Tech Forum

I am having the same issue. I have several family member that would like to donate to my daughters missionary fund, but i don't know exactly how much they will donate or when... so I don't know how much I will owe on a monthly basis. Wish there was a way to see what was donated to her fund.

For now, your best bet is to check regularly with the finance clerk to see what the balance is.

Financial donations are confidential. But the information you request really is important if you are to know how much remains to be donated each month. During the 13 and a half years we had missionaries serving from our family, I worked out a solution with my ward clerk where he would tell me how much had been donated by others in the previous month, just the amount, not the who. He had to manually look it up, but he was willing.

Perhaps there is a way that could be simplified, or even automated, with the addition of a "Donated by others" line to the report.

I pay the full amount monthly, then adjust every few months based on outside donations shown for our missionaries. I once found the breakdown, but couldn't find it a second time. Now I realize I must have found it while using my husband's phone/account since he has leadership access.

SparkyMartin wrote:For now, your best bet is to check regularly with the finance clerk to see what the balance is.

This is easier than ever now for the clerk as he can access the info from any web browser on the LCR website.

My husband was a ward clerk for years and he never minded helping members get this information. But it is such an ongoing need that it seems reasonable to see if we can make the balance available to those with stewardship over the missionary... especially their parents. I'm not sure where the appropriate place to voice a desire for that functionality, but I'm voicing it here. Please let whomever needs to know that this is a FAQ for good reason. Thank you for YOUR service.

sarahbuma wrote:My husband was a ward clerk for years and he never minded helping members get this information. But it is such an ongoing need that it seems reasonable to see if we can make the balance available to those with stewardship over the missionary... especially their parents. I'm not sure where the appropriate place to voice a desire for that functionality, but I'm voicing it here. Please let whomever needs to know that this is a FAQ for good reason. Thank you for YOUR service.

There is no problem discussing the suggestion here but in order to get it to the people who actually make decisions about this kind of thing, you'll need to use the Feedback link on lds.org.

I know of no authoritative answer on why this isn't available. I could just be a matter of resources and priorities. However, personally, I guess that there are privacy and possibly legal issues involved and that they church would just rather make sure that the bishop and clerks act as gatekeepers to avoid revealing sensitive financial information. For example, if two people had both committed to help fund a missionary, making the current balance available to both could inappropriate reveal that the other hasn't been paying. This kind of situation isn't common but it's the kind of thing the church has to consider.

eblood66 wrote:The church would just rather make sure that the bishop and clerks act as gatekeepers to avoid revealing sensitive financial information. For example, if two people had both committed to help fund a missionary, making the current balance available to both could inappropriate reveal that the other hasn't been paying. This kind of situation isn't common but it's the kind of thing the church has to consider.

Absolutely right. Add to that privacy issue the need to treat these funds as donations for tax purposes, rather than a support payment for your child. The IRS frowns when you send money to your child, and then claim it is a charitable donation. And if, for any reason, the family stops making payments, the Church will not terminate the mission due to lack of payment. On a related note, it may cost the Church much more or much less to support your child's mission than the amount you were assessed.

Bottom line: The Church doesn't send you a bill or a periodic account statement because these are free will donations, not support payments.

drepouille wrote:And if, for any reason, the family stops making payments, the Church will not terminate the mission due to lack of payment.

It's the unit's account that goes into the red. So, they need to be the ones that monitor it and take appropriate action. They already have that ability.

russellhltn wrote:It's the unit's account that goes into the red. So, they need to be the ones that monitor it and take appropriate action. They already have that ability.

And if you think about it, the "unit" is actually the stake, and the stake is supposed to manage and rebalance missionary funds among its local units. While I can't speak for all stakes, I can tell you that my stake ran a surplus the entire time I was stake clerk, and we sent surplus funds to HQ a couple times.

The missionary "accounts" within each local unit are really for the convenience of the Church, not the families of the missionaries. Just as there is really only one budget fund, there is really only one missionary fund in each unit.