Why isn't my donation a tax receipt?

The email you receive after donating confirms that you paid — the amount, the date, who it went to.

It is not an official donation receipt for your taxes. You can't claim it, and the CRA won't accept it.

Why not

In Canada, only a charity registered with the CRA can issue official donation receipts. It issues them itself, under its own registration number.

Gathrings isn't a charity and isn't yours — we're the platform that moved the money. We can't issue a receipt on anyone's behalf, and neither can Stripe.

Does that mean the group isn't legitimate?

Not at all. Most community groups aren't registered charities, and that's completely normal.

Book clubs, neighbourhood associations, hobby collectives, student societies, mutual aid groups — the great majority are unincorporated or incorporated as non-profits, and neither of those is the same as charitable registration. They do real work and they need money to do it. They just can't give you a tax receipt.

What if the organization is a registered charity?

Then it can issue you one — but it has to do that itself, through its own process. It won't come from Gathrings automatically.

Contact the organization directly and ask. You'll usually need to give them your full name and mailing address, since the CRA requires those on a receipt.

How do I know which it is?

Ask them, or check whether they appear in the CRA's List of charities — a public register at canada.ca. If they're not on it, they're not registered, and no receipt is coming.

Some organizations say so up front in their donation appeal. If you're giving specifically in order to claim it, check before you give rather than after.

Keeping the email anyway

Hang on to it regardless. It's your proof of payment if you ever need to query a charge, request a refund for a duplicate, or simply remember what you gave and when.