Tithing

Is anything in the works for online tithing submissions. I think it is about time we saw something like that.

yaquesita wrote:Is anything in the works for online tithing submissions. I think it is about time we saw something like that.

I don't know exactly what you mean by "online" tithing submissions, but it is currently possible to do electronic donations using the bill payment system of most banks. See this post.

According to the help files on lds.org, there is an app for online donations. It looks to be quite extensive, allowing members to retrieve their own tax statements and donation histories in addition to paying tithing and other donations online. Unfortunately, I can't actually find the app.

rebrich1006 wrote:According to the help files on lds.org, there is an app for online donations. It looks to be quite extensive, allowing members to retrieve their own tax statements and donation histories in addition to paying tithing and other donations online. Unfortunately, I can't actually find the app.

Which help files are you referring to? I wonder if you're looking at files aimed at Europe. They have a different banking system and have more options than North America.

contact donations@ldschurch.org for availability

It appears there is a future app being developed for online donations; the detailed help center article (dated 12 Feb 15) appears to apply to US members (it includes a section on printing "Official US Tax Statements (US Only)" The help center article confused me as there is no app found. I'm familiar with the current ability to send payments directly thru online Banking Institution's bill payment systems directly to Church Headquarters by first emailing an information form/application available from donations@ldschurch.org. These direct donations to Church HQ don't show up on your ward's MLS and year-end tax statements are mailed from HQ directly to the address on your information/application form.

tcpeck wrote:It appears there is a future app being developed for online donations; the detailed help center article (dated 12 Feb 15) appears to apply to US members (it includes a section on printing "Official US Tax Statements (US Only)" The help center article confused me as there is no app found. I'm familiar with the current ability to send payments directly thru online Banking Institution's bill payment systems directly to Church Headquarters by first emailing an information form/application available from donations@ldschurch.org. These direct donations to Church HQ don't show up on your ward's MLS and year-end tax statements are mailed from HQ directly to the address on your information/application form.

Very interesting. Here is the article:
https://www.lds.org/help/support/financ ... s?lang=eng

All that's missing is the website URL.

russellhltn wrote:All that's missing is the website URL.

I just tried typing in a random guess and figured out the URL , but it brings up a box that says "This site is currently not available in your area or unit." All I can see behind the box is the generic LDS.org header and a little red tab that says "BETA Feedback".

sbradshaw wrote:These direct donations to Church HQ don't show up on your ward's MLS . . .

Actually, it appears that they do. The instructions tell you to see your ward clerk if you make a mistake and need to change the category of a donation.

I had heard this was coming. It will be wonderful when it gets here, especially because it supports the ward missionary fund. I am actually surprised that you apparently will be able to donate to the ward missionary fund in a different ward, as well.

I look forward to this announcement.

russellhltn wrote:All that's missing is the website URL.

The web site URL is missing because the application is not yet generally available. For those looking for the online documentation: https://www.lds.org/help/support/financ ... -donations

So that the inevitable question of "when" is answered: I don't know for certain. I've heard some estimated release dates in internal discussions, but it's not my place to provide them.

lajackson wrote:I am actually surprised that you apparently will be able to donate to the ward missionary fund in a different ward, as well.

What surprises me is that this appears to expose the name of missionaries serving in a broad (country-wide?) area.

scgallafent wrote:So that the inevitable question of "when" is answered: I don't know for certain. I've heard some estimated release dates in internal discussions, but it's not my place to provide them.

Mindreader! [grin]

I suppose we should still steer interested members toward the bank bill pay system at least until . . . nah, I shouldn't go there. hehehe

But thanks for the encouragement that it actually is coming.

I hope they don't get rid of the bill pay method. I can pay a bill much more quickly by clicking Send on a transaction in Quicken than I can logging into a different web site and setting up my transaction there.

mevans wrote:I hope they don't get rid of the bill pay method. I can pay a bill much more quickly by clicking Send on a transaction in Quicken than I can logging into a different web site and setting up my transaction there.

The reason I really hope that Bill Pay is retained is that I can set up recurring payments that require no effort at all. The new system doesn't mention recurring payments, so you have to remember to go into that system each time you want to make a donation. Hopefully the ability to set up recurring donations will be added at some point; until then, I'll stick with Bill Pay (except for Ward Missionary donations, which aren't possible with Bill Pay but will be possible with the upcoming system).

any new news about WHEN it will be available to the general church members?

ONLINE DONATIONS IS CURRENTLY LIMITED TO BETA USERS ONLY so my question is how to become a beta user

hrhneenerita wrote:so my question is how to become a beta user

Considering all the infrastructure behind this, I strongly suspect you have to belong to a ward that is part of the beta.

hrhneenerita wrote:any new news about WHEN it will be available to the general church members?

The beta test has been going on for several months now. Although we do not know when the system will become available to the general membership, hopefully it will not be too much longer.

russellhltn wrote:

hrhneenerita wrote:so my question is how to become a beta user

I strongly suspect you have to belong to a ward that is part of the beta.

That is correct. You have to belong to a participating stake.

There are some more details about the tithing system in the comments at a blog called "Reach Upward":

I was involved in the development of this online payment system and since it has been opened to a few stakes, I can provide a few details.

It will most likely be available to everyone sometime this year, if not by the next quarter. The beta test has been extremely successful.

All private info is retained by Zions Bank, which has the resources and compliance structure in place to mitigate identity theft.

Once a user sets up a default bank account, paying tithing is quick and easy. It would take no more than one minute of your time to initiate the payment from beginning to end at any time of the day. The Church records your payment on your record the same way as if the ward clerk had done it himself.

It has been so wonderful to see this system created and go live during the beta test. I sincerely hope that its availability will help members(and non-members alike) increase charitable donations because of how easy it will be to do so.

http://reachupward.blogspot.com/2015/03 ... oming.html

sbradshaw wrote:http://reachupward.blogspot.com/2015/03 ... oming.html

Interesting comments.

But if we're taking bets, IF credit cards are accepted, either they will carry a surcharge to use them or they'll be treated as a cash advance by the credit card company. I don't see the church eating the processing fees that are normally paid by the merchant. (As much as I'd love to earn Amazon Gift Cards for paying tithing .....)

russellhltn wrote:IF credit cards are accepted, . . .

Right now, the process is linked to a checking or savings account at a financial institution with a conventional ACH routing number (e.g., bank, credit union).

I do not see any additional options happening in the future, at least in my own personal opinion.

The online donations system has been officially announced:
http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/f ... -donations

sbradshaw wrote:The online donations system has been officially announced:
http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/f ... -donations

The Church Online Donations website will be rolled out to congregations in the US throughout 2015, and the Church will notify local leaders when it is available in their area.

hrhneenerita wrote:ONLINE DONATIONS IS CURRENTLY LIMITED TO BETA USERS ONLY

Now that the official release announcement has been made, you get a nicer popup that says the Online Donations option is not yet available to members of your local unit. Leaders in your local unit will probably make an announcement when the system is available, which should be no later than the end of 2015, as it is rolled out across the U.S.

I noticed that when you sign in at the LDS.org home page, there is now a Donations link in the right column under Tools and Support, so when it does become available it will be easy to get to the site.

I have a question for anyone that has been using the beta. Is it possible for a person to make a donation on behalf of a child in their household? Can I, as a father, use the online system to make a donation that is attributed to my Primary-age daughter?

Although, even if it is possible, she loves taking her envelope to the bishop so much I will probably encourage her to continue to do so.

Does anyone know if there will be an option to keep your donation information private with this new system that is being rolled out, as in not available to be viewed by local ward leadership on the ward computer?

I've been paying my tithing directly to SLC for years through bill pay, and I know that my local ward has no visibility to those donations, which is why I started using the direct bill pay option. Call me crazy, but I don't need the ward clerk, finance clerk, bishopric members and the bishop to know how much money I make.

If privacy is not an option on the new system, I hope that the old bill pay system will remain open as another option.

An initial summary from Mormon Life Hacker said that, indeed, the local leaders would have access to donation records just as they do when you give a donation to a member of the bishopric. This conclusion was supposedly based on a Help Center Document at LDS.org which seems to indicate that local leaders will be able to help correct mistakes, meaning they will be able to access records of donations made through this system. But the church's official document doesn't make it entirely clear (to me, at least. It's just mostly clear).

williamjackson wrote:I have a question for anyone that has been using the beta. Is it possible for a person to make a donation on behalf of a child in their household? Can I, as a father, use the online system to make a donation that is attributed to my Primary-age daughter?

According to the "Answers to General Questions" section of that Help Center page, due to privacy and legal concerns you can only make or view donations linked to your own membership.

jdhjones wrote:If privacy is not an option on the new system, I hope that the old bill pay system will remain open as another option.

The new Online Donation instruction merely say that this is the preferred method of electronic donation. Any online donations using the new system will create a batch in MLS as if the clerk and bishopric member had made the deposit. I do not know how long the current bill pay systems (there are more than one) will be kept.

When I started bank bill pay nearly a year ago, I was not given the "privacy" option. My bank bill pay donations also create a batch in MLS just as if I had handed the bishopric an envelope. I am aware that earlier versions of bank bill pay did allow donations to be kept only at Church headquarters.

Tithing in kind donation records (such as stocks or other securities) are still kept only at headquarters, but that was not your question.

williamjackson wrote:Is it possible for a person to make a donation on behalf of a child in their household? Can I, as a father, use the online system to make a donation that is attributed to my Primary-age daughter?

No. The person donating has to have their own LDS Account. I believe (but do not know for sure) that you have to be eight years old to establish an account, and doing so requires parental permission until age 13 (U.S. federal law requires this).

Also, IIRC, the minimum donation is $1.

lajackson wrote:I believe (but do not know for sure) that you have to be eight years old to establish an account [...]

I can verify that the requirement is eight years old. I just tried it. :)

All is well, though. My daughter had a beaming smile when she came down off the stand after handing her envelope to a member of the bishopric. I will keep that up as long as I can.

Of course, I will have a beaming smile once the online donation system is rolled out to my unit.

scgallafent wrote:So that the inevitable question of "when" is answered: I don't know for certain. I've heard some estimated release dates in internal discussions, but it's not my place to provide them.

And here are the next inevitable questions, for which you should also feel free not to provide an answer. Would you be able to share if the roll out will take place by stake, or by area, or by some other size in between? And do you sense, if the expansion works well, an interest in completing the process earlier than the end of 2015 if possible?

And a bonus question, for the terminally inquisitive. Are the server folks worried about the upcoming stress test? [grin]

Ah, let's just cut to the chase: when's my stake getting it?

lajackson wrote:And here are the next inevitable questions, for which you should also feel free not to provide an answer. Would you be able to share if the roll out will take place by stake, or by area, or by some other size in between? And do you sense, if the expansion works well, an interest in completing the process earlier than the end of 2015 if possible?

I have not heard how the deployment will proceed. Access to the first beta has been on a stake-by-stake basis, but I'm not involved in the discussions about the final deployment. No one wants to drag this out any longer than necessary. There is an internal target for a release date, but it's not mine to share.

lajackson wrote:And a bonus question, for the terminally inquisitive. Are the server folks worried about the upcoming stress test? [grin]

The server folks pay attention to those things. There have also been discussions with the LDS Account folks because a lot of people who haven't needed an LDS Account before will probably create one.

russellhltn wrote:Ah, let's just cut to the chase: when's my stake getting it?

I believe your stake is actually getting it a few weeks after the general release. We want to make sure it's really stable so you have the best possible experience. :rolleyes:

Someone asked if the existing Bill Pay system would be kept. Does anyone know? I really prefer this because I don't have to do double entry. I just initiate it from Quicken and it goes and records it. I know others prefer it for recurring payments. I really hope they keep Bill Pay as an option.

mevans wrote:Someone asked if the existing Bill Pay system would be kept. Does anyone know? I really prefer this because I don't have to do double entry. I just initiate it from Quicken and it goes and records it. I know others prefer it for recurring payments. I really hope they keep Bill Pay as an option.

I don't know how long Bill Pay will be kept, but if you look at Q13 in the Answers to General Questions section of the help doc, there certainly seems to be an implication that Bill Pay will still be an option, even though "Online Donations is the preferred electronic method for donating to the Church."

It was originally setup for people living in areas where there is really no organization to 'accept' their tithing... expats, etc.. so I think we'll see it for a long time. The additional benefit of not reporting it to the local ward can come in handy for certain situations as well.

johnshaw wrote:The additional benefit of not reporting it to the local ward can come in handy for certain situations as well.

The "not reporting it to the local ward" seems to no longer be the case, at least as a default. Every bill pay donation set up in the last year or more will indeed report it to the local ward. But there have been reports of people who set it up long ago where the donations are not reported to the local ward. That may still be an option, but it's certainly not the default, at least in my experience.

Now you must specifically request that donations are not reported to the local ward. They don't ask if you want to keep your donations private, but I believe they will set them up that way if requested.

Thank for sharing.

I have made my donations directly to SLC since living abroad as an expat. I have continued this practice for privacy reasons. How can I ensure that the specifics of my donations are not made available to people at the ward level, i.e., financial clerks and bishops?

You should've been grandfathered into NOT passing your information through to the ward. The way to check is to see if the statement from the Ward contains your contributions.

johnshaw wrote:You should've been grandfathered into NOT passing your information through to the ward. The way to check is to see if the statement from the Ward contains your contributions.

But you have to keep donating in the same way you have been. You can't use the new online system. Those donations always show up in the ward records.

The past donations I made by mailing in my contributions to SLC are visible to the clerk and I assume others.

msanderssmith wrote:The past donations I made by mailing in my contributions to SLC are visible to the clerk and I assume others.

I would assume that if the clerk can see the donations then the bishop(ric?) can as well.

If you feel a need to keep your donations hidden from your home ward, contact donations@ldschurch.org. They should be able to discuss options with you.

I cannot see my husbands tithing donations on my account. I checked under "settings" and his name is listed on my tithing slips - but not the donations. So I assumed he needed to set up his own account for donations but it tells me he already has an account. How do we access his donations also?

caroljeanv wrote:I cannot see my husbands tithing donations on my account. I checked under "settings" and his name is listed on my tithing slips - but not the donations.

Donations can only be connected to one member, since donations by a member are connected by the member's MRN (Membership Record Number). Although there is a provision for statements to include the spouse's name as well as the donor's name, that doesn't change the fact that the donations are connected only to the donor. And with the online donation system, only the donor can see the donations that are connected to his or her MRN.

For donations you make using the Online Donation system, only you will be able to see them. But for donations made in your ward (by giving an envelope to a member of the bishopric), the donations will be credited to the donor selected by the clerks to connect the donation to. That is typically the first name listed on the donation slip, but you'd need to check with your ward clerk or financial clerk to be sure.

caroljeanv wrote:So I assumed he needed to set up his own account for donations but it tells me he already has an account. How do we access his donations also?

If he already has an account, then he needs to sign in to LDS.org in order to see those donations. If he doesn't remember his username or password, he can go to https://ldsaccount.lds.org to recover his username and password.

caroljeanv wrote:I cannot see my husbands tithing donations on my account. I checked under "settings" and his name is listed on my tithing slips - but not the donations. So I assumed he needed to set up his own account for donations but it tells me he already has an account. How do we access his donations also?

From the FAQs

Q8. Why can’t I see my spouse’s donations when I log into Online Donations?

A8. For legal and privacy reasons, donations are recorded under individual membership records. However, your spouse’s name can be displayed on reports. Go to Settings, and, under Preferences, click the Display spouse name check box. Your spouse would need to log into Online Donations using their LDS Account in order to see donations recorded under their member record number. Likewise, you cannot see your spouse’s donations, but your name can appear on his or her donation slips and reports if they check Display spouse name.

Do ward clerks see all donations? I want to donate tithing without the ward clerk seeing how much my donation is. I don't care about fast offerings, missionary fund or others but do not want my tithing donations known. Is this possible? If not I will continue to donate at the church office building each year.

jmsimonsen wrote:Do ward clerks see all donations? I want to donate tithing without the ward clerk seeing how much my donation is. I don't care about fast offerings, missionary fund or others but do not want my tithing donations known. Is this possible?

The clerks can see all the donations made via the Online Donation system this forum is about. It is not possible to change that.

There is a method via bill pay that might be able to hide it - but I'm not completely convinced about it's future if it requires any manual processing.

Once everything is set up correctly the Bill Pay method requires no manual processing. For bill pay, each general church fund (Tithing, Fast Offering, Humanitarian Aid, etc.) is a separate payee and an account number associates the payment with a member. The bill pay method has no capacity for making payments to local accounts (such as in support of a missionary). By default, the bill pay contributions are seen by the local leaders, but it may be possible to request that they be kept private. Any inquiries about donating via bill pay should be directed to donations@ldschurch.org.

To set up bill pay donations, you will need to provide your name, membership number, address, phone number, email address, and name of the financial institution you wish to send donations from. You may also indicate the name of your spouse to indicate on reports (but the donation will only associate with one membership record). After providing the required information, donations@ldschurch.org will provide customized instructions for setting up bill pay to make donations. Online donations and donating directly to your local unit are preferred methods of donating, but bill pay is still an approved method.

I've been using Bill Pay for a long time. My local unit does not see any contributions that I make through bill pay. As of 2 or 3 years ago, Salt Lake started sending me a combined tax receipt that includes all donations made directly to church headquarters as well as my local contributions.

From what I've seen discussed here, anyone setting up a new bill pay to church headquarters is automatically opted in to share this information with the local units, but you can still ask them to not share that with the local units. That would go for all contributions you make through bill pay, not just tithing.

lajackson wrote:

williamjackson wrote:Is it possible for a person to make a donation on behalf of a child in their household? Can I, as a father, use the online system to make a donation that is attributed to my Primary-age daughter?

No. The person donating has to have their own LDS Account. I believe (but do not know for sure) that you have to be eight years old to establish an account, and doing so requires parental permission until age 13 (U.S. federal law requires this).

And for youth that do have a parent-approved LDS Account, they must be 13 years of age or older to make a donation online.

My daughter lives in the US Virgin Islands and just tried to pay her tithing online (through a US bank) and received the following message: "The Online donation system is not available in your area or unit. Currently, the Online Donation system is available only in the United States." Can you tell us when the option to pay online might be available to members in her branch? Thanks!

You (she) may get a false message if she doesn't have a valid primary email address associated with her account. I'd suggest she go to ldsaccount.lds.org, go to the "Contact" tab and make sure there's an address in the first "Email Address" slot.

Otherwise, there's probably some legal or banking issues. I doubt if there's any timetable to resolve that.

If the email address is not the problem, annother alternative may be to set up bill pay with donations@ldschurch.org.