Donations for a missionary in another ward

Is it possible to donate to your local ward's mission fund and have the money be transferred to a missionary in another ward?

Payments for specific missionaries should be made to the ward responsible for paying that missionary's equalized payments. There is no method to transfer donations from one ward to another except in one specific situation. That situation is when the ward responsible for making the payments changes. In that situation coordination between the bishops and the Missionary Department is required to transfer financial responsibility. Making a donation to your ward for a missionary in another ward is not possible currently.

Even though you are in one ward, you can make a payment to another ward. Missionaries do this, for example, with fast offerings – paying to the ward they're attending. You don't have to go through your ward at all for funding the missionary in the other ward.

sbradshaw wrote:You don't have to go through your ward at all for funding the missionary in the other ward.

Perhaps you can explain how you have been able to do this.

jdlessley wrote:

sbradshaw wrote:You don't have to go through your ward at all for funding the missionary in the other ward.

Perhaps you can explain how you have been able to do this.

I haven't done it myself, but couldn't you just fill out a form with the proper category marked, put it and money in the envelope, and give it to a bishopric member in the other ward (or send it in the mail to the bishop of that ward)?

sbradshaw wrote:...couldn't you just fill out a form with the proper category marked, put it and money in the envelope, and give it to a bishopric member in the other ward (or send it in the mail to the bishop of that ward)?

Yes, that's correct. And it's important when you donate to another ward to make sure that your address is on the donation slip so that the financial clerk in that ward can send you your official tax statement at the end of the year. (Note that the donation slip has a place for you to enter your membership record number, which is certainly fine to enter, but MLS hasn't been updated yet to allow the clerk to record the MRN for donors from outside the ward, so it's important to provide your address.)

When we have had grandparents and other relatives who have wanted to contribute to our ward missionary fund, I have mailed them slips and donation envelopes addressed to our bishop. If they planned to make regular contributions, I usually sent them six or seven at a time.

I also let the clerk know to whom I had sent envelopes, so they would have some glimmer of an idea why a total stranger was contributing to the ward missionary fund. I could also provide addresses at the end of the year, if the members failed to include them.

Can you donate to a missionary in a different ward online?

mlissmiller wrote:Can you donate to a missionary in a different ward online?

Yes. See the instructions in the second question of the Donations FAQ.

It gives a message that says the donation should be in the same country as the unit you are giving it to. Is there some other way to pay for a missionary in another country (Argentina)? I'm in the US.

cleanflix wrote: Sun Mar 16, 2025 6:38 pm It gives a message that says the donation should be in the same country as the unit you are giving it to. Is there some other way to pay for a missionary in another country (Argentina)? I'm in the US.

The FAQ listed in the post before yours states that "Currently you can contribute only to the missionary funds of wards and branches in the country where you make the donation." So for any member in that situation, they need to find another non-Church-donation method to contribute to a missionary fund, similar to how any money is transferred to other countries.