Tithing Settlement - Its That time of year

Discuss basic duties of stake and ward clerks, including where to begin.
kmalone-p40
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Tithing Settlement - Its That time of year

#1

Post by kmalone-p40 »

Okay, this is my first time doing tithing settlements and I wanted to get some points how to effectively set this up to maximize the number of participants.

My Bishop wants every Temple Recommend holder to have an appointment and using blocks that are filled so as to not have any gaps of time.

I am all ears to suggestions.

I plan on printing Tithing Settlements and reviewing IOS reports with members as well..

BTW I am the ward clerk, finance clerk and membership clerk all at the same time.
jdlessley
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#2

Post by jdlessley »

kmalone wrote:Okay, this is my first time doing tithing settlements and I wanted to get some points how to effectively set this up to maximize the number of participants.

My Bishop wants every Temple Recommend holder to have an appointment and using blocks that are filled so as to not have any gaps of time.

I am all ears to suggestions.

I plan on printing Tithing Settlements and reviewing IOS reports with members as well..

BTW I am the ward clerk, finance clerk and membership clerk all at the same time.
I do not understand why you mention temple recommend holders in a post about tithing settlement. Tithing settlement is for everybody, even those who have not contributed.

In all the wards I have been a member tithing settlement has been done by a signup list. The signup sheets were posted on the clerk and/or bishop's door six weeks to two months before the first appointment date. The dates and block times for appointments have been driven by the availability of the bishop. Generally the first few days are filled by signup volunteers quite quickly. Announcements are made from the rostrum and in the bulletins as far out in time as the posting of the signup sheets. It has been a small number of people who for whatever reason do not signup that the executive secretary has to call and get to commit to a date and time. Since the span of time for these settlement interviews normally happen over a period of about two weeks the calls to members do not start until into the second week. Of course reminder calls about the settlement interview are made the day before to ensure everyone is aware of the appointment.

This method may not be the best but I thought I would throw this out to get the ball rolling.

I am sorry you do not have someone called to help you in the clerk responsibilities. For tithing settlement we use two or three people to make things run as smoothly as possible. The executive secretary takes overall lead in managing tithing settlement and is the one who runs the appointments and makes the calls to members. The membership clerk is the one who usually does the back office work like printing IOSs and inputting changes to records. For really heavy days one of the other clerks assist in any area that needs work. This generally involves making calls to members an hour or so before the appointment as the last minute reminder.

Transportation to the settlement is arranged by the elders quorum for those who need assistance.
JD Lessley
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mkmurray
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#3

Post by mkmurray »

jdlessley wrote:I do not understand why you mention temple recommend holders in a post about tithing settlement. Tithing settlement is for everybody, even those who have not contributed.
Including children (that are baptized?), but also including less-actives, everyone. The bishop is ultimately reponsible for declaring a tithing status of everyone in his ward. Some bishops declare "Non-Full Tithe Payer" for every individual he doesn't see in an interview; in our ward, our bishop has been known to sit at the computer on Dec. 31st and prayerfull consider what should be declared for every member he didn't interview.
jdlessley wrote:In all the wards I have been a member tithing settlement has been done by a signup list. The signup sheets were posted on the clerk and/or bishop's door six weeks to two months before the first appointment date. The dates and block times for appointments have been driven by the availability of the bishop. Generally the first few days are filled by signup volunteers quite quickly. Announcements are made from the rostrum and in the bulletins as far out in time as the posting of the signup sheets...
This is how I have seen it done in every ward I have been in as well.
jdlessley wrote:I am sorry you do not have someone called to help you in the clerk responsibilities.
Man, me too. I am thinking you are gonna wish you had help. I would watch the training on Tithing Settlement located here:

http://www.lds.org/pa/e-learn/mp/tithin ... /index.htm

You may want to approach the bishop and see if there is need to call an assistant clerk. Only a suggestion though.
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Mikerowaved
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#4

Post by Mikerowaved »

If you haven't already, do yourself a huge favor and click HERE, then scroll down and start the lesson called "Tithing Settlement". It contains invaluable information on the entire process (which begins Nov 1st, BTW. :eek:).

EDIT: Oops, I see Mike beat me to the training link.
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#5

Post by mkmurray »

Mikerowaved wrote:EDIT: Oops, I see Mike beat me to the training link.
Yes, but you give a link to all training videos, which may be better.
Mikerowaved wrote:...(which begins Nov 1st, BTW. :eek:).
Where is this information found? My bishop is under the impression that we can't do anything until we get a letter from the First Presidency stating which date we can start interviewing on.
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#6

Post by lajackson »

mkmurray wrote:Where is this information found? My bishop is under the impression that we can't do anything until we get a letter from the First Presidency stating which date we can start interviewing on.

It was November 15th last year, I think. Haven't seen anything different for this year, but if there is going to be a letter, it should show up at any moment now. [grin]

In most wards where I have lived, the signup on the door to the clerks office was the method. In one ward, though, the elders quorum president and the high priests group leaders were given blocks of time and asked to see that the members of their quorums and the families for which they were responsible got to tithing settlement.

The president and group leader fed names and times within the assigned block to the executive secretary, and then the finance clerk and membership clerk worked their paperwork magic and the bishop conducted tithing settlement.
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Mikerowaved
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#7

Post by Mikerowaved »

mkmurray wrote:Where is this information found?
In the training video. :p
mkmurray wrote:My bishop is under the impression that we can't do anything until we get a letter from the First Presidency stating which date we can start interviewing on.
I'm not referring to the interview process. I'm talking about the finance clerk preparing and sending out the YTD statements to donors. This should be done on or around the first part of November.
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opee
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#8

Post by opee »

lajackson wrote:In most wards where I have lived, the sign up on the door to the clerks office was the method.

Personally, if you are wanting to get more members to participate, you have to be proactive and ask them to sign up, rather than allowing them to voluntarily go and put their name on a sign up sheet. I have seen much better success when people are contacted personally by phone or in person and asked what time would work best for them. I did that as an Executive Secretary and the results were amazing! We had several less active members that came to talk to the Bishop.

It also makes it easier on the Bishop to not have to seek divine guidance to know what member is a full tithe payer and who is not. I think each member has the responsibility to claim their status to the Bishop. As clerks and executive secretaries, we can make the Bishop's burden lighter by inviting members directly to participate rather than indirectly having them sign up and hope we get all to volunteer.

My two cents. ;)
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#9

Post by mkmurray »

opee wrote:Personally, if you are wanting to get more members to participate, you have to be proactive and ask them to sign up, rather than allowing them to voluntarily go and put their name on a sign up sheet. I have seen much better success when people are contacted personally by phone or in person and asked what time would work best for them. I did that as an Executive Secretary and the results were amazing! We had several less active members that came to talk to the Bishop.

It also makes it easier on the Bishop to not have to seek divine guidance to know what member is a full tithe payer and who is not. I think each member has the responsibility to claim their status to the Bishop. As clerks and executive secretaries, we can make the Bishop's burden lighter by inviting members directly to participate rather than indirectly having them sign up and hope we get all to volunteer.

My two cents. ;)
Most definitely. We hope to do the signup method for the convenience of those that are already going to come to tithing settlement without much prodding. The phone calls will be our follow-up method to get the rest.
kmalone-p40
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#10

Post by kmalone-p40 »

jdlessley wrote:I do not understand why you mention temple recommend holders in a post about tithing settlement. Tithing settlement is for everybody, even those who have not contributed.

In all the wards I have been a member tithing settlement has been done by a signup list. The signup sheets were posted on the clerk and/or bishop's door six weeks to two months before the first appointment date. The dates and block times for appointments have been driven by the availability of the bishop. Generally the first few days are filled by signup volunteers quite quickly. Announcements are made from the rostrum and in the bulletins as far out in time as the posting of the signup sheets. It has been a small number of people who for whatever reason do not signup that the executive secretary has to call and get to commit to a date and time. Since the span of time for these settlement interviews normally happen over a period of about two weeks the calls to members do not start until into the second week. Of course reminder calls about the settlement interview are made the day before to ensure everyone is aware of the appointment.

This method may not be the best but I thought I would throw this out to get the ball rolling.

I am sorry you do not have someone called to help you in the clerk responsibilities. For tithing settlement we use two or three people to make things run as smoothly as possible. The executive secretary takes overall lead in managing tithing settlement and is the one who runs the appointments and makes the calls to members. The membership clerk is the one who usually does the back office work like printing IOSs and inputting changes to records. For really heavy days one of the other clerks assist in any area that needs work. This generally involves making calls to members an hour or so before the appointment as the last minute reminder.

Transportation to the settlement is arranged by the elders quorum for those who need assistance.

I mention Temple Recommend holders becuase the Bishop wants extra emphasis to ensure the these individuals attend settlement.
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