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Glossary / In-Kind Contribution

What is In-Kind Contribution?

A non-cash donation of goods, services, or use of facilities.

Simple definition

A non-cash donation of goods, services, or use of facilities. Under FASB ASC 958-605, certain in-kind contributions (especially specialized services) must be recognized as revenue on financial statements.

Why it matters for your nonprofit

Boards, auditors, and funders expect clarity on In-Kind Contribution because it affects how you report resources, stay compliant, and explain your financial story.

How it shows up in daily work

You will see In-Kind Contribution in board packets, grant reports, and donor conversations. The goal is to record activity once and report it consistently—without rebuilding spreadsheets every month.

Common mistakes

  • Treating restricted resources like general cash because the chart of accounts is not set up for funds.
  • Letting finance and development use different definitions for the same funds.
  • Waiting until year-end to fix coding errors that should be caught monthly.

How Alignmint helps

Alignmint ties fund accounting, donor records, and reporting in one place so terms like In-Kind Contribution show up correctly in your books—not only in a policy memo.

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