How to process anonymous donations?

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abegregory
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How to process anonymous donations?

#1

Post by abegregory »

I can't find any information in the CHI, on the wiki, or in this forum concerning how to process an anonymous donation. In our case, the donation was made to tithing and to the ward missionary category. Can someone direct me to the right procedure/policy?

Thanks
ecotim
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#2

Post by ecotim »

I found an Anonymous donor already set up in my unit when I became clerk. Just set up a donor as out of unit non-member and type anonymous.
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aebrown
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#3

Post by aebrown »

abegregory wrote:I can't find any information in the CHI, on the wiki, or in this forum concerning how to process an anonymous donation. In our case, the donation was made to tithing and to the ward missionary category. Can someone direct me to the right procedure/policy?

It's indeed odd to have an anonymous donation to Tithing. Was this an intentionally anonymous donation (someone wanted to make a donation, but did not want their identity known), or an accident (a cash donation had a donation slip, but the donor neglected to fill in the donor name)?

If it was intentional, then what ecotim said should work -- just add a donor marked as 'Not a member/Miscellaneous' with the name "Anonymous".

If it was accidental, then you should try to identify the donor. That can be challenging, and Tithing Settlement (which would be a good time to ask people about a missing donation) has probably just ended. But if you can identify the donor, then that should be done. If not, then you just leave it credited to "Anonymous."

I would also note that this works because both Tithing and Ward Missionary are charitable donation categories. You can't accept an anonymous donation into Budget or Authorized Member Financed Activities. When an acceptable donation category for an anonymous donation cannot be identified, the donation should be credited to Tithing (I can't find the written documentation for that particular point, but I have been told this at least a couple of times by Local Unit Support).
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davesudweeks
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#4

Post by davesudweeks »

I have been Ward Clerk for over 5 years (and love it, thank you very much) and when I was called we had a member who donated every month to tithing as anonymous. Eventually, some in the Bishopric accidentally discovered their identity. Such a member's their motives are personal and I suggest we not question it. We used an "Anonymous" donor as suggested above.

Recently, a tithing donation was submitted without a name - we think it was a youth but after several weeks of not being able to determine who it was, we put it in as Anonymous and put a note in the file for that Donation Batch with what information we had (date originally received, etc.) so if it came up later, we could re-open the batch and correct the donor information.
lajackson
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#5

Post by lajackson »

davesudweeks wrote:. . . we had a member who donated every month to tithing as anonymous. Eventually, some in the Bishopric accidentally discovered their identity.

If the bishop was made aware of the discovery, everything is fine. He will know if anything further should be done.
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kh_design
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Donor

#6

Post by kh_design »

aebrown wrote:just create a miscellaneous payee called "Anonymous".
I think you intended Donor in the place of payee.

Add a Donor marked as 'Not a member/Miscellaneous' with the name "Anonymous".
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aebrown
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#7

Post by aebrown »

kh_design wrote:I think you intended Donor in the place of payee.

Yup. Thanks for pointing that out. I've edited my post to avoid confusion.
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ckmcdonald
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#8

Post by ckmcdonald »

We have used the "Anonymous" donor method for a number of years. I would also recommend this approach as has been adequately covered in this thread. I just wanted to add that we have found in our ward that we have a few members who yearn to donate but have a somewhat less willing spouse. For this reason they don't want a record of their contribution.
daveywest
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#9

Post by daveywest »

You should never have annonymous donations. The online training provides for listing a donation coming from an "unknown" donor. There are specific instructions to not accept anonymous tithing donations due to tithing being a part of temple worthiness. According to the Handbook of instructions, members who have been excommunicated may not pay tithing or other offerings.

If you have unknown donors, the bishop should announce from the pulpit that the church cannot accept those donations and avoid doing so in the future.

Here is the link to the wiki article: https://tech.lds.org/wiki/index.php/Donations
Q: What do I do if there is no name on the Tithing and Other Offerings slip?
A: Print the word "Unknown" in the name block of the slip and deposit the amounts to the correct categories.
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waynecooke
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#10

Post by waynecooke »

I have been reading this thread with interest. Anonymous or Unknown, whatever. Semantics. I have used the Anonymous for many years (about 12), but I guess I can change. Another place where we have used the "Unknown" or "Anonymous" donor is, believe it or not, this has happened about 6 or 8 times, people just submit an envelope with a note along the lines of "I found this in the parking lot", or "on the street" or some other completely "Anonymous" situation. It is usually in the $2 to $10 range. No name on the slip, or sometimes not even a slip, just a note.

At first I tried to figure out where to put it so I just came up with the idea of donating it to Fast Offering. That seemed to be the best to me.

Of course if there is a slip, but if there just is no name, we always find the donor.
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