Making Fast Offering Donations to another unit

Is it possible to make a fast offering donation to another unit e.g. for the purpose of assisting an individual or family getting church assistance from that particular ward?

I don't believe so. All fast offering donations are swept to CHQ regardless of local needs. And then funds are dispersed as checks are written. So, there's really no point in doing so.

magidale wrote:Is it possible to make a fast offering donation to another unit e.g. for the purpose of assisting an individual or family getting church assistance from that particular ward?

The current online donation system does not support it. The only way you could do this is to send the contribution directly to the assisting unit by mail or other similar delivery means.

And even if you did that, it would be up to the bishop there to determine how the contribution was used. There are some tax implications here, as well, in the U.S.

lajackson wrote:And even if you did that, it would be up to the bishop there to determine how the contribution was used.

If it's to be called a fast offering, I don't think there is any discretion. If it is deposited as a fast offering, then the funds will swept to CHQ. If the funds are used directly, then it wouldn't be called a fast offering.

Either way, the bishop will have the funds he needs to assist within the guidelines of the church.

russellhltn wrote:

lajackson wrote:And even if you did that, it would be up to the bishop there to determine how the contribution was used.

If it's to be called a fast offering, I don't think there is any discretion.

Rather than "how", I would have better said, "for whom". And as you have indicated, what is not used in a ward goes to the Church for use elsewhere as needed.

lajackson wrote:And as you have indicated, what is not used in a ward goes to the Church for use elsewhere as needed.

Unless something has changed, everything deposited to FO goes to CHQ. All checks written on FO are drawn on CHQ funds. At the ward level, the FO account is always zero. So donations have no connection to disbursements.

It may be that, in the past, there was some kind of requirement that an individual ward's fast offering expenses could not exceed the fast offering donations. Indeed, there are still stories of ward and stake leaders asking their clerks for income/expense reports to confirm that they are not "over-spending" when it comes to fast offerings. But, as others have stated, this does not apply now (if it ever did). So your Fast Offering to your own ward will be just as helpful to someone in another ward as it would be to someone in your own ward. Don't worry about it.

gregwanderson wrote:But, as others have stated, this does not apply now (if it ever did).

It might trigger scrutiny, but as long as everything is being done right, there's no problem. If things should be done better, then it's best to get the advice/training rather than attempt to run under the radar.

If you want to contribute directly to them buy a gift card and send it anonymously - as has been stated, all FO a Bishop authorizes are covered, there is nothing that says a Bishop can't help because he's somehow over a 'limit'.

Tax deductible donations like Fast Offerings cannot be directed to a specific person. It's also inappropriate to use church accounts to anonymize a charitable gift.

There is no actual rule about FO income exceeding expenditures, however that ratio can be a useful tool for local leaders on ward and stake levels to monitor the faithfulness of members and unmet temporal needs on a unit level.

gregwanderson wrote:It may be that, in the past, there was some kind of requirement that an individual ward's fast offering expenses could not exceed the fast offering donations. Indeed, there are still stories of ward and stake leaders asking their clerks for income/expense reports to confirm that they are not "over-spending" when it comes to fast offerings.

daveywest wrote:There is no actual rule about FO income exceeding expenditures, however that ratio can be a useful tool for local leaders on ward and stake levels to monitor the faithfulness of members and unmet temporal needs on a unit level.

In my monthly PPI with my Stake President, we spend 5-10 minutes reviewing ward finances. We live in an area where we are usually able to "pull our own weight" so to speak as far as we receive more FO than we pay out. This applies both in our ward as well as the stake as a whole I believe. There's really no need for a Bishop or SP to request this information from the clerks as it is all readily available on the monthly unit financial statements which we are reviewing and signing monthly anyhow. Or at least we should be.