Missing Tithing & Donation Information!

Discussions around using and interfacing with the Church MLS program.
Locked
BethManning1
New Member
Posts: 4
Joined: Mon Nov 12, 2012 10:18 am

Missing Tithing & Donation Information!

#1

Post by BethManning1 »

I recently printed copies of the Tithing/Donation Summaries for the members of our ward. One member did not show any donations for the entire year even though he has tithing receipts showing multiple donations.

Another member's Tithing/Donation summary only showed donations made through February 2012 even though he has donated funds every month in 2012.

Both members last name begins with the letter "P".

Could my recent MLS upgrade cause these problems? If so, how do I fix it?
russellhltn
Community Administrator
Posts: 34417
Joined: Sat Jan 20, 2007 2:53 pm
Location: U.S.

#2

Post by russellhltn »

I think the first thing is to look at the batches in question and see to whom the donations were credited to.
Have you searched the Help Center? Try doing a Google search and adding "site:churchofjesuschrist.org/help" to the search criteria.

So we can better help you, please edit your Profile to include your general location.
User avatar
gregwanderson
Senior Member
Posts: 702
Joined: Thu Apr 15, 2010 10:34 pm
Location: Huntsville, UT, USA

#3

Post by gregwanderson »

What he said. You should have kept the white copies of the donation slips For situations just like this. Find the donation batch in question. Confirm that you have the white slip which matched the member's yellow copy. If you do, then check your batch report printout to make sure it was recorded correctly. If the current MLS information doesn't match the printout and white slips from the day the donations were made then start digging into MLS.

It is possible that the member never turned in the donation despite having a yellow copy of the donation slip. It's possible that the Bishopric member who received the donation lost it before it was entered into a batch. From what you've shared it's still too early to blame the computer. Another possibillity is that the donation was recorded to the wrong member or the member's membership number is not correctly linked to their donor record. So there's still more investigation needed.
rontilby
Member
Posts: 147
Joined: Mon Apr 20, 2009 8:22 pm
Location: Salt Lake City, UT, USA

#4

Post by rontilby »

Also, check the "Member of Unit / Out of Unit" status of the finance donor record. I had a case where the 2nd counselor in our bishopric didn't show on one of the tithing settlement reports because (as mrrad said) his donation records weren't linked to his membership record. This can happen when a new move-in donates before their membership record arrives, and their donor status doesn't get updated after the membership record arrives in the ward.
BethManning1
New Member
Posts: 4
Joined: Mon Nov 12, 2012 10:18 am

Missing Tithing / Donation Information!

#5

Post by BethManning1 »

I think I have discovered the problem and a solution to my dilemma! The two brethren in question are listed twice in MLS. My solution is to go back into the batch reports and make sure the correct name and membership number is associated with these members. That requires gong through the entire year and making changes to all of their donations up to date.

I appreciate everyone's help on this problem!
Gary_Miller
Senior Member
Posts: 1222
Joined: Thu Dec 08, 2011 10:42 am
Location: Emmett, Idaho

#6

Post by Gary_Miller »

BethManning1 wrote: My solution is to go back into the batch reports and make sure the correct name and membership number is associated with these members. That requires gong through the entire year and making changes to all of their donations up to date.

I appreciate everyone's help on this problem!

Just add the correct name to the donor list and the merg the names together.
User avatar
gregwanderson
Senior Member
Posts: 702
Joined: Thu Apr 15, 2010 10:34 pm
Location: Huntsville, UT, USA

#7

Post by gregwanderson »

When we add a donor whose name isn't already in the system as a member of our ward, we have one clerk who manually adds names First-name-first. But when adding a donor whose name is in the system already as a member of the ward, the auto-fill function always uses a Last-name-first format. That makes it easy to overlook discrepencies like the one described here.

I guess what I'm saying is that periodically (and at least once at this time of year prior to Tithing Settlement) it's a good idea to scroll through the entire list of donors and look for problems. Look specifically for duplicates of the same donor and to make sure everyone's status is correct. I usually sort the list by status to quickly find out who's listed as a non-member, member of another unit, etc.. Specifically watch for people who are new to the ward and for students whose records may have gone to a singles ward and then come back (which can "break the link" between their donor record and their membership record).
BethManning1
New Member
Posts: 4
Joined: Mon Nov 12, 2012 10:18 am

Missing Tithing / Donation Information!

#8

Post by BethManning1 »

Thank you again for your help! I was able to go in and update the donor names. I merged the two names for the same person into one.
mrrad wrote:When we add a donor whose name isn't already in the system as a member of our ward, we have one clerk who manually adds names First-name-first. But when adding a donor whose name is in the system already as a member of the ward, the auto-fill function always uses a Last-name-first format. That makes it easy to overlook discrepencies like the one described here.

I guess what I'm saying is that periodically (and at least once at this time of year prior to Tithing Settlement) it's a good idea to scroll through the entire list of donors and look for problems. Look specifically for duplicates of the same donor and to make sure everyone's status is correct. I usually sort the list by status to quickly find out who's listed as a non-member, member of another unit, etc.. Specifically watch for people who are new to the ward and for students whose records may have gone to a singles ward and then come back (which can "break the link" between their donor record and their membership record).
Locked

Return to “MLS Support, Help, and Feedback”