Creating an Annual Receipt page should be easy and intuitive. Unlike other donation plugins, Charitable’s Annual Receipts extension doesn’t come with a long list of settings requiring you to guess what each setting does. 

Simply generate and send donors an attractive end of financial year receipt, helping them with their tax reporting.

Annual receipts can be accessed online, downloaded or printed.

Minimum requirements:

• PHP 7.2+
• Charitable 1.6.57+

You can build your Annual Receipt page in the WordPress editor in no time at all, while enjoying a live preview so you can see what an annual receipt will look like for your donors. Simply create a new page, add the Annual Receipt block, and tweak the settings to suit your needs.

The Annual Receipt block allows you to customize the headline and add text above or below the list of donations, so you can easily satisfy any legal requirements your non-profit may have for your receipts.

✨ New: See Bulk Send Annual Receipts!

How to Install and Activate the Annual Receipts Plugin

Annual Receipts is a WordPress plugin. You can install it just like any other plugin. Here’s a quick how-to:

1. Start by downloading your plugin from your account page or your purchase receipt email.
2. In your WordPress dashboard, go to Plugins > Add New.
3. Click the Upload Plugin button at the top of the page.
4. Select the zip file you downloaded before and click Install Now.
5. Activate the plugin!

Prefer a video tutorial? Watch our tutorial on YouTube.

How to Create Your Annual Receipt Page

After you have activated the plugin, the next step is to create a new page in your WordPress dashboard.

1. Go to Pages > Add New.
2. Click the blue + icon in the top left corner, or the the + icon in the content area to add a new block to the page.
3. You can find the Annual Receipt block by searching for “Annual Receipt”, or by browsing the blocks and scrolling down to the Charitable category of blocks.
4. Click on the block to insert it.

One benefit of the Annual Receipt block is that you can also tailor its design to your needs by customizing the colour of the text and the background used for the annual receipt. You can even set up interesting background gradients to really make your annual receipt stand out.

Customizing the Annual Receipt Block

There are a variety of settings you can use to customize the annual receipt to your needs.

Logo
Upload a logo from your computer or use one from your website’s media library. You can also drag an image from your computer directly onto the Logo placeholder.

Organization contact details
You can include your organization’s address, phone number or other relevant details in the top right corner of your annual receipt. The contact details are set under Charitable > Settings > General. Clicking on “Edit contact details” will open a new browser tab where you can set your contact details.

Header and other text above donations
You can add a header and other text to show about the list of donations. You can use rich text formatting here so you can make the text bold or italic, for example.

Footer text
You can add an additional bit of text directly below the list of donations. Rich text formatting is supported.

Preview with sample data
The annual receipt block shows placeholders where dynamic (i.e. donor-specific) content is shown. You can click the “Show sample data” link in these placeholders to display an example donor’s details and list of donations.

Additional block settings

You’ll find a few more options for customizing your Annual Receipt block in the block inspector (the settings panel on the right side of the page).

Donor Address
You can choose whether to display the donor’s phone number and email address. Tip: Preview the receipt with sample data to see where the phone number and email address are shown.

Footer
The Annual Receipt block includes a small “Powered by Charitable” logo in the footer. If you would prefer not to display this, you can simply turn it off here. No hard feelings, we promise. 😉

Colour
Create a unique annual receipt with colour settings! You can use this to change the colour of the text as well as to change the background colour. You can even use gradients for your annual receipt.

Border (theme-dependent)
You may also be able to customize the border for your annual receipt. This feature is currently only available with WordPress block themes supporting Full Site Editing, like the Twenty Twenty Two theme.

For example, the Tove theme by Anders Noren is a fun block theme with Full Site Editing support. Here is an example of an Annual Receipt in Tove, with borders customized:

In the future we expect that this feature will became available with any theme, though this depends on updates to WordPress itself.

How to Create an Annual Receipt Page With a Shortcode

If you are not using the block editor, you can still create an Annual Receipt page using the [charitable_annual_receipt] shortcode. It supports most of the same settings that are supported by the block, but it does not have the same styling customization options.

Shortcode Parameters

• logo: The ID of an image file in your Media Library.
• receipt_header: The header in the annual receipt. This defaults to “Your Donations”.
• receipt_header_text: The text displayed below the receipt header, above the list of donations. This is empty by default.
• receipt_footer_text: The text displayed below the list of donations. This is empty by default.
• show_donor_phone: Whether to include the donor’s phone number. Defaults to true.
• show_donor_email: Whether to include the donor’s email address. Defaults to true.
• show_charitable_logo: Whether to display the Charitable logo in the footer of the annual receipt. Defaults to true.

Usage

Default
Without any additional arguments, the shortcode will display the annual receipt with the header set to “Your Donations”, no further text above or below the list of donations, and with the donor’s phone number and email address show.

[charitable_annual_receipt]

All options added

[charitable_annual_receipt logo=123 receipt_header="Thank You" receipt_header_text="Your generosity is astounding." receipt_footer_text="<em>Donations over $2 are tax-deductible.</em>" show_donor_phone=0 show_donor_email=0 show_charitable_logo=1]

Final Steps to Publish Your Annual Receipt Page

After you have finished editing your Annual Receipt block or shortcode and added any other content to the page, click on Publish.

You now need to tell Charitable that the page you just created is your Annual Receipt page:

1. Go to Charitable » Settings » General.
2. Choose the page you just created for the “Annual Receipt Page” setting.
3. Click Save Changes.

How to Change the End of Financial Year Date

The date marking the end of the financial year changes country by country. Annual Receipts defaults to using December 31 as the final day of the financial year, but you can change this easily enough.

1. In your WordPress dashboard, go to Charitable > Settings > Extensions.
2. You will find the “End of financial year” setting in the “Annual Receipts” section. Set the day and month to match your country’s end of financial year date.
3. Click Save Changes.

Let Donors Know They Can Print Their Report

Your donors can securely access their annual receipt on your website. From there, a single click is all it takes for them to download their receipt or get a printable version.

That’s it! You’re all set to send annual receipts.

See more about the Annual Receipts feature »

Annual Receipts FAQs

Do I need a separate plugin for Annual Receipts?

Yes. Annual Receipts is an add-on for Charitable and needs to be installed and activated separately from the core plugin. Once activated, you’ll find the Annual Receipt block available in the WordPress editor and the [charitable_annual_receipt] shortcode ready to use.

Can I use Annual Receipts without the block editor?

Yes. If you’re using a page builder or the classic editor, add the [charitable_annual_receipt] shortcode to any page instead. It supports most of the same options as the block, though it doesn’t include the same colour and border styling controls.

How do donors access their annual receipt?

Donors can securely view their receipt online on the page you designate as your Annual Receipt Page. From there, they can download or print it with a single click. No additional plugin or setup is required on the donor’s end.

Can donors download or print their receipt?

Yes. Every annual receipt includes options for donors to download their receipt or open a printable version, so they can keep a copy for tax reporting.

How do I set which page is used for annual receipts?

After publishing your page, go to Charitable » Settings » General and choose that page under the “Annual Receipt Page” setting, then click Save Changes. This tells Charitable where donors should be directed to view their receipts.

Can I change the end of financial year date?

Yes. By default, Annual Receipts uses December 31 as the end of the financial year. You can change this under Charitable » Settings » Extensions in the “Annual Receipts” section, where you can set the day and month that matches your country’s financial year.

Can I remove the “Powered by Charitable” branding from the receipt?

Yes. The footer branding can be turned off in the block settings (or by setting show_charitable_logo=0 in the shortcode) if you’d prefer not to display it.

Can I hide the donor’s phone number or email address on the receipt?

Yes. Both fields can be toggled on or off in the block’s inspector settings, or by using the show_donor_phone and show_donor_email shortcode parameters.

Can I preview what the receipt will look like before publishing?

Yes. The Annual Receipt block includes placeholders for donor-specific content. Click “Show sample data” on any placeholder to preview an example donor’s details and donation list before you publish the page.

Can I customize the colours and design of the receipt?

Yes, when using the block. You can set text and background colours, including gradients. If your theme supports Full Site Editing (such as Twenty Twenty-Two or Tove), you can also customize the border.

Where do I set my organization’s contact details shown on the receipt?

Organization contact details are managed under Charitable » Settings » General. Click “Edit contact details” from the block settings to open that page directly in a new tab.

What are the minimum requirements for Annual Receipts?

You’ll need PHP 7.2 or higher and Charitable 1.6.57 or higher.

Can I send receipts to multiple donors at once?

Yes. Annual Receipts supports bulk sending, so you can generate and send receipts to all your donors at once rather than one at a time.