Donations through church to help individuals in need

Discussions about the Online Donation system.
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rsprunt
New Member
Posts: 1
Joined: Thu Nov 29, 2018 4:11 pm

Donations through church to help individuals in need

#1

Post by rsprunt »

This is a request for a new humanitarian app that would allow members to donate money to assist individuals that need direct financial aid.
Recently I had a friend that had a bone marrow transplant, and was requesting donations through "GoFundMe". This friend was trying to raise $60,000 to pay for his medical bills, after losing his job because of time off from cancer. In researching "GoGundMe", I found that 8% is skimmed off the top, or approximately $5000 of the $60K that does not go to the person needing help. To me this is huge loss to the person who really needs financial assistance, and bothered me that 8% of the money I was donating did not make it to my friend.

What I really love about donating to the church is that 100% of what we donate to humanitarian projects goes to those who need it the most. This is a service the church could provide to assist all people not just those of our faith. Here is how I imagine this working:
1. Every person in the world is part of some ward/branch boundary, so the money could be distributed through the bishop, or branch president responsible for the person that lives in their ward/branch boundary.
2. There could be a donation link that people could add to their social media such as facebook or email, that people could click on to make the donation. The link would be associated with that specific person that needs the donations, and identify their home ward/stake.
3. As the money is donated that ward/branch would receive the money in the ward/branch budget. The bishop/branch president would be responsible for cutting a check and making sure the donated money is used to assist the person in need.
scgallafent
Church Employee
Church Employee
Posts: 3025
Joined: Mon Feb 09, 2009 4:55 pm
Location: Riverton, Utah

Re: Donations through church to help individuals in need

#2

Post by scgallafent »

Without getting into the question of whether the Church wants to start brokering funds for needy individuals (who decides whether a need is appropriate for the Church to get involved?), there are some tax implications that would potentially make those contributions not qualify as charitable donations in the United States.
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