Tech Forum

How do I add a spouse's name to a donation account such that both husband and wife names appear? Husband's name only is currently on account.

duanesevy wrote:How do I add a spouse's name to a donation account such that both husband and wife names appear? Husband's name only is currently on account.

In MLS under Finance, go to Add/Update Donors. Find the donor account, and click on the name. Type in the new name and Save.

Note that only one MRN can be tied to a donor account, but both names can appear in the donor name field.

First check to see that the couple wants both names on the account. There are private reasons that some may not want the data to be comingled.

Generally we take our cue from the way the donation slip is filled out. Some couples donate together, others separately and some do both.

RussellHltn wrote:Generally we take our cue from the way the donation slip is filled out. Some couples donate together, others separately and some do both.

So in the situation where a couple donates together, how do you decide which person's MRN to associate with the account? It probably doesn't matter but I'm wondering if there is any guidance on this. We've been using the MRN of the person who signed the check on the day we add the donor. But the check might not be signed by the same person each time.

psnarula wrote:So in the situation where a couple donates together, how do you decide which person's MRN to associate with the account? It probably doesn't matter but I'm wondering if there is any guidance on this. We've been using the MRN of the person who signed the check on the day we add the donor. But the check might not be signed by the same person each time.

It doesn't matter who signs the check. Either spouse can be linked to the donor record. Just be aware that on the donor statements (YTD or Tithing Settlement or Official Tax Statement), you'll see the donor name, which will be something like Doe, John and Jane. But you'll also see the Member Name listed on a separate line, and that will be the name of the individual whose MRN is linked to the donor record.

Expanding on this theme of merging donors I have come up with a problem my finance clerk and I cannot find out how to fix.
A member asked us to add his wife's name to his donations so both their names would appear on the tithing and donations paper.
I attempted to merge her record (which had no donations) and when completed did not see her name added to the donation record.
So, I attempted to merge his record with her record and now neither of their records show any donations for the year.
Any suggestions on how to correct this problem? I would like to at least get back to where his donations show up under his name.
Thanks for any assistance.

lgrobbins wrote:I attempted to merge her record (which had no donations) and when completed did not see her name added to the donation record.
So, I attempted to merge his record with her record and now neither of their records show any donations for the year.

Any suggestions on how to correct this problem? I would like to at least get back to where his donations show up under his name.

The solution to the problem appears to available in the MLS Help for Add/Update Donors. This is part of what it says:

Merge donor records under one name:

1. Click Merge Donors.
2. Select the two donors whose records will be merged. They will be merged under the name of the first donor you select (Donor 1).
3. Click OK.

Note: After you merge donors, the donor not selected will have a "hidden" status. To be able to credit donations to this donor again, you will have to remove the hidden status. See "Change Donor Status" below.

Change Donor Status:

Donor status is either "Visible" or "Hidden." Donors with the "Visible" status will appear on lists and reports. Donors with the "Hidden" status will not appear on lists and reports. You should change the status of all donors who move out of the ward to "Hidden."

1. In the Status field, click the down arrow.
2. Click the donor status you want.

Note: If the donor name is hidden because he or she is merged with another donor name, changing the donor status to "visible" will break the merge.

The last note describes what will apparently get you back to the original donor record satus.

There is more information about merging donor records at the Wiki article Donor Records (MLS): Merging Donor Records.

I'm not sure what you did. There's two parts to this. The "donor name" is simply a label and you can type anything you want in there. So, you could have easily entered "Smith, Bob and Beth". That places both names on the donation.

Note that only one record number can be associated with a single "donor". So most likely you'd have Bob's record number attached to it even though the donor says "Bob and Beth"

When you say "merge", in my mind that's the merging of donations from two donor accounts. I'm not sure what that would do with the record number association. But it probably doesn't change the name that appears. The idea behind merging is when you have two "donors" because sometimes Beth signed her slips as "Elisabeth" so you've got her donations spread across two names.

That said, I'm not sure how the donations have disappeared - but then I'm not sure how you are looking them up.

It is the second merge that did you in. Her record did not have any donations. When you merged his record with hers (the second merge) the record is associated with her donor number (which did not have any donations). All you need to do is to associate the donor record with his membership number and change the name to reflect both husband and wife.