Donors & imports
Thank-yous and email templates
Receipts are automatic; thank-yous are the personal note. How the Thank-yous queue, templates, auto-send and printed letters work.
2 min read · Updated October 31, 2026
DonorFinch separates two things: the receipt (automatic, the tax record) and the thank-you (your voice). Receipts are covered in Tax receipts, explained; this article is about thank-yous.
The Thank-yous queue
Every gift that gets a receipt also lands in Thank-yous as pending. From there you (or anyone with Send thank-you emails and letters: Staff, Admin, Owner) can:
- Send by email using a template, edited per donor if you like.
- Add to a letter batch for donors you'd rather write to. Batches become a single PDF of letters to print and sign.
- Skip gifts that don't need a note (the $5 recurring charge, your own test gift). Skipped gifts can be reopened.
Imported gifts and gifts recorded with receipts turned off don't enter the queue.
Templates
Settings → Templates holds plain-text templates for thank-you emails and letters, the recurring-plan notices, and the year-end statement cover note. Each is a subject and a body with merge fields:
{{first_name}} {{full_name}} {{org_name}} {{amount}} {{gift_date}} {{fund}} {{campaign}} {{receipt_number}} {{tribute}} {{today}}, and for year-end: {{year}} {{total}} {{gift_count}}.
The editor warns about a field it doesn't recognize. The default thank-you starts "Dear {{first_name}}, Thank you so much for your gift of {{amount}} on {{gift_date}}…".
Editing templates needs Edit email and letter templates (Finance, Admin, Owner).
Auto-send
Mark a template auto-send and qualifying gifts are thanked automatically and cleared from the queue. You can set a minimum amount so small gifts are handled automatically while larger ones wait for a personal note. Many organizations auto-send under $250 and hand-write above it.
Emails sent automatically on your behalf
| When | Editable? | |
|---|---|---|
| Receipt | Every successful gift | The thank-you message at the top (per form); the receipt facts are fixed |
| Recurring-plan notices | Plan created, paused, resumed, changed, cancelled; payment failed / on hold | Settings → Templates |
| Year-end statement cover note | You run statements | Settings → Templates |
| Donor portal sign-in link | Donor requests one | No |
All automatic email comes from DonorFinch's sending address with your organization's name shown as the sender name. Sending from your own domain is not available yet.
Printed letters
Use letter batches from the Thank-yous queue, or export the Gift detail / Donor list report as CSV and mail-merge in Word or Google Docs. Year-end statement PDFs can be downloaded individually for mailing.