Donation request, Harrow Street Community Kitchen

Donation request letter template with a specific ask and what it buys

The difference between a donation letter that works and one that does not is usually a single number. This one page letter asks twenty local businesses for $500 each, then shows in a four row table that $500 is exactly what one Thursday dinner service costs, from the produce to the food safety supervisor.

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Harrow Street Community Kitchen
Harrow Street Community Kitchen Inc · ABN 51 772 604 318 9 Harrow Street, Wellard SA 5019 · kitchen@harrowstreet.example · 08 8447 3092

6 October 2026
Ms Deborah Falck, Manager, Wellard Auto Electrics, 44 Port Road, Wellard SA 5019
Dear Deborah,

Asking Wellard Auto Electrics for $500 before the winter roster

We are asking twenty local businesses for $500 each. That is the whole ask, and it is the same amount for everyone, because $500 is what it costs to run one Thursday dinner service from the door to the washing up.

What $500 buys, for one Thursday service
Cost
Fresh produce, meat and staples for 180 meals
$305
Gas and power, containers, gloves and cleaning
$145
Food safety supervisor, four hours
$50
Total
$500

The reason we are asking now is the number at the top of that table. In April we served 120 meals on a Thursday. Last week we served 180, turned nobody away, and finished $90 short, which the volunteers made up between them. Twenty donations of $500 funds every Thursday from June to September.

We would like an answer by 15 November, because the winter roster and the standing produce order are set in the last week of November. A yes lets us buy at the wholesale price rather than week to week.

Your donation is tax deductible
Harrow Street Community Kitchen Inc is a charity registered with the ACNC and endorsed by the Australian Taxation Office as a deductible gift recipient. A gift of $2 or more is tax deductible, and we issue a receipt with our ABN within three business days.

If $500 is not possible, any amount helps, and so does a Thursday afternoon on the roster. Call me on 08 8447 3092 or come and see the kitchen on a service night.

With thanks,
Yusuf Maalouf, Coordinator, Harrow Street Community Kitchen Inc

Section by section

What each section is for, so you can keep the ones you need and drop the rest.

Letterhead
The kitchen's underline letterhead with its incorporated name, ABN, address and phone.
Date and addressee
6 October 2026, the manager by name, the business and its address.
Subject
The $500 ask and the winter roster deadline, in one line.
The ask
Twenty businesses, $500 each, and why that is the figure.
What $500 buys
Four costed rows for one Thursday service, totalling $500.
Why now
120 meals in April against 180 last week, and the $90 shortfall the volunteers covered.
The deadline
15 November, tied to the winter roster and the standing produce order.
Tax deductibility
A callout with the ACNC registration, the deductible gift recipient endorsement and the receipt.
Other ways to help, and sign off
Any amount, a place on the roster, a visit, and the coordinator's name.

How to adapt this document

For an appeal to individuals rather than businesses, drop the twenty businesses framing and give two or three amounts with what each one buys, because a household donor decides on affordability first and impact second. For a capital appeal, replace the single service table with the total needed, the amount raised so far and the date the project starts, since a donor giving to a building wants to know whether it is happening. For a recurring giving ask, convert the table to a monthly figure and say how long you are asking for, and make cancelling easy in the letter itself, because the fear of an open ended commitment is what stops most monthly gifts.

Which law the terms follow

The letter is written for an Australian incorporated association and states its position accurately. The callout says the organisation is a charity registered with the Australian Charities and Not for profits Commission and is endorsed by the Australian Taxation Office as a deductible gift recipient, which are two separate things: registration with the ACNC makes it a registered charity, and only the ATO endorsement makes gifts to it deductible. The letter then states the rule the way the ATO does, that a gift of $2 or more to a deductible gift recipient is tax deductible, and promises a receipt with the organisation's ABN within three business days, because the receipt is what a donor needs at tax time. The ABN and the incorporated name appear on the letterhead, and the letter offers no advertising or promotional benefit in return, which keeps the payment a gift rather than sponsorship.

What makes this document work

The ask is one number, and it is the same for everyone

Twenty local businesses, $500 each, and the letter says so in the first line. A tiered ask makes a small business wonder which tier it is being judged as. One figure with a reason behind it turns the decision into yes or no rather than how much.

The table proves the $500 rather than asserting it

Produce, meat and staples for 180 meals at $305, gas and power with containers, gloves and cleaning at $145, and a food safety supervisor for four hours at $50, totalling $500. A donor can see there is no administration line and no overhead hidden in the figure.

The timing is explained by a number that moved

In April the kitchen served 120 meals on a Thursday. Last week it served 180, turned nobody away, and finished $90 short, which the volunteers made up between them. Twenty donations of $500 funds every Thursday from June to September, which is what the letter is actually asking for.

Questions people ask

How much should a donation request letter ask for?

A specific amount tied to something the donor can picture. This letter asks for $500 because that is one Thursday service, and shows the four costs that make it up. Research and experience both point the same way: a named amount with a named outcome outperforms a request to give what you can.

Are donations to charities tax deductible in Australia?

A gift of $2 or more to an organisation endorsed by the Australian Taxation Office as a deductible gift recipient is generally tax deductible, provided it is a genuine gift and the donor receives nothing material in return. This letter states the endorsement, the charity registration and that a receipt is issued within three business days.

What is the difference between a donation and sponsorship?

A donation is a gift with nothing of material value flowing back. Sponsorship buys advertising or promotional benefit and is usually treated as a business expense rather than a deductible gift. If you offer a sign or a logo in exchange, you are asking for sponsorship, and the tax treatment changes with it.

Should a donation letter include a deadline?

Yes, if you have a real one. Here it is 15 November, because the winter roster and the standing produce order are set in the last week of November, and a commitment lets the kitchen buy at the wholesale price. A deadline invented to create urgency is transparent and teaches donors to ignore the next one.

What should a charity include about itself in a donation letter?

Its legal name, its ABN, its registration and its endorsement, and nothing else. This letter carries the incorporated name and ABN on the letterhead and the ACNC registration and deductible gift recipient endorsement in the callout. History and mission statements can go on the website, where a donor who wants them will look.

How should a donation letter end?

With a smaller way to say yes. This one offers any amount, a Thursday afternoon on the roster, or a visit to the kitchen on a service night. A letter that only accepts $500 converts the people who can give $500 and loses everybody else, including those who would have given $100 every month.

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Sources

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