Tech Forum

You didn't answer my question aebrown. You said:

aebrown wrote: I've never seen a clerk in this situation who feels a need to return the yellow copy to the donor; he would simply shred the yellow copy.

Do you also recommend "simply shredding" the yellow copy if a donor gives you a personal check and forgets the donation slip and the clerks have to call and fill it out? If not, why is it different if the personal check donor forgets to give you the donation slip and the electronic bill payer forgets to fill out the "memo" line, and the clerk has to call and fill out the donation slip. I don't understand the difference.

TinMan wrote:You didn't answer my question aebrown. You said:

aebrown wrote: I've never seen a clerk in this situation who feels a need to return the yellow copy to the donor; he would simply shred the yellow copy.

Do you also recommend "simply shredding" the yellow copy if a donor gives you a personal check and forgets the donation slip and the clerks have to call and fill it out? If not, why is it different if the personal check donor forgets to give you the donation slip and the electronic bill payer forgets to fill out the "memo" line, and the clerk has to call and fill out the donation slip. I don't understand the difference.

You're correct that there is no difference. Thus I recommend treating the issues the same way.

I had to edit my post because I didn't read all 7 pages of comments, so sorry about that. I was going to mention that you could set up a direct debit with the church by filling out a form, but apparently that has already been discussed.

sigh.

And thus we return full circle...

We have one couple that pays through online bill pay. Its mailed to the bishop each month and we fill out a tithing slip for them and shred the yellow copy. For me it's a lot easier than counting $100 dollars in bills and coins. Members shouldn't be discouraged from paying their tithing in any way they please, as long as they can specify where they want the money to go to prevent delays in getting their donation processed.

TinMan wrote:Do you also recommend "simply shredding" the yellow copy if a donor gives you a personal check and forgets the donation slip and the clerks have to call and fill it out? If not, why is it different if the personal check donor forgets to give you the donation slip and the electronic bill payer forgets to fill out the "memo" line, and the clerk has to call and fill out the donation slip. I don't understand the difference.

We shred the yellow copy no matter if its one we filled out due to bill pay, a check without a slip, or the member just did not separate the slips. While I pretty customer service related the one thing I'm not going to do is chase a member down just to return a yellow slip.

I pay my tithing electronically. If the church has any problem with a large number of members paying tithing online then they should set up an automatic process to do this and save everyone the hassle. I have set up online payment methods for companies before - it took me all of one hour. Really not that big of a deal. Not an issue at all.
Having church members, ward leaders, and HQ all spending countless hours every week manually filling out and accounting for tithing slips is hilarious considering the small amount of time it takes to set up a consistent online payment system - just ask any IT professional which way is preferable.
I say have everyone pay to HQ, then maybe they will see how much an online system is really needed.
The Gospel is true - church members/bureaucrats, not always.

aaronklapheck wrote:I have set up online payment methods for companies before - it took me all of one hour. Really not that big of a deal. Not an issue at all.

At what cost? Unless you can say the transaction is the same or cheaper then a check - especially when you run your own bank - that's an issue.

To find the HQ form simply search for "Download the official church Electronic Donation Information form" in Google. Amazed how quickly I was able to find this.

aaronklapheck wrote:Really not that big of a deal. Not an issue at all.

It is for the Church Donations Department. Otherwise they would not have issued this official statement:

The preferred method for making donations continues to be through the local ward unit. Those who have questions about electronic bill pay donations may call the LDS Donations Department at 801-240-2554 or email donations@ldschurch.org. Thank you.