December 29, 2025

The year-end is a crucial period for nonprofits. This is where the bulk of annual giving occurs, with a significant share of all charitable donations made in the last few days of the year. This influx happens primarily because donors rush to meet the December 31 tax deadline and nonprofits issue high-urgency appeals.  

Since the stakes are high, you want to ensure that your organization’s accounting and gift-processing systems are in top shape and running smoothly for the crunch. Compliance starts with data integrity: accurate records, timely acknowledgments, and precise reporting are the safeguards for success. These not only ensure compliance but are essential for building donor trust and strengthening future fundraising efforts. 

Below are some actionable accounting tips you may adopt to make the year-end giving season a success for your nonprofit: 

Tip #1: Review and update your donor and financial data

Data hygiene is the first step to having a successful giving season. Clean, well-organized donor records can help prevent misapplied gifts, acknowledgment errors, and frustrating donor experiences.

  • Clean up donor profiles in your CRM: Begin by reviewing your donor database:

    • Merge duplicate records to ensure each donor receives a single acknowledgment and year-end summary.
    • Update mailing addresses, email contacts, and other key details.
    • Verify pledge statuses, especially those scheduled to be fulfilled before year-end.
    • Review donor segments, including major, recurring, and lapsed donors, as well as corporate partners, to ensure accuracy in targeted outreach.
  • Verify donor-restricted fund accounts: Nonprofits must carefully distinguish between restricted and unrestricted funds. This is the ideal time to:

    • Check that restricted fund codes are current and up to date.
    • Confirm each fund has a corresponding revenue and balance sheet account.
    • Revisit purpose restrictions to ensure donations are properly allocated.
  • Align CRM and accounting system fields: Data mismatches between your CRM and accounting system are a common source of year-end reconciliation issues. Review and align how your systems map campaigns, fund types, revenue categories, and programs.

Tip #2: Optimize your donation processing systems

Your organization’s systems will be dealing with heavy traffic in December. Test and fine-tune your donation forms and payment processors to ensure a smooth donor experience and accurate revenue capture.

  • Test your online donation forms: Conduct an audit of your donation pages for:
    • Required fields — name, email, and address (if needed for receipts) are correct.
    • Strong mobile responsiveness.
    • Fast page load speed (slow pages may cost you donations).
    • Automatic entry into the CRM and accounting system.

Run test donations to verify that data flows correctly and acknowledgment emails are triggered immediately.

  • Confirm payment processor readiness: Before December, get in touch with your payment processor to verify transaction or daily processing limits, settlement timeframes, and fraud filters to ensure legitimate high-value donations aren’t blocked.

For nonprofits with international donors: Verify that currency conversions and settlement rules are properly configured.

  • Automate recurring gift updates: Recurring donors are a source of reliable revenue. However, expiring cards and outdated billing details may disrupt contributions. Before hitting the peak season:
    • Review upcoming expiring credit cards.
    • Send automated reminders for donors to update billing information.
    • Ensure your donation platform allows donors to easily update their payment methods.

A smooth recurring donation experience boosts retention and reduces administrative workload during the busiest giving period.

Tip #3: Strengthen internal controls and reconciliation workflows

With donation volume surging at year-end, the risk of errors—or worse, fraud—increases. Strong internal controls ensure every gift is accounted for correctly.

  • Establish daily or weekly reconciliation: From Thanksgiving through New Year’s, reconcile donations daily or at least several times per week. Ensure alignment across donation platform reports, bank deposits, CRM gift entries, and accounting system records.
  • Refresh segregation-of-duties protocols: To maintain accountability within the organization:
    • No single person should handle gift entry, physical check deposits, and acknowledgments.
    • For smaller nonprofits, consider bringing in temporary volunteers or board members to help maintain the separation of duties.
  • Prepare backup staffing: As the holiday season approaches, turnover, vacations, and staff illness become commonplace. Cross-train staff to support gift entries, acknowledgment workflows, deposit processing, and the generation of reports.

Having backup ensures operations continue smoothly during peak giving days, especially the final few days of December.

Tip #4: Ensure compliance with donor acknowledgment requirements

Timely, accurate acknowledgments are a cornerstone of donor stewardship. Donor acknowledgments are required by law for donors to claim tax deductions.

  • Review IRS rules for charitable contributions: Key compliance requirements include:
    • Donations of $250 or more require a contemporaneous written acknowledgment.
    • Quid pro quo donations, such as gala or event tickets, must disclose the fair market value of benefits received.
    • Non-cash and in-kind gifts require special documentation rules. While donors determine the valuation, nonprofits must provide detailed, descriptive receipts.

Does your organization need some extra support this giving season ?

Year-end giving puts real pressure on nonprofit accounting teams. Between increased donation volume, compliance requirements, and donor expectations, even strong internal teams can feel stretched.

Rubino works with nonprofits year-round to strengthen accounting systems, improve donor data integrity, and ensure compliance during high-volume giving periods. If you want a second set of eyes before the December rush, we are here to help

Talk with a nonprofit accounting expert today!

  • Standardize acknowledgment templates: Create templates for cash gifts, recurring donations, matching gifts, restricted gifts, and in-kind donations. Every acknowledgment should clearly state:
    • Gift date
    • Donation amount (or description for in-kind gifts)
    • Whether the donor received goods or services in return
    • Tax-deductibility language

Standardized templates prevent inconsistencies and reduce the need to correct errors manually.

  • Automate and expedite acknowledgment delivery: Donors expect immediate confirmation, especially for online contributions. Ensure your CRM or donation platform can:
    • Send automatic email receipts.
    • Batch-generate letters for mailed checks.
    • Issue year-end summary statements in early January.

Apart from reducing staff workload, automation helps ensure donors receive timely, compliant documentation.

Tip #5: Prepare for accurate year-end financial reporting

It is essential that year-end giving be accurately reflected in your financial statements, fundraising dashboards, and board reports.

  • Update revenue recognition rules: Whether your organization uses cash or accrual accounting, ensure these rules are applied consistently across the organization.

    • Record pledges when promised, not when paid.
    • Multi-year grants may require time- or purpose-based release schedules.
    • Promptly record refunds, chargebacks, and failed recurring payments.
  • Close fundraising events and campaigns: If you held events earlier in the year:

    • Verify all revenue, sponsorships, and in-kind donations have been posted.
    • Finalize and allocate expenses to their correct functional categories.

Closing these items before December prevents a backlog during the year-end close.

  • Pre-build year-end reports: To save time and avoid last-minute stress, prepare report templates in advance, including:

    • Fund-level revenue summaries
    • Board dashboards showing giving performance, ROI, and donor trends
    • Year-over-year giving comparisons
    • Donor roll-up reports for development staff

Final Thoughts: Set yourself up for a smooth and successful year-end

A successful year-end giving season is all about preparation, accuracy, and donor trust. Effective year-end accounting ensures you minimize risk and capture every contribution correctly. With strong processes in place, you not only enhance donor trust but also set the stage for sustained fundraising growth. 

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