Recurring Donations - why not allowed?

[jacklstickney]

Before online donations was available, as a member of a bishopric, I advocated for the possibility; and was greatly appreciative when it became available. I have submitted my donations in this manner from the beginning. I just discovered that my wife has still been using her bank's 'Bill Pay' service to pay her tithe. Her paycheck amounts seldom vary so she has set up recurring payments with each payroll cycle.

I see in the FAQ's that recurring payments are not allowed with online donations, without further explanation. I've tried to get my spouse to use the online method because of the ease of the process and the timing (i.e. eliminating the process of the bank cutting a check, sending it to the Bishop, handing of the check to the financial clerk and manually entering the donation). I'm one for streamlining processes; but she is planning on continuing using 'Bill Pay' because she, "Doesn't have to think about it- it's just automatic".

Is the church considering changing this policy? For those with recurring/regular donations it would make things so much simpler and get the funds directly to the Church more expeditiously.

Jack

[russellhltn]

Is the church considering changing this policy?

We're rarely told these kinds of things in advance.

I suspect there's a reason it wasn't set up as reoccurring. It might be related to the fact that donations are not refundable.

Or, it might be concern over what happens if things change - perhaps the individual looses their job. I'd imagine that bill pay stops issuing checks if there's no money in the account, but the church would have no way of knowing that.

At any rate, I highly doubt if the issue is a technical one, but more likely a legal or policy decision.

[jdlessley]

Adding to russellhltn's information I can offer some more conjecture.

From the perspective of the Church the donor needs to be initiating or making the free will donation. Making donations automatic through the online Donations app, even though set up by the donor, could result in erroneous, or undesirable, donations that the Church pulls from an account. I can think of several scenarios where the amount donated, and/or when the donation is made, results in insufficient funds in the donor bank account. This inevitably leads to additional cost to the Church and to the member. We have already seen numerous posts in regards to online donations where the member has made errors, such as misplacing the decimal point, resulting in a financially distressing situation.