How to pay tithing online?

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johnshaw
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Re: How to pay tithing online?

#31

Post by johnshaw »

jdlessley wrote:
JohnShaw wrote:Can we get an updated message from that department...
Feel free to contact the finance department about this.
You may have posted while I was doing my update, but I did call.
We have been told they do not refuse any requests sent in using the signup form. They make the assumption that if a request was made then there is a valid reason for the request. They do not want us making the process public in the forum or the wiki for the reasons stated previously.
I realize this is what we've been told, but it doesn't appear to be accurate anymore. Your qualifier of 'assuming the request was made for a valid reason' is not one they make themselves. A valid reason to them is that the person wants to contribute through online bill pay and in no way is it discouraged.
“A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right, and raises at first a formidable outcry in defense of custom.”
― Thomas Paine, Common Sense
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aebrown
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Re: How to pay tithing online?

#32

Post by aebrown »

JohnShaw wrote:
jdlessley wrote:We have been told they do not refuse any requests sent in using the signup form. They make the assumption that if a request was made then there is a valid reason for the request. They do not want us making the process public in the forum or the wiki for the reasons stated previously.
I realize this is what we've been told, but it doesn't appear to be accurate anymore.
Actually, I think it is still fairly accurate, although it's not as black-and-white as you would like it to be.

I was involved in the original discussion with the Donations Department back in 2009. I just got an official statement from a manager in that department, and I have permission to post it:

The preferred method for making donations continues to be through the local ward unit. Those who have questions about electronic bill pay donations may call the LDS Donations Department at 801-240-2554 or email donations@ldschurch.org. Thank you.
TinMan
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Re: How to pay tithing online?

#33

Post by TinMan »

I offer the following. Sorry if it was posted earlier...

I have two members who send me their tithing electronically. Sort of. I receive 2 checks each month made out to the ward, c/o me, and mailed to my home address. They come from a "payment proecess center" on the other side of the country from me.

I don't know how they set it up. The checks just started showing up at my house in the mail.

For those who want to pay on line, this may be an option that will satisfy both the official statement above, and those who want to pay on line.

However. Know this: It is a bit of a pain for the ward. MOST of the time, there is a "memo line" on the check that says, "Member name, tithing $XXX, FO $YYY and Ward mission $ZZZ" My clerk then needs to fill out the donation slip for him for our records. Otherwise there would be no paper trail. I suppose we could walk to the library and copy the check, but that is just as big a pain.

Once in a while, there is no memo line. We don't know what member it is for, or how the donations should be divided. Fortunately, we know which two members do this so we can call them.

I can only imagine the difficulty the Church would have, receiving hundreds or thousands of these types of donations. Either paper checks or automatic transfers. Two a month is difficult enough for us.

Why don't you pay on line like this but have the check mailed to you and you can turn it in with a donation slip? If we continue to have problems with one of our members not filling out the "memo" line, that is what I am going to ask him to do. :)

Honestly: It seems a bit lazy of the member to me: He is asking my clerks to do something (filling out the donation slip) that he should be doing. But I have been told I have a bad attitude about some things. I suppose I should just be grateful they are paying their tithing.
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johnshaw
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Re: How to pay tithing online?

#34

Post by johnshaw »

At this point it seems ridiculous that a person sets up electronic donations to be sent to a bishop or to themselves when they can easily be accommodated by Church Headquarters.
“A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right, and raises at first a formidable outcry in defense of custom.”
― Thomas Paine, Common Sense
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johnshaw
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Re: How to pay tithing online?

#35

Post by johnshaw »

aebrown wrote:
JohnShaw wrote:
jdlessley wrote: I was involved in the original discussion with the Donations Department back in 2009. I just got an official statement from a manager in that department, and I have permission to post it:

The preferred method for making donations continues to be through the local ward unit. Those who have questions about electronic bill pay donations may call the LDS Donations Department at 801-240-2554 or email donations@ldschurch.org. Thank you.
this is exactly what I did, I did not embellish anything in what I posted, if this manager has a preference, he ought to make sure it is communicated out to his team.
“A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right, and raises at first a formidable outcry in defense of custom.”
― Thomas Paine, Common Sense
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aebrown
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Re: How to pay tithing online?

#36

Post by aebrown »

JohnShaw wrote:this is exactly what I did, I did not embellish anything in what I posted, if this manager has a preference, he ought to make sure it is communicated out to his team.
You may not have "embellished" but you are discounting the statement "The preferred method for making donations continues to be through the local ward unit," which, by the way, is not a particular manager's preference (as you characterized it), but the position of the Donations Department.

You seem to think there is some glaring inconsistency between a clearly stated departmental preference for making donations in the local ward, and the fact that the response to an individual request to make payments through electronic bill pay is kind help given to the person to set up this method. I see no inconsistency. Clearly the department can handle any individual request, and so they do. But the department does not want a mass migration to electronic payments -- if they were to receive thousands of requests a day, they would be overwhelmed.

There is also no reason to assume that the only reason for the statement of preference for local donations is the burden on the Donations Department -- there may well be other good reasons. So I would urge people to respect that clearly stated preference, although if someone wants to contact the Donations Department in this regard, that is certainly okay.
Gary_Miller
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How to pay tithing online?

#37

Post by Gary_Miller »

TinMan wrote:However. Know this: It is a bit of a pain for the ward. MOST of the time, there is a "memo line" on the check that says, "Member name, tithing $XXX, FO $YYY and Ward mission $ZZZ" My clerk then needs to fill out the donation slip for him for our records. Otherwise there would be no paper trail.
I agree with this being a pain Luckily I only have two people in our ward who does this. If there was many more then we would be having a discussion.
TinMan wrote: I suppose we could walk to the library and copy the check, but that is just as big a pain.
While having a copy of a check would provide the information, I think a donation slip should also be filled out as well.

We solved the problem of having no copier in the clerk office by putting in a small printer with copy capabilities....
[Moderator note: this separate issue is discussed in the topic Extra copier in clerk's office. Please don't start discussing a new issue in an existing topic.]
Last edited by aebrown on Fri May 10, 2013 2:24 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Reason: Link to separate issue in split-out topic
dannykos
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Re: How to pay tithing online?

#38

Post by dannykos »

We recently received instructions for us in the UK on this one from the area presidency - salient points below:

"Beginning 1 June 2013, we encourage all members who are UK tax payers and participating in Gift Aid to make their donations through electronic means directly to the Church’s Gift Aid bank account.
Electronic Gift Aid donations can also be made by standing order where regular fixed amounts can be paid directly to the Church’s Gift Aid bank account at intervals set by the donor."
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Mikerowaved
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Re: How to pay tithing online?

#39

Post by Mikerowaved »

dannykos wrote:We recently received instructions for us in the UK on this one from the area presidency - salient points below:

"Beginning 1 June 2013, we encourage all members who are UK tax payers and participating in Gift Aid to make their donations through electronic means directly to the Church’s Gift Aid bank account.
Electronic Gift Aid donations can also be made by standing order where regular fixed amounts can be paid directly to the Church’s Gift Aid bank account at intervals set by the donor."
Thanks for that info, Danny. For others reading, please note the above applies to the UK only. We know there are other countries already participating and can see the church is slowly moving in this direction. If and when they issue such a statement directed towards the US, I will probably jump in. Until then, I will continue to donate to my local unit as directed.
So we can better help you, please edit your Profile to include your general location.
lajackson
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How to pay tithing online?

#40

Post by lajackson »

Gary_Miller wrote:We solved the problem of having no copier in the clerk office by putting in a small printer with copy capabilities.
I guess I missed the reason for the copier. We don't copy other checks from members. And when they forget to fill out a donation slip, we call them and fill it out for them.

My bank does not allow an extensive memo line, so if I were to use bill pay to create a check, I would have it mailed to my home and then turn it in with a donation slip.
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