Automated donation receipt emails

Purpose

1.1. Automatically generate and send donation receipt emails, ensuring donors receive instant confirmation, acknowledgement, and required tax documentation for every contribution made to the alliance church.
1.2. Streamlines financial record-keeping, reduces manual workload, and ensures compliance with charitable giving regulations and audit requirements.
1.3. Enhances donor experience and builds trust by providing professional, error-free transaction acknowledgments.

Trigger Conditions

2.1. New donation recorded in the church's financial or donor management system.
2.2. Successful payment transaction via digital, credit card, ACH, or cash entry.
2.3. Batch imports of bank statements or manual donation logs.
2.4. Scheduled/recurring giving triggers following each fulfillment.

Platform Variants

3.1. Mailgun
• Feature/Setting: Use ‘Send Message API’; configure automated sending with dynamic ‘from’, ‘to’, and merge fields for receipts.
3.2. SendGrid
• Feature/Setting: ‘Transactional Templates’; configure ‘mail/send’ API with custom variables for donor name, amount, and receipt ID.
3.3. Amazon SES
• Feature/Setting: ‘SendEmail API’; set up trigger with template data mapped to donation info and receipts.
3.4. Microsoft Outlook (Microsoft Graph API)
• Feature/Setting: ‘sendMail’ endpoint; automate construction and dispatch of receipt emails via connected church mailbox.
3.5. Google Gmail API
• Feature/Setting: ‘users.messages.send’ method; configure with base64-encoded receipt content, recipient, and subject.
3.6. Postmark
• Feature/Setting: ‘Email API’; template integration for personalized receipts triggered from database entries.
3.7. Zoho Mail
• Feature/Setting: ‘Send Mail API’; build message body using donation data from church CRM integration.
3.8. Constant Contact
• Feature/Setting: ‘Email Campaigns’; transactional campaigns with automated delivery, merged with donor fields.
3.9. Mailchimp Transactional Email (Mandrill)
• Feature/Setting: ‘messages/send-template’ API; configure with merge tags tied to donation values.
3.10. HubSpot
• Feature/Setting: ‘Workflows’ + ‘Send Email’ action with CRM contact property tokens for seamless personalization.
3.11. Salesforce
• Feature/Setting: ‘Process Builder’ and ‘Send Email’ action using dynamic fields from Opportunity/Donation object.
3.12. Slack (confirmation to staff)
• Feature/Setting: Incoming Webhook; push summary to #finance upon each automated receipt delivery.
3.13. AirTable
• Feature/Setting: ‘Automations’ feature; triggers email receipt via integration when new donation record is created.
3.14. QuickBooks Online
• Feature/Setting: ‘Sales Receipt’ creation and automated email dispatch via QuickBooks API.
3.15. Stripe
• Feature/Setting: ‘Webhooks’ for payment_intent.succeeded; trigger receipt email via connected email service.
3.16. PayPal
• Feature/Setting: IPN (Instant Payment Notification); on successful transaction, receipt dispatched with donation details.
3.17. Blackbaud Church Management
• Feature/Setting: Native workflows or ‘Receipt Email’ API; integrates donation records with automated mailings.
3.18. Planning Center Giving
• Feature/Setting: ‘Webhooks’ or ‘Automations’; triggers to third-party mail platform with donor information.
3.19. Donorbox
• Feature/Setting: ‘Email Receipt’ templates configured in integration tab; triggers on new donation events.
3.20. Bloomerang
• Feature/Setting: ‘Acknowledgement Emails’ via API or workflow triggers on donation/transaction events.

Benefits

4.1. Eliminates manual errors and missed acknowledgments, ensuring every gift is receipted promptly.
4.2. Frees staff to focus on ministry, not administration, by automating repetitive tasks.
4.3. Ensures standardization—each donor receives compliance-grade, consistent documentation.
4.4. Builds donor trust and engagement through timely, professional, personalized communication.
4.5. Enables scalability for growing donation volumes without increasing administrative workload.