Received unusual donation slips with tithing envelopes

Our ward just got a new box of tithing envelopes in. We noticed on Sunday that the donation slips included in this box are different. The line under the donor's name asks for their record number instead of their address. Some of the donation categories (Humanitarian, Perpetual Education, etc.) are also missing. In place of the missing categories the "Other" section is larger, and includes a note saying that the Church will attempt to use funds globally for their stated purpose but may use them otherwise at the Church's discretion (paraphrasing).

My first thought was that perhaps this version of the donation slip is intended for use outside of North America, and was put in our box by mistake. If that's the case, I won't worry. We have a ton of extra donation slips and I can just swap them out. Has anyone seen slips like this before?

It sounds like you did get slips for outside North America. Apparently there are four different types. You can see them by logging in to store.lds.org and searching for item number 31584. I see what you describe on the "Outside US/Canada" version. The US version is item number 31592.

bedone wrote:Our ward just got a new box of tithing envelopes in. We noticed on Sunday that the donation slips included in this box are different. The line under the donor's name asks for their record number instead of their address. Some of the donation categories (Humanitarian, Perpetual Education, etc.) are also missing. In place of the missing categories the "Other" section is larger, and includes a note saying that the Church will attempt to use funds globally for their stated purpose but may use them otherwise at the Church's discretion (paraphrasing).

My first thought was that perhaps this version of the donation slip is intended for use outside of North America, and was put in our box by mistake. If that's the case, I won't worry. We have a ton of extra donation slips and I can just swap them out. Has anyone seen slips like this before?

You're correct. The Tithing and Other Offerings Form is different whether the intended geography is US/Canda, outside US/Canada, the Pacific area, or Australia. You received item # 31584000, intended for use outside the US/Canada. You should have received 31592000.

allenjpl wrote:You're correct. The Tithing and Other Offerings Form is different whether the intended geography is US/Canda, outside US/Canada, the Pacific area, or Australia. You received item # 31584000, intended for use outside the US/Canada. You should have received 31592000.

We have found the same problem with the new envelopes we just got. Looks like the tithing slips were printed with the wrong form number on them. We will have to call church HQ and see if we can get the correct ones.

It also came to our attention today that our new slips are different, but they don't match anything shown on store.lds.org. Plus they have the same 31592 item number that pertains to the US/Can slips on the site. These slips ask for Membership record number instead of Full address, and only include (in this order): Tithing, Fast offering, General missionary, Ward missionary, Humanitarian aid, and Other rows. The new Other row is about twice as tall as it is on the older forms. Book of Mormon, Temple Construction, and Perpetual education are no longer there. At the bottom there's also a revised statement:

[INDENT]Though reasonable efforts will be made globally to use donations as designated, all donations become the Church's property and will be used at the Church's sole discretion to further the Church's overall mission.[/INDENT]

Just curious if these are actually the new slips, and the thinking behind the changes. By the new statement on the bottom, it seems there's a general desire to loosen the specification of donations.

It also came to our attention today that our new slips are different, but they don't match anything shown on store.lds.org. Plus they have the same 31592 item number that pertains to the US/Can slips on the site. These slips ask for Membership record number instead of Full address, and only include (in this order): Tithing, Fast offering, General missionary, Ward missionary, Humanitarian aid, and Other rows. The new Other row is about twice as tall as it is on the older forms. Book of Mormon, Temple Construction, and Perpetual education are no longer there. At the bottom there's also a revised statement:

[INDENT]Though reasonable efforts will be made globally to use donations as designated, all donations become the Church's property and will be used at the Church's sole discretion to further the Church's overall mission.[/INDENT]

Just curious if these are actually the new slips, and the thinking behind the changes. By the new statement on the bottom, it seems there's a general desire to loosen the specification of donations.

My Ward (in Layton, Utah) has received 2 new boxes of donation slips and both contain the different, abbreviated slips inside too.
The biggest initial problem is that these slips do not have boxes at the bottom for checks, currency and coin ... you have to remember to write the donation type(s) when you open each donation envelope.
The item number is identical on the bottom of these slips and the old ones ...31592.
The lds online store brings up only an image of the original/expanded version of the donation receipts.
The missing 3 categories (Book of Mormon, Temple construction and Perpetual education) will also lead to less donations for all three categories as well.
I guess I'll try talking to a person on the LDS order desk the next working day to see if the slips my ward received are indeed intended only for use outside the U.S., and if so, order new slips to replace the wrong ones.
Nothing else makes any sense with these different slips ...

You received the new tithing slips that were recently approved for world-wide distribution. The first shipments did not include cash, coin, and check fields which are important to help clerks and leaders as they process donations. Use up the current stocks and when you order more, you will get the newest ones with the cash, coin, and check fields on the slips again.

Also, donations other than Tithing, Fast offering, General missionary, Ward missionary, and Humanitarian aid are to be included in the Other category. Tax deductible categories will still be tax deductible while pass through funds will not be tax deductible.

A notice will soon be sent to priesthood leaders worldwide.

Thanks for the info, tullisda. I neglected to mention the missing cash/coin/check boxes, which we thought was strange, too. Also, does the collapsing of the Other categories on the slip mean that a similar change will happen in MLS for entering donations?

MLS will not be adjusted to include all the variety of donation categories that are or will become available. However, Church accounting systems, including MLS will be able to identify those that are tax deductible and those that are not.

My stake clerk over finance got intrigued by the new donation slips.
He called someone in church financial and they told him these are the correct forms and are definitely NOT the wrong ones received. They said we've got to live with these forms for now, as the powers that be decided on them.
What I think will happen somewhere done the road is that some general authority or church accountant will eventually ask why overall donations are down in the Book of Mormon, Perpetual Education and Temple Construction categories (those missing on the new forms). When they realize not listing them was not a wise idea, they may return.
Otherwise, fortunately there is space on the bottom of the forms for now to list if someone paid by cash, check or coin. (Although I believe more member donations than before may not actually balance with their slip because members are the ones who are supposed to list their contribution configuration.)

I was wondering if there would be a big problem in returning the slips for new ones that had the area for the members to enter their check, coin, or cash information. I just worry that we will wind up with more reconciliation problems each Sunday without the member entered information.

ChuckP wrote:I was wondering if there would be a big problem in returning the slips for new ones that had the area for the members to enter their check, coin, or cash information.

We were asked to use up the slips and told that, when we reordered, the blocks would be there for the form of contribution.

Same thing happened in my ward. We received our new slips about 2 weeks ago. (Las Vegas, NV, Warm Springs Stake)

dbollard99 wrote:Same thing happened in my ward. We received our new slips about 2 weeks ago. (Las Vegas, NV, Warm Springs Stake)

Yes. Those are the new forms everyone is receiving. Hopefully there will be an official message soon telling us to use them. In the meantime, we plan to unofficially use them until they are gone, and then order some more. [grin]

I'd love to see what these new forms look like. The descriptions so far are fairly detailed,
but as they say "a picture is worth a thousand words". Any chance someone who has
these new forms could upload a scanned image for use to look at ?

atticusewig wrote:but as they say "a picture is worth a thousand words".

I heard they are already being revised. [grin]

atticusewig wrote:I'd love to see what these new forms look like. The descriptions so far are fairly detailed,
but as they say "a picture is worth a thousand words". Any chance someone who has
these new forms could upload a scanned image for use to look at ?

I have attached a PDF showing the difference... I'm thinking that these forms would not be for "worldwide use" as they have a dollar ($) symbol... This would not be very "global."

Some communication from headquarters would be very beneficial... As a member of the Stake Presidency, we have baffled bishoprics asking us for information!

If you pull all of them out of the box there should be a document contained that explains the change. The doc is very clear that these are go forward and explains that the MLS screen will remain the same. It looks to me like the church is really moving towards a desire that members know their record numbers as the address field has been replaced by a record number field.

jgamber wrote:It looks to me like the church is really moving towards a desire that members know their record numbers as the address field has been replaced by a record number field.

Well, I've left the address line blank for 50 years. I suppose I could leave the membership record line blank for another 50 years, as long as there is no one in my unit with the same name. [grin]

lajackson wrote:Well, I've left the address line blank for 50 years. I suppose I could leave the membership record line blank for another 50 years, as long as there is no one in my unit with the same name. [grin]

That's probably fine as long as you donate to your home ward. But if you donate to other wards, and want to get a report/tax receipt from the church, then you better fill it in.

RussellHltn wrote:That's probably fine as long as you donate to your home ward. But if you donate to other wards, and want to get a report/tax receipt from the church, then you better fill it in.

Why? Does this new slip supplant the duty of each ward to mail out end-of-year tax statements to out-of-ward donors? Will CHQ now take over that responsibility?

Also, I haven't checked the new version of MLS. Is there now a place to record a non-ward-member's MRN on the donor record?

RossEvans wrote:Why? Does this new slip supplant the duty of each ward to mail out end-of-year tax statements to out-of-ward donors? Will CHQ now take over that responsibility?

Does your ward do that for someone who shows up just for one Sunday? I don't think any of my wards have done that.

RossEvans wrote:Also, I haven't checked the new version of MLS. Is there now a place to record a non-ward-member's MRN on the donor record?

Neither have I. But this would seem to be the logical first step if records of donations are to get centralized. I think we have seen hints that that is coming. Changing the form used by the ward probably has the longest lead time of any of the steps.

RussellHltn wrote:

RossEvans wrote:Why? Does this new slip supplant the duty of each ward to mail out end-of-year tax statements to out-of-ward donors? Will CHQ now take over that responsibility?

Does your ward do that for someone who shows up just for one Sunday? I don't think any of my wards have done that.

Absolutely. That is supposed to be routine procedure for finance clerks. If anyone -- including visitors and nonmembers -- makes even a one-time tax-deductible donation, and puts their address on their donation slip, they get an end-of-year tax statement mailed.

Come to think of it, as I look at the image of the new slip format, I can't see how we could ever mail a statement to a donor who does not have a MRN, because there is no place for them to write their address. There are such donors occasionally.

RussellHltn wrote:But if you donate to other wards, and want to get a report/tax receipt from the church, then you better fill it in.

I suppose I could put it in that big blank space at the bottom of the new slip.

The whole "new slip" thing is a real mystery to me, since, about 4 months ago CHQ sent a unit in our Stake these "new slips" and they were baffled by them, so they called me (Stake Financial Clerk). I called LUS and they told me it was a mistake and they immediately sent that unit a box of the slips we are all used to.

LynnArave wrote:What I think will happen somewhere done the road is that some general authority or church accountant will eventually ask why overall donations are down in the Book of Mormon, Perpetual Education and Temple Construction categories (those missing on the new forms). When they realize not listing them was not a wise idea, they may return.

Alternatively, the drop in contributions to those funds may have been considered in lieu of the increases the General Missionary, Ward Missionary, and Humanitarian Aid categories are likely to see. If you want to see the listed categories as a prioritization (which I have no indication it is), it would make sense to me.

Has anyone received any official word about these slips? I was going to call HQ but was not able to this week. Was wondering about any word to as why and what direction they are taking on this. It just seems that they will lose donations to those categories missing unless they wont separate those categories from tithing / FO any more? They normally send out tons of info when they do things like this, but I haven't received anything.

jdtommy wrote:They normally send out tons of info when they do things like this, but I haven't received anything.

Or at least a letter. Yes, another one of those mysteries of the kingdom.

Several calls have already been made, and several answers have been received. I think someone even said there were instructions in the bottom of the box.

I am not sure another answer would be helpful. We may already have the answer. You may wish to go back and read post number 18 in this thread as a starting point.

I've attached the form that we recevied in our recent shipment of tithing slips. Hope this helps.

I'm familiar with the other categories, but where do donations to "Priesthood restoration site" go?

greggo wrote:I'm familiar with the other categories, but where do donations to "Priesthood restoration site" go?

Everything that's not in one of the specific listed categories will be noted by the donor in that big "Other (specify)" box. That doesn't mean that the clerk will necessarily put it in Other -- the clerk puts it in the appropriate category.

The clerk will process donations to the Priesthood Restoration Site using the subcategory of Other called "Priesthood Restoration Site." See this post.

Just read through the whole thing. Seems like this is a very major change from what I've always done.

Made my first tithing and offerings donations in 1968, as a very young member, and those were the old handwritten receipts that the bishop himself would write up, after you gave him the money and told him what it was for, all the categories common through the years were there, missionary, welfare, and a few others under different names. Tithes and fast offerings were always first.

The first computerized things came next in 1970. You would put the offerings and a slip in an envelope, and a week later would get a bluish printout a week or so later when you went back to Sunday meetings. About the same categories. That lasted in various forms for many years until the first version of the more recent receipts came out, the ones with the carbon copy you could separate and keep as your receipt.

I think what we have going on also is member desire to donate to a number of other things, and there's only so much space, and they (other than the foul-up noted here) don't want to have to go and revise it and potentially waste a lot of paper receipts that wards have gotten in sometimes only days before the new version comes out. Also, having all the other categories grouped under 'Other' covers things should they introduce a new category.

But still, there's going to have to be a major education effort to show members how to do things given this is a major shift, probably for about 85 percent of the members they've never known anything else other than a slip that has a variety of other categories besides tithes and fast offerings. Missionaries too, because if you look at Preach My Gospel, one of the things is that a missionary can show a progressing investigator how to pay tithing and offerings before they actually do it.

JamesAnderson wrote:But still, there's going to have to be a major education effort to show members how to do things given this is a major shift, probably for about 85 percent of the members they've never known anything else other than a slip that has a variety of other categories besides tithes and fast offerings.

I think a clerk may wish to keep a copy of the Notice dated August 3, 2012 that was sent to priesthood leaders. It lists the five general funds (in addition to Humanitarian Aid) that still qualify as charitable contributions. It also explains the benefit of using the Member Record Number for a member making a donation in another unit than their home ward or branch.

I would not hand out the actual back of the notice because it contains information pertaining to the processing of contributions that the member does not need to have.

But it would be very simple if you wish to prepare a short note that includes the first two bullet points. This might be of benefit to members who ask about the new donation slips.

I usually put both my my name and and my wife's name on the name line.

Are we supposed to put both membership numbers on the membership number line?

joefarb wrote:I usually put both my my name and and my wife's name on the name line.

Are we supposed to put both membership numbers on the membership number line?

First, all donations are credited to an individual, not a couple. You're welcome to put both names, but the donation will most likely be credited to you. The clerk has an option to include your spouse's name on your year-end statements.

Second, when you are making a donation to your home ward, you don't need to put a membership record number on the donation slip at all.

aebrown wrote:Second, when you are making a donation to your home ward, you don't need to put a membership record number on the donation slip at all.

This is good information that really should be shared with the general membership.

wrigjef wrote:This is good information that really should be shared with the general membership.

It was part of the 3 Aug 2012 letter titled "New Tithing and Other Offerings Form"; local leaders are welcome to (and really should) share that information with the members.

Sort of reactivating an old thread, but it seems like the best place to start, following a question raised during an audit.

Does anyone know of guidance regarding the use of MRNs on the tithing slips for FTMs serving in a unit where they also make (Fast Offering) donations? Doing so would allow the home unit to provide a tax valid receipt to the FTM, but that is probably not a normal need. And for the home unit, the FTM is already classified as a Full tithe payer.

So not sure what using the MRN field and will provide as value added, other than I think it's the right thing to do.

Thoughts? Thanks.

I've probably missed it, but at the moment there doesn't appear to be a way to enter MRN's into MLS for any member to have donations credited to their homeward?

I understand that this option is for the future, but hasn't been rolled out globally yet.

Please correct me if I'm wrong!

Well, if that's the case the base question is moot. We had briefly tried to enter the FTM as a non-local member with an MRN but hadn't been successful (thinking back I'm not sure we were going down the right path to do so, if it even is possible. Will check again next weekend. Thank you.

Alan.Richardson wrote:We had briefly tried to enter the FTM as a non-local member with an MRN but hadn't been successful

All you need to do is add when the box comes up and asks you if the person is a member of your unit check no. A screen will then come up that will allow you to add the individual. You should add a FTM as a "member of another unit".