How to Donate Unused Concert or Sports Tickets
If you have seats you cannot use, you can give them to someone who would never otherwise get to go, and document the donation properly for your taxes. Here is exactly how it works at TixGiving Foundation Inc., a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit.
- 1
Confirm the event has not happened yet
We can only accept tickets for events that are still upcoming. Tickets for an event that has already taken place have no charitable use and cannot be receipted.
- 2
Start a donation at /donate-tickets
Create an account (required so we can issue an IRS-compliant receipt in your name) and enter the event, venue, date, and seat details for each ticket. You can submit up to 10 tickets in one batch.
- 3
Upload a photo or choose mobile transfer
If you have PDF or printed tickets, upload an image. If your tickets live in Ticketmaster, AXS, SeatGeek, or a team app and cannot be exported, choose the mobile transfer path instead. You will transfer them to us after approval, so no photo is required.
- 4
Enter your own fair market value
You state the value, not us. TixGiving Foundation does not determine what your tickets are worth; the IRS places that responsibility on the donor. If you paid nothing or the tickets were comped, enter $0.
- 5
We review and acknowledge
An administrator reviews the submission. On approval you receive a Stage 1 acknowledgment letter confirming the donation was received and describing the tickets.
- 6
We place the tickets, then issue your final receipt
We distribute the tickets to a vetted 501(c)(3) partner organization serving people in the venue's area. Once the event completes, you receive your Stage 2 tax receipt.
Mobile transfer tickets
Most modern tickets never exist as a file. Ticketmaster, AXS, SeatGeek, and team apps rotate the barcode and only allow transfer to an email address or phone number. That is fine. Choose the mobile transfer option when you submit, and after we approve the donation we send you the exact destination to transfer to. Your receipt is issued from the transfer confirmation rather than a photo.
Do not transfer tickets to anyone before submitting them. A transfer we cannot trace is a donation we cannot substantiate.
Season ticket holders and venues
Donating dozens of seats across a season is a different workflow. Approved venue and season ticket donors can upload a CSV manifest of 50 to 100 tickets at once, and the approval receipt includes a full seat-by-seat manifest. Contact us to be enabled for bulk upload.
Keep reading
- Are ticket donations tax deductible? — IRS substantiation thresholds and who determines fair market value.
- Ticket donation FAQ — answers for donors, season ticket holders, and venues.