Tech Forum

Hi. I am a Bishop. We need to be able to let members provide a donation online for a specific "other" category.... but don't know how to make one so that it appears in the drop down menu on the tithing slip. Is there a way to add custom categories to that drop down area? Thank you.

There is no way to make donations to any "Other" category except Book of Mormon and Temple Construction. Payments to any other "Other" category must be made via check or cash given (or mailed) to a bishopric member. There is no way for a ward to change that.

You can provide feedback via any feedback link on the church's website or you can ask your stake president to talk to his area authority about it if you feel there should be a change. But note that we don't really know the specific reason why this isn't supported. The Donation FAQ says it is because payments to the Authorized Member Financed Activities categories are not donations. So there may be legal reasons why the church doesn't do it.

Thanks so much. I appreciate the quick reply. Yeah, MLS used to let us customize other categories for localized needs. Wish we could. Thanks!!

You can definitely still customize the Other categories in MLS (and maybe in LCR now--I'm not sure about that). But payments to those accounts have to be made directly to the ward and not via the online system.

eblood66 wrote:You can definitely still customize the Other categories in MLS (and maybe in LCR now--I'm not sure about that). But payments to those accounts have to be made directly to the ward and not via the online system.

Other > Authorized Member-Financed Activities subcategories can be managed in LCR > Finance > Budget > Manage Categories. But, alas, contributions cannot be made to them from within online Donations.

I personally believe online Donations to Authorized Member-Financed Activities categories will come. It is just a matter of time and programming priorities.

Why is it that this is such a challenge? I'm a computer programmer, and it doesn't take an act of Congress to put in the changes! It's a really simple fix, Folks.
I just don't see what the issue is. Unless, of course, the Church does not want to accept donations to any other categories besides "Book of Mormon" and "Temple Construction". Aren't the categories of "Perpetual Education" and "General Temple Patron Assistance" still vital?

coderlen wrote:I just don't see what the issue is. Unless, of course, the Church does not want to accept donations to any other categories besides "Book of Mormon" and "Temple Construction". Aren't the categories of "Perpetual Education" and "General Temple Patron Assistance" still vital?

Actually, they don't. Contributions to those two funds have been so generous that there is no longer a need for members to contribute to them.

coderlen wrote:Why is it that this is such a challenge? I'm a computer programmer, and it doesn't take an act of Congress to put in the changes! It's a really simple fix, Folks.
I just don't see what the issue is. Unless, of course, the Church does not want to accept donations to any other categories besides "Book of Mormon" and "Temple Construction". Aren't the categories of "Perpetual Education" and "General Temple Patron Assistance" still vital?

lajackson has already pointed out that the Perpetual Education Fund and Temple Patron Assistance Fund were removed two years ago. See https://philanthropies.churchofjesuschr ... ation-fund and https://philanthropies.churchofjesuschrist.org/temple.

It isn't a challenge -- it is a business requirement. The two funds you mentioned have been removed by design. The current policy is that the Church will not allow individual units to create "other" categories and add them to the online donation tool.

I am not recommending this, but it does appear that I can use Adjust Donation in LCR to reassign an online donation from a standard category to one of our local Other:AMFA subcategories. Now, that is wildly improper to do, but it appears to be possible. Anyway, that pretty much proves that it is a policy decision by the stakeholders to not allow online donations to Other:AMFA. And I do not question or disagree with that decision.

It's hard enough to get units to limit the use of the Other category to "proper" purposes. But at least if those handling donations get a donation slip with a new subcategory, they can check with local Priesthood leaders to talk about it. I'm also wondering how often "donations" are made to subcategories. Because there are very limited situations when money should be added to Other subcategories, how valuable is the online donation capability?