Discuss questions around local unit policies for budgeting, reconciling, etc. This forum should not contain specific financial or membership information.
mikengray wrote:Maybe I missed this, but when I looked at the form I would send to CHQ, it states any other offerings would go into a general fund, rather than credited back to the Ward. We have some specific needs at the local ward level for these fast offerings so if there is no way to donate electronically such that the funds end up in my ward, none of this does me any good (as I'd now need to submit tithing electronically and also submit fast offerings in the traditional way). Did I miss something?
-Mike
No, you're correct. Any donations or payments that need to be credited at the local level (fast offerings, ward missionary, "Other" account payments such as for an annual camp) must be made to the ward. There is currently no way for donations made to the Church by EFT to be credited to those local accounts.
But if you would like, there is no problem with contributing tithing to the Church via EFT, and other donations to the ward. Some people might find that helpful, while others would think that is just an extra complication.
You are correct in donations that go direct to CHQ can not be earmarked for local Ward Missionary.
I think some members have been setting things up with their bank that causes a check to be mailed to the Bishop. The problem is indicating what the funds are to be used for since there is no donation slip. I think that was all discussed in the thread previously referenced. You might want to talk with your ward financial clerk.
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RussellHltn wrote:You are correct in donations that go direct to CHQ can not be earmarked for local Ward Missionary.
Are you certain that this is the case or that it has always been the case?
My memory may be off, but I recall probably 5 or 6 years ago that our CUFS had an extra donation to WM that baffled me as to where it came from. After calling CHQ, I was informed that this came from a member of our ward who donated funds directly to CHQ, and this was his WM contribution. There may have also been a letter sent to the bishop explaining this.
Greggo wrote:Are you certain that this is the case or that it has always been the case?
My memory may be off, but I recall probably 5 or 6 years ago that our CUFS had an extra donation to WM that baffled me as to where it came from. After calling CHQ, I was informed that this came from a member of our ward who donated funds directly to CHQ, and this was his WM contribution. There may have also been a letter sent to the bishop explaining this.
I am certain that this is the case for donations made by EFT directly to the Church. The article I referenced contains instructions sent directly by the Church Donations Department, and it says: "Bill Payment Service Donations cannot be used to send funds to a ward for fast offerings or missionary support."
However, I have experience where part or all of a Donation in Kind was directed to the Ward Missionary fund. In this case, the credit will show up on the Church Unit Financial Statement. I would guess that you saw a similar situation.
Greggo wrote:I recall probably 5 or 6 years ago that our CUFS had an extra donation to WM that baffled me as to where it came from. After calling CHQ, I was informed that this came from a member of our ward who donated funds directly to CHQ, and this was his WM contribution. There may have also been a letter sent to the bishop explaining this.
This used to happen fairly frequently as members paid contributions in kind. As the number of donations directly to CHQ has increased, this is becoming quite rare.
However, the EFT process does not allow for an electronic contribution to be credited back to the ward.
Alan_Brown wrote:Thanks for posting the forms, but unfortunately these are old forms that have been circulating, but are now out of date. Please do not use them.
The Church Donations department reached out to those of us who administer the LDSClerks wiki and provided updated instructions and forms.
The updated instructions and forms are located at http://ldsclerks.org/index.php?title=El ... _Donations. I don't know why they are not easily available on lds.org, but at least there is a place they can be obtained. If you follow the See Also links from that page, you can also find instructions for sending donations directly to the Church by check or by wire.
Is there any new place for the docs? The link given no longer contains any content.
rpyne wrote:Is there any new place for the docs? The link given no longer contains any content.
No, the forms have been removed at the request of the Donations Department. Those who have a specific need (aside from simple convenience) for making electronic donations should contact the Donations Department directly.
I just stumbled across this old thread. I thought I should mention that as of a year or two ago the annual donation tax receipt from church headquarters started to include any donations made to the local unit as well. Therefore you'd only need one tax receipt for all contributions.
I think last year I spoke with someone in donations who mentioned that they're working on some newer donation technology that would allow electronic donations to be made to local ward accounts (such as fast offerings and ward mission). I'm not sure what it is or when it might show up.
mevans wrote:I just stumbled across this old thread. I thought I should mention that as of a year or two ago the annual donation tax receipt from church headquarters started to include any donations made to the local unit as well. Therefore you'd only need one tax receipt for all contributions.
That's interesting, but doesn't apply to very many people, since very few people should be making such donations to CHQ at this point.
mevans wrote:I think last year I spoke with someone in donations who mentioned that they're working on some newer donation technology that would allow electronic donations to be made to local ward accounts (such as fast offerings and ward mission). I'm not sure what it is or when it might show up.
Many people would welcome the time when the ability to make electronic payments is broadly available. Until then, we all have to be patient....
Questions that can benefit the larger community should be asked in a public forum, not a private message.
I noticed in the announcement letter for the new donation slips that this was in one of the bullet points,
"The “Full address” field has been replaced by the “Membership record number” field. For members donating in their own ward or branch, this number is optional. However, it is needed when making a donation in another unit (such as a grandparent donating for a grandchild’s mission) and when making online donations, where available. It also allows all donations for a member to be summarized onto one year-end statement regardless of where the donations were made."
I hope some of these behind-the-scenes improvements is helping to get us there.
