Can I donate a gift card from my business to a charitable organization?

[kb0wwp]

We just started using Square gift cards.  We have been using another gift card system previously.  We often give away gift cards to charitable organizations, how can we do that now without messing up our daily receipts?

[#2]

@kb0wwp We also use Square Gift Cards and also donate a few each month to Charity Raffles and the like. We process the Gift Card on the register, ring them up as a cash payment and then I manually back those sales out at the end of the day and mark them as Charity for our records.

[Ron]

@kb0wwp We also use Square Gift Cards and also donate a few each month to Charity Raffles and the like. We process the Gift Card on the register, ring them up as a cash payment and then I manually back those sales out at the end of the day and mark them as Charity for our records.

[Thunderbird]

I

I want to create $50 gift cards to give out to contest winners, not people who purchase them.  I am not a retail store-we have souvenir stands at a series of events. So people would probably not be interested in purchasing gift cards as we only sell at our live events. But a gift card is a very good prize for social media and radio promotions. I called the customer service number and was told that I cannot do this without processing payment for the full amount in advance, which would make no sense.  Is there a way around this?

[kb0wwp]

I don't know if this is the correct method, but we ring up the gift card as a normal purchase, then apply a discount that is the same dollar amount. The total sale is zero, but the gift card is loaded with the correct amount.

[Spenser · Accepted solution]

Hi @Thunderbird, I moved your post into a similar thread - check out Ron's reply. You can load gift cards using an "other tender" payment in order to do this. Additionally, you can create a 100% discount in the app for promotional gift cards, that way these "sales" do not impact your daily totals. Hope that helps, let us know if you have any other questions.

[kb0wwp]

Yeah... sounds like spam.  Thanks for reading and understanding the question.

[sassysteph]

This reply was created from merging an existing thread: How do I issue an e-gift card as a donation?

I want to issue an e-gift card as a donation. How do I do that? 

[Helen]

Hey @sassysteph! Take a look at the Best Answer in this thread - you can do the same with an eGift Card. 

[crownjewels]

Our company gives gift cards away as donations to different community functions.  How can I process and load one as a "giveaway" and not have it shows as taken in the given amount?  Reading the following days receipt is a nightmare!

Thanks!

Michelle

[HC_Charlie]

Hello @crownjewels and thanks for you question. Check out this thread here, where it talks about comping gift cards. I'm guessing you don't want the comped gift cards showing up as sales? Let me know if this isn't the case, but the thread linked above talks about comping the cards at 100% discount so it won't affect your sales.

I hope this helps answer your question! Happy selling with Square!

[crownjewels]

Thank you very much!  I think this will work perfect!

[Blusaff]

Did you manage to sort this problem out as I'm not getting any luck with the square support? 

[kb0wwp]

We ring up the gift card as a normal purchase, then apply a discount that is the same dollar amount (for example: a $10 gift card with a $10 discount.) The total sale is zero, but the gift card is loaded with the correct amount.

[SeedGal]

Two things Square should do:
1)  Square needs to partner with major non-profits to offer donation gift cards (even on a limited basis, major aid groups would be good to have right away).

2)  Square should have away for businesses to donate from the platform directly to these major non-profits.

Square needs to offer a 'marketable' and 'recognized' gift card option. Square should coordinate with major non-profits for example UNHCR or other aid and relief orgs.

Ensure, the general public is confident that a card they buy will be used toward that donation and processed directly. This takes the manual entry piece away from the business and eases the representation of a donation and also the acknowledgement of a consumer donation.

These can be done quickly, thanks to Square dev team in advance.

[vtchalkypaint]

I've created the 100% off coupon, setup my e-gift card, yet when I apply the promo code, the egift card will not accept. What did I miss? Here's a screen shot: 

[MayaP]

Hi @vtchalkypaint,

Thanks for reaching out. Great question!

In order for the 100% discount to apply you will need to add the discount at the end sale. Please checkout this thread , and comments above for more insight into how to do this. 

If you need any help, or have more questions please reach back out.

[murisseattle]

Hello! We are a restaurant that frequently is approached by the community to donate gift cards. We are always happy to do so.

We usually wring the gift cards up as a cash sale - no tax. 

Is this the best way to wring up a gift card we are donating? Wondering how other businesses track similar donations so they are tracked as a donation versus an actual sale.

[londontea]

Hi @murisseattle! I donate a lot of gift cards, and I keep track of how much I've donated by using a discount. I created a discount called "GC Donation" (GC for gift card) that discounts the sale by 100%, and I apply that when activating a gift card. It brings the total sale to $0, which means that it doesn't skew my cash revenue reports. 

I can pull a Discount report (in the Square Dashboard go to Reports > Discounts) to show the dollar amount that was discounted using the GC Donation discount. That's how much I donated, and I can give that figure to my accountant at tax time. 

[Sunflowerrec]

We ring them up and then when we get to the screen to take payments we use the Other gift card and in the description put donation.  But I really like @londontea's idea.