tax receipt sends are logged with timestamps and message IDs. Use the Resend Receipt action to issue a duplicate from the same record if a sponsor reports they didn't receive it.