Charitable Donation Tracker Spreadsheet (Free Template)

If you itemize and give to charity all year, you need one place to write it all down. This free charitable donation tracker spreadsheet gives you that place. It works for cash gifts, bags of clothes, old furniture, and the miles you drive for your church or food bank. Below you will find the template, a monthly routine, a table of what to record for each type of gift, and a plain guide to where the totals go on your tax return.

Quick answer

• Download the free template here: donation-tracker-template.csv. It opens in Excel, Google Sheets, or LibreOffice.
• Record every gift the day you make it: date, charity, type, description, value, and whether you have a receipt.
• Value used items at fair market value (thrift-store price), and only if they are in good used condition or better.
• Charitable mileage is worth 14 cents per mile in 2026.
• At tax time, total the cash column for Schedule A line 11 and the item column for line 12. If noncash gifts top $500, you also need Form 8283.

What is in the charitable donation tracker spreadsheet

The template is a simple CSV file with one row per donation. It has eleven columns. Keep the column names as they are so your totals and filters keep working.

• Date — the day you dropped off the items, wrote the check, or made the trip.
• Charity name — Goodwill, Salvation Army, your church, the food bank.
• Charity address/EIN — the street address or tax ID. Form 8283 asks for it.
• Type (cash / item / mileage) — pick one word. This column drives your totals.
• Item description — "men's dress shirts," "oak coffee table," "drive to food bank."
• Quantity — how many items, or how many miles.
• Condition — "good," "very good," or "excellent." Leave blank for cash.
• Value each — the value of one item, or 0.14 for a mile.
• Total value — quantity times value each. Use a formula.
• Receipt on file (Y/N) — Y if you have the receipt, N if you still need it.
• Notes — where the receipt is and how you picked the value.

Here are five sample rows with generic items.

Date	Charity name	Charity address/EIN	Type	Item description	Quantity	Condition	Value each	Total value	Receipt on file	Notes
01/14/2026	Goodwill	123 Main St, Anytown	item	Men's dress shirts	12	good	$6.00	$72.00	Y	Value from Salvation Army guide (low $3, high $12)
02/03/2026	Local food bank	45 Elm Ave, Anytown	cash	Monthly gift by check #1042	1		$100.00	$100.00	Y	Bank statement plus thank-you letter
03/22/2026	Salvation Army	78 Oak Rd, Anytown	item	Sofa, fabric, no stains	1	very good	$120.00	$120.00	Y	Photo of sofa saved in tax folder
04/05/2026	Community church	9 Church St, Anytown	mileage	Drive to serve at food pantry	18		$0.14	$2.52	N	Round trip, log kept in glove box
05/16/2026	Public library	200 Center St, Anytown	item	Hardback books	30	good	$2.00	$60.00	Y	Salvation Army guide: $1 to $3 each

How to use the template through the year

The spreadsheet only helps if you keep it current. Deductions get lost in November, when you try to remember a March drop-off. A short monthly habit fixes that.

1. Save the file somewhere you will find it. Put it in a folder called "Donations 2026" with your receipt photos. In Google Sheets, upload the CSV once and keep editing it there.
2. Record each gift within a day or two. Say you cleaned out a closet and dropped off 30 shirts, 10 pairs of pants, and 4 coats. That is three rows, not one.
3. Get the receipt before you leave. Goodwill and Salvation Army hand out a blank receipt at the door. Fill in the date and item count, then take a phone photo.
4. Once a month, do a five-minute review. Sort by "Receipt on file." Chase down any N. Check that every "item" row has a condition and a value.
5. Once a quarter, look up values you skipped. Use the Salvation Army value guide or the Goodwill guide. Write the source in Notes. See how to value donated items for details.
6. In December, add up the totals. Use a SUM formula on Total value, filtered by Type. If the noncash total is over $500, gather the extra details Form 8283 needs.

What to record for each donation type

The IRS asks for different records depending on what you gave. This table shows what to put in the sheet, and what paper to keep beside it.

Donation type	Record in the spreadsheet	Paper or photo to keep	IRS rule to know
Cash, check, or card	Date, charity, amount, how you paid	Bank or card statement, plus a written acknowledgment from the charity for any gift of $250 or more	The IRS requires a bank record or written communication from the charity for cash gifts of any amount.
Noncash items (clothes, furniture, books, electronics)	Date, charity, address, description, quantity, condition, value each, how you set the value	Receipt from the charity, and a photo of the items	Items must be in good used condition or better. Total noncash gifts over $500 need Form 8283.
Charitable mileage	Date, charity, purpose of trip, miles, 14 cents per mile	A simple trip log (the spreadsheet row can be the log)	Rate is 14 cents per mile in 2026. You may claim gas and oil instead, but not both. Keep reliable written records.

For items under $250, IRS Publication 526 says your records must show the charity's name, the date and place, a description, and "fair market value and how you figured it." That last part is why the Notes column exists. Write "Salvation Army guide, low end" and you have covered it.

For a noncash gift over $500, Form 8283 also asks how you got the item, roughly when, and what you paid. If you donate a dining set worth $600, note "bought new around 2012, about $1,500" when you log it.

How to total the sheet at tax time

In January, filter the sheet by year and add up three numbers.

• Cash total. Sum every row where Type is "cash." This goes on Schedule A, line 11, "Gifts by cash or check."
• Mileage total. Sum every row where Type is "mileage." Schedule A instructions say line 11 includes out-of-pocket expenses, so add the mileage dollars there too.
• Item total. Sum every row where Type is "item." This goes on Schedule A, line 12, "Gifts other than by cash or check."

If the item total is more than $500, you must attach Form 8283. Section A covers items from $500 to $5,000. Section B is for any item, or group of similar items, over $5,000, and it needs a qualified appraisal. Our guide to Form 8283 shows where each spreadsheet column feeds in.

Two changes start with the 2026 tax year, the return you file in early 2027. Itemizers can only deduct giving above 0.5% of adjusted gross income. On $80,000 of income, the first $400 of donations gets no deduction. People who take the standard deduction can now deduct up to $1,000 of cash gifts, or $2,000 if married filing jointly. That is cash only, not clothes or furniture. The 2026 standard deduction is $16,100 for single filers and $32,200 for married couples filing jointly.

The limits of a spreadsheet

A spreadsheet is free and flexible. It also leaves several jobs to you.

• No valuation guide. You have to open a thrift-store guide for every item and type the number in. That is fine for 20 items a year. It gets old at 200.
• No photos. You can note "photo saved" in a cell, but the picture lives somewhere else. Two years later, in an audit, you have to match them up by hand.
• No Form 8283 worksheet. The sheet gives you a total. It does not group similar items, ask for date acquired or cost, or lay out Section A for you.
• No TurboTax export. You will retype the totals into your tax software, or hand the printout to your preparer. A TXF file for TurboTax Desktop is something only a program can make.
• No ItsDeductible import. Intuit shut down ItsDeductible on October 21, 2025, and users on the Intuit community reported that old data was deleted after that date. If you exported your history, a spreadsheet will not read it in a useful shape without some cleanup.

None of that makes the spreadsheet a bad choice. It means you should know what you are signing up for. If you want a comparison of the tools that replaced ItsDeductible, see our ItsDeductible alternatives roundup.

Where DonationLedger fits

DonationLedger is for people who used ItsDeductible for years and want the same job done on their own PC. It runs on Windows 10 and 11, costs a one-time $49 with no subscription, and keeps all your data on your computer. It has a built-in fair-market-value guide for used goods, attaches receipt photos to each donation, tracks cash gifts and mileage, and produces a year-end summary and a Form 8283 worksheet. It exports TXF for TurboTax Desktop and CSV for H&R Block or any preparer, and it imports the CSV you saved from ItsDeductible. It is not for you if you make two or three donations a year and are happy with a spreadsheet, or if you need a Mac or phone app. Right now you can download the free preview, which shows the core screens and lets you join the waitlist. The full version launches for the 2025 tax-year filing season, and preview users get a launch discount. See pricing for details.

Frequently asked questions

Does the IRS accept a spreadsheet as proof of my donations?

A spreadsheet is your own written record, and the IRS expects you to keep one. It does not replace receipts. For cash gifts you still need a bank record or a letter from the charity, and for any single gift of $250 or more you need a written acknowledgment from the charity.

How do I value the clothes and household items I donate?

Use fair market value, which is what the item would sell for at a thrift store. The Salvation Army and Goodwill publish value guides with low and high ranges. Pick a value inside the range that fits the item's age and condition, and write down how you chose it.

Can I deduct the miles I drive for charity?

Yes, if you itemize. The IRS charitable mileage rate is 14 cents per mile for 2026, the same as 2025. You can deduct gas and oil instead of the rate, but not both. Keep the date, the purpose, and the miles for each trip.

When do I need Form 8283?

You must attach Form 8283 to your return when your total deduction for noncash gifts is more than $500 for the year. Items or groups of similar items worth more than $5,000 go in Section B and need a qualified appraisal.

Is a spreadsheet enough, or do I need a program?

A spreadsheet works well if you make a handful of donations a year and are comfortable looking up values yourself. If you donate often, want a built-in value guide, receipt photos, or a TurboTax export, a dedicated program saves time.

Download the free template today and log your next drop-off before the receipt goes missing. This article is general information, not tax advice. Check IRS.gov or ask a tax professional about your situation.