CUBS Donor Names

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daveywest
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CUBS Donor Names

#1

Post by daveywest »

Working with a ward clerk, we discovered Donor Names can still be edited to reflect both the husband and wife's names as was previously the case. The Donor Name will still need to be associated with a member record.

It appears the only change was to reset all Donor Names to the name that is on the membership record.
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ElliotQuinton
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#2

Post by ElliotQuinton »

We've been mulling this issue over and I haven't been able to find a suitable answer. According to one of the CUBS eDocs that we received, husband and wife names can not appear on the same donation. Like you mentioned, we have discovered that donor names CAN still be edited to show husband and wife, but our question is SHOULD they be.

It seems to me that it is only editing the name (middle) of the donor (i.e Jones, John Smith to Jones, John & Mary). Its not actually making a link to the donations of a spouse. Also, as mentioned elsewhere, it appears the spouse CAN make a donation and then be merged, as before, but SHOULD we doing this?

We have several members who've expressed significant frustration about not having donations and records be kept jointly, and are looking for the most appropriate way to handle their concerns.
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aebrown
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#3

Post by aebrown »

quetzal513 wrote:We have discovered that donor names CAN still be edited to show husband and wife, but our question is SHOULD they be.
Note that the donor records still can only be linked to one membership record number. The tithing settlement and tax statements will still have that member's name listed.

I'm not sure why the CUBS conversion changed all the donor names to match the name on the linked membership record. I'm even more confused as to why they would go to that work and then allow it to be undone manually. The documentation said that it would not be possible, but either the documentation was wrong or the feature didn't get implemented properly.

In any case, I personally think that if the donor names were intentionally changed during conversion (and it seems pretty clear that they were), then we should stick with that convention and leave the names the way they are -- one name per donor record, which matches the name on the linked membership record.
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russellhltn
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#4

Post by russellhltn »

Alan_Brown wrote:Note that the donor records still can only be linked to one membership record number.
And I believe it's always been that way. So no change there. The changing of the name is simply conforming to that.

I've never claimed to be a tax expert, but I'm unaware of anything that would cause a problem for anyone filing their taxes (at least in the U.S.). It is up to the member(s) as to how they want to apply the donation to their taxes.

OTOH, I can think of possible reasons why the church would not want to place two membership records on a single donation.

So while it may be possible to put two names on a donation, and it would make some members happy, I don't know as it's wise to do so.
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cherishj
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#5

Post by cherishj »

It's an MLS limitation that you are still allowed to edit the donor name. There is no point in doing it, because if the donor is linked to the membership record, the donor record will be refreshed back to the name on the membership record after subsequent Send/Receive Changes.
JamesAnderson
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#6

Post by JamesAnderson »

The tax issue raises a question, if only to be clear about what I'm seeing.

In the US tax system, a couple can either file jointly, or file separately when they file their tax return. What can be done to ensure that if they also desire to have their own tithing and offerings, that the Tax Valid statement can be correct for each person? Is that what was intended by the changes mentioned here and in another thread? Or is something somehow set so that the donations are somehow being aggregated under the family name, usually under the head of household?

A separate tax valid statement for each spouse is desirable in the cases where the couple is filing separately rather than jointly. If a couple files jointly, which is common, I don't think it affects things to have things under one name and it could be either.
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aebrown
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#7

Post by aebrown »

JamesAnderson wrote:What can be done to ensure that if they also desire to have their own tithing and offerings, that the Tax Valid statement can be correct for each person? Is that what was intended by the changes mentioned here and in another thread? Or is something somehow set so that the donations are somehow being aggregated under the family name, usually under the head of household?
Donations are made by an individual, and are credited to an individual. There is no way to aggregate donations under the family name. That has been the case for several years, since a donor record could only be linked to one membership record. But the ability to change the donor record to have two names on it, even though it could only be linked to one individual, made it possible to confuse who was the donor. The new system makes it crystal clear which individual made the donations.

Because of the previous possibility for ambiguity, it certainly may be the case that a donation was credited to the wrong person. In those situations (such as the case mentioned above where an active woman made donations, but they were recorded for a donor record linked to the inactive husband's name) clerks need to go back and correct the donations.

This requires a change in mindset by both clerks and some donors, but it's a good thing to make it clear exactly who the donor is, instead of hiding it in a link behind a donor record that might be worded differently. We just have to get used to it.
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russellhltn
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#8

Post by russellhltn »

JamesAnderson wrote:What can be done to ensure that if they also desire to have their own tithing and offerings, that the Tax Valid statement can be correct for each person?
How are the donation slips being written? Are some "John Doe" and some "Jane Doe"? If so, then they should be handled as individuals. The fact they are married to each other doesn't matter.

If the slips say "John and Jane Doe", then you need to pick one name. (Usually the Head of House, but it doesn't have to be) and process the donation under that name.

Or am I misunderstanding the question?
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#9

Post by lajackson »

RussellHltn wrote:If the slips say "John and Jane Doe", then you need to pick one name. (Usually the Head of House, but it doesn't have to be) and process the donation under that name.
In this particular case, I would suggest that you would want to contact the couple, tell them about the CUBS change that only allows the crediting of the contribution to one individual or the other, and ask them which they would prefer.

If you were to ask me that question, I would be fiesty and tell you that one half should be credited in my name and the other half should be credited in my wife's name, in order to meet certain legal requirements of the law.

You would then be very polite, smile, and suggest that, if we wished to have our contribution credited that way, from now on we would need to fill out two slips and write two checks, one in each of our names.

We would then both laugh, grumble about CUBS, and wander off to our meetings.

All kidding aside, though. You really should check with John and Jane Doe donors, let them know what has happened, and let them decide how to handle it. This will make it so much easier for them at tax time, for which we are not responsible, and into which we keep bumping because money is involved. But getting it right will make all the difference in the world to the members involved.
russellhltn
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#10

Post by russellhltn »

lajackson wrote:This will make it so much easier for them at tax time
It does? Without going too deep into taxes:

If they are filing jointly, I fail to see how the name makes a difference (as long as it's not someone else's.)

But, if they are filing separately, then yes, they probably should decide what name it should be under. But then if it was a joint name, I'd image there would be a problem anyway.

Or am I missing something? (Like waiting until tax time to decide how to divvy up the receipt.)
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