Unable to resolve donation discrepancy

During tithing settlement, a member of our ward stated that several donations did not appear on his donation summary. He brought in the yellow copies of his donation slips and we verified that we do not have record of these donations in MLS.

This member was in our ward throughout 2011, so did not pay tithing in another ward. We went through our donation records for the entire year, sorting through the white copies of the donation slips, and did not find the missing donations. Each member of the bishopric has also gone through their suit coats, etc. to make sure they did not miss any envelopes.

The member did find a few envelopes at home that had never been turned in, and this accounted for some of the missing donations, but there are still 5-6 donations that are unaccounted for. These were all cash donations, from throughout the year, and we have not had any other reports of donations missing like this. I've checked everything I can think of to resolve this. What would the next step be?

From what you have reported there is nothing more you can do. It is up to the bishop, who in turn may need to counsel with the stake president as to the final course of action.

While I do not want to sound disparaging toward the member, there are indications that he/she may need to do some further investigation on his/her end. Having a yellow copy only tells me they filled out a slip. What they did after that is anybody's guess. Since he/she found other missing donations then it is likely he/she misplaced the other missing donations.

You may be interested in the Crediting member for lost cash donation thread. It looks like you'd need to talk to Church Headquarters for instructions.

If you are not able to resolve the disagreement to the member's satisfaction, you need to involve LUS.

From the audit form:

8. Have all disagreements between members’ donation records and the unit’s donation records been settled
to the satisfaction of everyone?
Mark “NA” if there were no disagreements.
Mark “Yes” if there were disagreements but they were resolved.
Mark “No” if there are any unresolved disagreements between a Church member’s record of total donations
and the unit’s record of total donations for that member. Then make a photocopy of the member’s copy
of the donation slip(s) for those donations where there are differences. Attach the copies and the contact
information for the Church members involved in the disagreement to Part 3: Corrective Action Plans Work
Sheet, and notify the stake audit committee chairman as soon as possible.

If a member says he deposited cash and it is missing, you really ought to contact the stake audit committee chair ASAP. See Handbook I 14.9.5.

mlh78 wrote:If a member says he deposited cash and it is missing, you really ought to contact the stake audit committee chair ASAP. See Handbook I 14.9.5.

The audit committee chairman, who is a counselor in the stake presidency, will know exactly what to do in this case if he has any experience at all. And if he does not, he will counsel with the stake president, contact the audit department at Church headquarters, and then will know exactly what to do.

The process he follows will resolve the matter for the Church and will also be very beneficial for the member involved.