Donation and Charity Shop Log

Who this is for

A dated record of everything that left the house and where it went. Each line holds the date, the shop or organisation, what was given, how many bags or items, your own estimate of what it was worth and whether you were given a receipt.

Anyone decluttering in stages, people who want a record of what they gave and to whom, and households splitting donations between several charities.

What this helps you track

• Where each load actually went, with a date against it
• What was in it, in enough detail to remember
• How many bags, boxes or items each drop-off came to
• Your own estimate of value, and the total of those estimates
• Which drop-offs came with a receipt or a reference

How to use it

1. Write the household, the year and the currency at the top.
2. Add a line each time something leaves: the date, where it went and what it was.
3. Count the bags or boxes and, if it is useful, the items. Counting the same way each time is what makes the totals mean anything.
4. Put your own estimate of what the goods were worth in the value column. No figure on this sheet is ours, and no valuation method is suggested.
5. Tick receipt where the shop gave you one and write the reference; keep the paper with this sheet rather than in a pocket.
6. The totals and the summary are worked out in the browser and the workbook; on paper, add the columns at the foot.

Formats

• Printable PDF (A4 and US Letter)
• Fillable PDF with form fields
• Fill in online, saved in your browser
• Excel / Google Sheets workbook

The printable is laid out inside a box that fits both A4 and US Letter, so the two files are identical and neither one is scaled. The fillable PDF has real form fields. The workbook uses plain formulas only — SUM, IF, COUNTIF and the like — so it opens in Excel, LibreOffice and Google Sheets without anything breaking, and every calculated cell is grey so you can see which figures it worked out.

How to print

Download the A4 or US Letter file to match the paper in your printer, open it in a PDF reader and print at 100% — not "fit to page", which shrinks the writing space. Both files leave a 14 mm margin, which clears the unprintable edge on home printers. To print the online version with your entries in it, use the Print this sheet button, which prints only the sheet and none of the page around it. More on printing.

Questions

Can I use this to claim tax relief on donations?

Whether a donation is claimable at all, what records are needed and how goods are valued are set by the rules where you live and by the charity's own scheme. The sheet keeps a dated record with your own figures; take it to whoever advises you.

How should I value what I gave?

The sheet offers no method and no figures. Use whatever basis you can explain and stick to it down the column, or leave the value column empty and use the log purely as a record of what went where.

Does it cover things sold rather than given?

Write them in and say so in the notes if it helps you keep one list, but a sale is a different thing with different records. Many people keep the two apart.

What about items a charity cannot take?

Shops differ on what they will accept, and it is worth ringing before loading the car. Record refusals in the notes so you do not take the same thing back twice.