Goodwill Donation Value Guide: Maximize Your Tax Deductions

Last updated on December 14, 2022

What Is A Goodwill Donation Receipt?

A donation receipt could help you pay less taxes. Yup, that’s not a joke. But you’re going to have to follow a simple process.

If you make a donation to Goodwill, you’re eligible to get a donation receipt and get a tax deduction for the year you donated.

After you make a donation to Goodwill, ask for a donation receipt. A donation receipt is an itemized list of the items that you donated, that includes the item, fair market value, and basic personal information (name, city, address, state, zip). Fill out the donation receipt form and specify each item you donated. Then, you need to give a total dollar value of your donation.

Some Goodwill donation centers can help you with your donation receipt and send an electronic copy to your email.

But in this article, I’ll show you how to complete the donation receipt form and value your items for your tax deductions.

How To Get A Goodwill Donation Receipt Form & Fill It Out

You can get a donation receipt for your Goodwill donation in 5 minutes.

But here’s the thing – how you get your donation form is different depending on your state.

In some states, your Goodwill donation centers will give you a receipt form on the spot for you fill out, or let you download one online and print it, fill it out and be finished. In other states, you will receive a receipt ID after your donation is accepted, which will let you complete your donation form online.

For example, California Goodwill donation centers let you fill out an e-form and get your donation receipt that way. Meanwhile in Southeastern Wisconsin you will need a donation ID that’s provided to you after you get a donation receipt.

Say you made a donation and you lost your donation ID or you’re not sure whether you can print a donation form, or if your donation center requires a receipt ID to retrieve a donation receipt.

Here are the 5 steps to getting your Goodwill donation form and filling it out completely:

Step 1

On Google, search for ‘Goodwill Donation Receipt Form [Your State or City]’

Step 2

Find and click on your local donation center’s Goodwill website. If your city doesn’t have an official website, you can visit your state’s Goodwill website too.

- i.e. Goodwill Dallas or Goodwill Wisconsin

Step 3

Access a donation form (using a donation ID or an online form)

Identify if your local Goodwill website requires you to have a donation ID or not.

If yes, find your donation ID on your donation receipt. But if you don’t have a donation ID, there should be an option to say “I lost my donation ID” or “Create a new donation ID” so you don’t have to go back to the store in-person.

If you don’t need a donation ID, go ahead and fill out an online donation form.

If all else, fails, you can download a general Goodwill Donation Receipt Form that should work fine. It looks like the form below.

Step 4

Itemize each item you donated with the value (details later).

Step 5

Fill out basic personal information (name, address, phone, email, etc)

Calculating The Fair Market Value Of Your Goodwill Donations

Wouldn’t it be nice if you could donate a $100 jacket, donate it to Goodwill, then enjoy a tax deduction of $100? Heck yeah.

But, is that how it works? Nope. Sorry, I don’t make the rules.

When you donate items, you need to list the final value of all the items that you donated on your donation receipt. It has to be itemized too, just like the receipt you get at the grocery store – listed with each item [you donate] with the value of the item next to it.

Now wait. How do you figure out the value of the item, if it’s not the retail price?

There is a general valuation guide for Goodwill donors that you can use, but it also helps to know that pre-owned items in good condition can be valued at around 30% of their retail value. Plus, looking at the valuation guide, it’s definitely not taking into account the nicer, more expensive items that we all occasionally donate to Goodwill.

pro-tip: Be specific on your donation receipt! Incase you need to back up what exactly you donated, especially if it’s an expensive item with a high value in pre-owned condition, make sure to remember the product type, name or model number.

My recommendation: If you care to maximize your tax deductions, go item by item to calculate the value by taking 30% of its retail price. If you’re not sure, because you’re trying to value a t-shirt, chances are you can just use Goodwill’s valuation guide, which values a shirt around $4.

Maximize Your Donation Tax Deductions

Each year, you’d be doing yourself a favor if you maximized the amount of donation-based tax deductions you can make. I’m not an accountant, but I know that you can make donating to Goodwill a win for humanity and your wallet.

If you do have an accountant, ask them how much in tax deductions you’re able to apply before the year ends. If you have more to donate, then it’s time to repeat this process over!

If you decide to donate more valuable items, make sure you know what is acceptable to donate and what is not acceptable to donate to Goodwill.