Merging Member donor records

[rcajmm]

Thanks for the reply, however I was not attempting to change the name on the membership record, what I was referring to was when a member fills out a donor slip, if it is in both the husband and wife's name then the donation should be entered into the MLS as husband and wife, not as head of household. If the wife submits a donor slip in just her name then it should be entered into the MLS under her name not Head of household. That is the question most of the wards that I have audited have all donations entered into the MLS as head of household if it is submitted by the husband or if the donor slip is in both of their names. What is the current policy for this?

[russellhltn]

I'm not sure of the policy, but the fact is that MLS only allows it to be tied to one person - not to the couple. However, you can print a tax receipt and have the spouse listed.

[Gary_Miller]

As a former stake clerk and now an auditor, I was instructed that all donation names should be entered into the MLS should be exactly as it is on the white donation slip.

This is the correct way.

Now I am being told by the current stake clerk that it is just put in as the head of household listed in the MLS. Also I am being told this took place a couple of years ago and no one can show me the directive from the church.

This should only do this if the husband and the wife are both on the slip. Other wise its put under the name on the slip. I have several couples where the husband and the wife pay their tithing separably.

So I have been making wards go in and change the MLS to match the white slips, am I wrong and creating alot of work for my clerks?

I think you doing the right thing

[eblood66]

Thanks for the reply, however I was not attempting to change the name on the membership record, what I was referring to was when a member fills out a donor slip, if it is in both the husband and wife's name then the donation should be entered into the MLS as husband and wife, not as head of household. If the wife submits a donor slip in just her name then it should be entered into the MLS under her name not Head of household. That is the question most of the wards that I have audited have all donations entered into the MLS as head of household if it is submitted by the husband or if the donor slip is in both of their names. What is the current policy for this?

As stated in the post that russellhltn linked to previously, whether or not there is a written policy anywhere, it is wasted effort to change the donor names from the default (at least for donors in the unit). Even if you do MLS/CUBS will eventually change the names back.

[Gary_Miller]

what I was referring to was when a member fills out a donor slip, if it is in both the husband and wife's name then the donation should be entered into the MLS as husband and wife, not as head of household.

You can no longer do this with current system it has to be one or the other it can not be both, so its only logical to put it under the head of household.

If the wife submits a donor slip in just her name then it should be entered into the MLS under her name not Head of household.

Correct, that way the donation is tied to a membership number.

That is the question most of the wards that I have audited have all donations entered into the MLS as head of household if it is submitted by the husband or if the donor slip is in both of their names.

It seems only logical to do it this way at the same time making sure the donor name is flagged to print the spouses name on donation reports.

What is the current policy for this?

Not sure what the current policy is but the software is written to only allow one donor name and membership number.

[jdlessley]

Thanks for the reply, however I was not attempting to change the name on the membership record, what I was referring to was when a member fills out a donor slip, if it is in both the husband and wife's name then the donation should be entered into the MLS as husband and wife, not as head of household.

Ever since the CUBS conversion it is not possible to have a husband and wife listed as one donor. Member donations can only be linked to one membership record. The CUBS conversion makes it impossible to change the donor record (the name of the donor) that is linked to a membership record. The decision as to what record to use when both the husband's and wife's names are listed on the Tithes and Other Offerings slip should be discussed with the donors. Absent that information at the time the Sunday donations are processed forces the clerk and bishopric member to choose either the husband's or wife's name to process the donation. If the choice is not in accordance with the desires of the couple, the donation can be adjust at a later date to reflect their wishes.

Members need to be instructed in the Church policy. There should be only one name on the Tithes and Other Offerings slip. There can no longer be a joint donor record. The donation can only be entered for one name or split. If a donation is to be split for a husband and wife then two Tithes and Other Offerings slips should accompany the single donation with the appropriate amounts to be entered for each name.

If the wife submits a donor slip in just her name then it should be entered into the MLS under her name not Head of household.

That is correct. The donor name (as long as it is a single name and not a joint name) should be the name used to record the donation.

That is the question most of the wards that I have audited have all donations entered into the MLS as head of household if it is submitted by the husband or if the donor slip is in both of their names. What is the current policy for this?

If both names are on the Tithes and Other Offerings slip then the clerk needs to contact the couple to find out how they want the donation recorded. If it is to be recorded in only one name then they have to decide what name it will be. The new Tithes and Other Offerings slips remind the donors that the donation is linked to a single member record number by having the MRN field on the form rather than the address.

[jdlessley]

As a former stake clerk and now an auditor, I was instructed that all donation names should be entered into the MLS should be exactly as it is on the white donation slip.

This is the correct way.

It is not possible to enter a donation for a member who's record is in the ward exactly as it appears on the Tithes and Other Offerings slip (unless both match) and link it to the membership record. You either have to accept the member name as it appears in MLS (which is the name of record on the membership record) or create another donor record (not tied to the membership record of the member). This then creates two or more donor records for tithing settlement and tax statements. If the member has only made donations using a name that does not match the MLS name of record then the donations will not be linked to their membership record if this faulty practice is followed.

Now I am being told by the current stake clerk that it is just put in as the head of household listed in the MLS. Also I am being told this took place a couple of years ago and no one can show me the directive from the church.

This should only do this if the husband and the wife are both on the slip.

There is no official preferred name to use, except maybe local policy, when both names appear on the Tithes and Other Offerings slip. It makes sense to use the HoH when there is no other known preference by the couple. But to say the HoH is the only choice is not supported by any Church policy or guidance.

So I have been making wards go in and change the MLS to match the white slips, am I wrong and creating alot of work for my clerks?

I think you doing the right thing

It is not possible to change the name for a donation to reflect a joint name. It can be only one name and the only name linked to a membership record is the name of record on the membership record. Asking the clerks to change MLS to match the white Tithes and Other Offerings slip is asking the clerk to do something impossible for joint donations. It also forces clerks to create donor records that are not tied to membership records when the name on the slip does not match exactly the membership record name. Donors may use a preferred name on the Tithes and Other Offerings slip that is not the same as the name of record on the membership record, which MLS uses for linked donations.

[dandshall2]

I was looking here to see if I was able to merge donors without MLS (without going to the Clerk's office at 4 am because a duplicate name popped in my mind), and using LCR, but there was nothing updated or current on the subject matter. So I looked at LCR and clicked on the Finance section. Then I clicked on the Participant List and there it was. The ability to merge donors and I was able to merge some donors, the one that popped in my head and I found a couple more that were duplicated.

I posted this just in case someone else had a question about it.

[Biggles]

Works very well!

[larry19810]

I have the same question BUT its not working for these situations. A non-member has participated as a donor and as a recipient. Now they have been baptized during the same year. When I select merge under their non-member participant record, there is no option for their name among our ward members. Do they have to make a donation for them to be on my list of choices?
Also a member husband had a donation listed (before the records were in the ward) so it shows as a non-member. My only option to merge is to his wife's name even though we now have records for both. ???