Entering fundraiser money

Our scouts are embarking on their approved annual fundraiser tomorrow, where they are collecting Christmas trees for recycling. They have distributed envelopes stamped with the troop number to every house in the ward boundaries with printed instructions to attach it to the tree or place it on their front door with their donation.

As a newly called financial clerk, I am aware that these donations go into our "Other" category for scout camp, but what donor should they come from? It's fairly obvious that the cash donations could be entered as an "Anonymous" donation, but should I attempt to enter donors based on checks that people write? That could quickly become a nightmare based on the number of "single time" donors that we may have, but there will be members of the ward (like myself) that may benefit from the bookkeeping. No slips of any kind have been included in the envelope.

As a side question, both the cubs and older scouts are participating in this. We are dividing up the money based on the number of scouts that help. I'm thinking it would be easiest to enter all of the donations to the "scout camp" subcategory and then do a transfer of the relevant amount to the cub's "day camp" category or vice versa. Is this allowed or is there an easier way to do this?

Thanks in advance for your advice.

oregonmatt wrote:Our scouts are embarking on their approved annual fundraiser tomorrow, where they are collecting Christmas trees for recycling. They have distributed envelopes stamped with the troop number to every house in the ward boundaries with printed instructions to attach it to the tree or place it on their front door with their donation.

As a newly called financial clerk, I am aware that these donations go into our "Other" category for scout camp, but what donor should they come from? It's fairly obvious that the cash donations could be entered as an "Anonymous" donation, but should I attempt to enter donors based on checks that people write? That could quickly become a nightmare based on the number of "single time" donors that we may have, but there will be members of the ward (like myself) that may benefit from the bookkeeping. No slips of any kind have been included in the envelope.

Since those who contribute to the fund-raiser are getting a service for their money, it is not a tax-deductible donation. Furthermore, all payments to the "Other" category are specifically excluded from the year-end Official Tax Statement. So there's not a lot of benefit to the individual donors in making separate donation slips for each person.

However, one scenario where it could be helpful is if any of the checks bounce. In that case, you'll be told the name of the person who wrote the check and the amount, but you'll have to be able to go into MLS to cancel that portion of the donation attributable to the bounced check. You need to make sure that you will have some way to make that connection so that you can properly cancel the donation.

But if you have some other means of matching up checks to donors, you could just create a miscellaneous donor like "Christmas Tree Project" and enter all the donations for that one donor.

oregonmatt wrote:As a side question, both the cubs and older scouts are participating in this. We are dividing up the money based on the number of scouts that help. I'm thinking it would be easiest to enter all of the donations to the "scout camp" subcategory and then do a transfer of the relevant amount to the cub's "day camp" category or vice versa. Is this allowed or is there an easier way to do this?

I think that you have hit on the most practical way to handle this. It is straightforward, and the single transfer leaves a reasonable audit trail. That's how I would handle it (and have done in a very similar situation in the past).

To raise camp funds, our troop posts US flags in people's yards for select holidays and last year for the first time we lumped all the donations into a single anonymous donation because of many of the reasons stated above. However as much of a hassle as it is, I will be going back to individual slips from now on for the following reasons:

1. Because of a change in leadership, there was some confusion over who had donated and who had not, and unfortunately this was the first year I couldn't rely on MLS to easily sort it out.

2. We try to keep a map that includes the names and addresses of all who reside in our rather small ward boundary. The map is used by the Bishop, emergency prep leader, and ward mission leader. Since many of the nonmembers in our boundary enjoy contributing to the scouts (and receiving a service in return), their checks provide us a good way to double check this information.

3. Some of the donations are in cash and are handled by both youth and adults alike before finally getting turned in, often times not until several weeks after it's collected. Keeping individual records provides a better check that all the funds were properly turned in. (A member who had paid for his flags in cash asked me why his contribution did not show up on his YTD summary as it had in the past. He was concerned that it somehow didn't make it all the way into the camp fund. I explained to him that we handled the funds differently this past year, but when pressed, I could not testify to him that his donation was recorded with the rest. This put me in a rather uncomfortable position.)

Alan_Brown wrote:However, one scenario where it could be helpful is if any of the checks bounce.

Another scenario, and more important, is if the funds need to be returned to the donor for whatever reason. Checks can be returned. With cash it is more difficult to determine the donor unless a donation slip is included with the cash.

Even though it requires more work on the front end, having a donation slip for each donor makes this a lot easier if the donation ever needs to be returned, because there is an audit trail that can be retraced.

As much as possible, I would fill out a donation slip for every contribution where the donor and amount are known.

RETURNING FUNDS ONLY APPLIES TO DONATIONS MADE TO THE "OTHER" ACCOUNT.

DONATIONS TO TITHING, FAST OFFERINGS, WARD MISSIONARIES, ETC. IMMEDIATELY BECOME THE PROPERTY OF THE CHURCH AND CANNOT BE RETURNED.

jbh001 wrote:Another scenario, and more important, is if the funds need to be returned to the donor for whatever reason.

I understand the returned check scenario, but I'm having a hard time coming up with another reason someone would want their money back from a fundraiser. I guess it all depends on the project. In our case, it is a one-time tree pickup. The service was rendered and the donation was made. If the person's tree is gone, I'd certainly have to give them a hard time if they wanted their money back. It might be more applicable in the case of the holiday flag project where someone might want to cancel halfway through the year or get their money back if they were missed.

oregonmatt wrote:I understand the returned check scenario, but I'm having a hard time coming up with another reason someone would want their money back from a fundraiser. I guess it all depends on the project. In our case, it is a one-time tree pickup. The service was rendered and the donation was made. If the person's tree is gone, I'd certainly have to give them a hard time if they wanted their money back. It might be more applicable in the case of the holiday flag project where someone might want to cancel halfway through the year or get their money back if they were missed.

The problem arises when the funds raised exceed the cost of the single scout camp -- the only allowable purpose of the fundraising. Accumulating surpluses in Other Accounts are not allowed. The surplus is supposed to be returned to the contibutors.

boomerbubba wrote:The problem arises when the funds raised exceed the cost of the single scout camp

Thank you for your optimism. I'll gladly cross that bridge if I come to it.

boomerbubba wrote:Accumulating surpluses in Other Accounts are not allowed. The surplus is supposed to be returned to the contibutors.

I know this, but in this kind of scenario, who would get the money if it is partially but mostly used? The refund directive seems to only be doable in the case where the Other account is truly used as a passthrough account, as in the case of payment for a specific Enrichment project where the person changes their mind about it, etc. Direction for the single allowed fundraiser seems to be missing. I'd hate to have to write a hundred checks for $1.50 each...

boomerbubba wrote:The problem arises when the funds raised exceed the cost of the single scout camp -- the only allowable purpose of the fundraising. Accumulating surpluses in Other Accounts are not allowed. The surplus is supposed to be returned to the contibutors.

I've never seen a policy where a surplus is to be returned to contributors to fundraising activities. If the scouts actually make payments for the camp itself, and the camp costs less than is raised, then the excess is to be returned to those who paid, but I don't see how that policy applies to those who make payments for the services involved in a fund-raiser.

I also think that you are reading the policy on surpluses a bit narrowly -- as I read it, as long as funds are to be used for the specific purpose, raised funds don't have to all be used in a particular calendar year or for a particular instance of the purpose.

But I raise that possibility not to get into a debate on the meaning of the policy, but simply to mention that there are other possible interpretations. Local leaders and auditors have the responsibility for making the definitive interpretations of the written policy for their particular units.

oregonmatt wrote:I know this, but in this kind of scenario, who would get the money if it is partially but mostly used? The refund directive seems to only be doable in the case where the Other account is truly used as a passthrough account, as in the case of payment for a specific Enrichment project where the person changes their mind about it, etc. Direction for the single allowed fundraiser seems to be missing. I'd hate to have to write a hundred checks for $1.50 each...

As you described the fundraiser in your scenario you expect to have known and unknown contributors. You can only return funds to known contributors. For those people there are two options. They can either request a refund of their contribution or they can designate a charitable category to transfer the funds into. You should honor their wishes even for small amounts. I personally would try to convince them to select the second option. For the unknown contributors the procedure is to write a check to the Corporation of the President. In the “Purpose” field, enter “Surplus ‘Other’ Funds.” Send the check to Disbursing Office, 50 E North Temple St. Rm 1524, Salt Lake City, UT 84150-3612.

oregonmatt wrote:I know this, but in this kind of scenario, who would get the money if it is partially but mostly used? The refund directive seems to only be doable in the case where the Other account is truly used as a passthrough account, as in the case of payment for a specific Enrichment project where the person changes their mind about it, etc. Direction for the single allowed fundraiser seems to be missing. I'd hate to have to write a hundred checks for $1.50 each...

When I was in a ward in another stake the way the excess for a fund raiser was handled was to write a check to the Corporation of the President and the check was sent to the Disbursing Office, 50 E North Temple St. Rm 1524, Salt Lake City, UT 84150-3612. No effort was made to return funds to anyone. It was just not considered possible to do.

Side note: To help track the check situation for checks returned for insufficient funds a file with the check number, contributor's name, and the contribution amount was kept. When a check was returned then the fund raiser check list was cross checked to see if that was were the check came from. Since I did not actually do this I am not sure how well it worked in regards to doing reconcilliations. This was in the FIS and not MLS days.

Alan_Brown wrote:I also think that you are reading the policy on surpluses a bit narrowly -- as I read it, as long as funds are to be used for the specific purpose, raised funds don't have to all be used in a particular calendar year or for a particular instance of the purpose.

But I raise that possibility not to get into a debate on the meaning of the policy, but simply to mention that there are other possible interpretations. Local leaders and auditors have the responsibility for making the definitive interpretations of the written policy for their particular units.

I kind of read it this way as well. I'll certainly check with the appropriate folks to make sure I've got it how they want it.

Speaking of auditors, after coming up for air after tithing settlement I printed out my first copy of the audit form. Alas, that's a topic for another thread.

Alan_Brown wrote:I also think that you are reading the policy on surpluses a bit narrowly -- as I read it, as long as funds are to be used for the specific purpose, raised funds don't have to all be used in a particular calendar year or for a particular instance of the purpose.
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I would very much like to believe in a less restrictive interpretation. If we could have a revolving subaccount for scout camp and another for cub day camp, with balances carried forward, it would make life much easier.

But our auditor has dinged us in the past for carrying forward positive balances after the particular annual camps were paid for. Thus, we recently zeroed out the balances of these subaccounts before the end of 2008, writing the checks to CHQ as jdlessley described above because prorating all the refunds was not feasible.

boomerbubba wrote:I would very much like to believe in a less restrictive interpretation. If we could have a revolving subaccount for scout camp and another for cub day camp, with balances carried forward, it would make life much easier.

But our auditor has dinged us in the past for carrying forward positive balances after the particular annual camps were paid for.

I think the key lies in audit checklist item 38, which describes "pass-through funds" and states that the "Other" category is "often used" for that purpose. The word "often" connotes to me "but not always". That word, taken with the reconciliation process called for in 37 and the wording of checklist question 22 might convince your auditor otherwise. It has convinced me (but since I'm a newbie, I've yet to be audited myself ).

oregonmatt wrote:I think the key lies in audit checklist item 38, which describes "pass-through funds" and states that the "Other" category is "often used" for that purpose. The word "often" connotes to me "but not always". That word, taken with the reconciliation process called for in 37 and the wording of checklist question 22 might convince your auditor otherwise. It has convinced me (but since I'm a newbie, I've yet to be audited myself ).

Auditors do not interpret Church policies or procedures. Before an audit cycle, auditors are trained or retrained as the case may be. That is when questions regarding issues such as this are brought up. In our stake, if questions such as this come up during an audit and has not been addressed in the pre-audit training we are instructed to call the audit committee chairman to receive further guidance. I have found that each stake president interprets carrying forward funds from fund-raisers differently. My current stake president does not allow carrying funds forward from one camp to the next. In contrast I had another stake president permit fund-raiser fund carry-over from one camp to the next.

jdlessley wrote:I have found that each stake president interprets carrying forward funds from fund-raisers differently. My current stake president does not allow carrying funds forward from one camp to the next. In contrast I had another stake president permit fund-raiser fund carry-over from one camp to the next.

Since there does seem to be a variance of opinion, and we have a new stake presidency, I will suggest to our bishop that we inquire specifically through priesthood channels about what interpretation of policy applies to our ward. I will suggest to my bishop that we do so, lest we apply more restrictive rules than necessary. Given the original poster's question, it might be prudent if he does the same, lest he apply less restrictive rules than are required in his unit.

Just to throw another option into the mix: In our area there is a Regional Singles Conference. Each year, any money left over is kept to the next year as seed money to help pay for flyers, registration forms, and of those expenses incurred before any income from registrations. So in this case there's always a carry over, but in the long term there is no profit or surplus. It's simply a "seed" that is consumed and replenished each cycle.

boomerbubba wrote:Given the original poster's question, it might be prudent if he does the same, lest he apply less restrictive rules than are required in his unit.

I will most certainly do so. Since this is the first fundraiser in quite some time I have about a year to get it right. Should be enough time.

Thanks all for your input!

In the event you don't use all of the money from a fund raiser, you may hold it over for the next years' annual camp. Remember, these funds may be used to buy group equipment for those camps, such as tents, cook stoves, etc. The idea is that next year, you will have a fund raiser that won't raise as much money, and you will use the left over from the prior year if possible. People will not get tax donation credit for this, and unless the unit charged a person a specific amount (rather than a fund raiser) and didn't use all of it, then, yes, you could refund to that person.
The problem with the audit is when you can't account for the funds in the Other account and you spend them willy nilly. You have to spend the money for the purpose it was brought in for. If you aren't going to do that, then you have two options 1) send a check to headquarters as surplus funds, or 2) if you are in need in the Ward Missionary category, you can write a check from the sub account of Other and deposit it into Ward Missionary. Once you do that, you can not move it back to Other in the future.

Hope this helps.

LSS wrote:You have to spend the money for the purpose it was brought in for. If you aren't going to do that, then you have two options 1) send a check to headquarters as surplus funds, or 2) if you are in need in the Ward Missionary category, you can write a check from the sub account of Other and deposit it into Ward Missionary. Once you do that, you can not move it back to Other in the future.

This is interesting, but doesn't match what is taught in the Understanding and Using the "Other" Category online lesson. That says (on slides 24-25):

If there are excess funds in the “Other” category, and the funds do not have an identified purpose, you should first try to identify what the original purpose was. If you cannot identify the purpose, clear the funds by printing a check from the “Other” subcategory, payable to Corporation of the President. In the “Purpose” field, enter “Surplus ‘Other’ Funds.” Send the check to the address on the screen.
If the purpose of the excess funds is identified, and the funds were not used for the intended purpose, you can either:
Return the leftover funds to the member by printing a check payable to the member from the applicable “Other” subcategory.
Or obtain permission from the member to change the category of the donation from “Other” to a charitable category such as fast offering or humanitarian aid.

You described an option for transferring funds to the Ward Missionary fund, which I have not seen documented anywhere. What is the source for this policy?

If it is indeed policy, why is it not documented in the training lesson?

Alan_Brown wrote:This is interesting, but doesn't match what is taught in the Understanding and Using the "Other" Category online lesson. That says (on slides 24-25):



You described an option for transferring funds to the Ward Missionary fund, which I have not seen documented anywhere. What is the source for this policy?

If it is indeed policy, why is it not documented in the training lesson?

Sorry, I should have clarified "if the funds are unknown ", however if they were from a fundraiser that you can not identify the participants (most units usually can't, so it would be impossible to divide it up and give it back) and you aren't going to use it for the next year's camp or equipment, then you can put it into Ward Missionary, if there is a true need or send it to church headquarters as surplus funds.

This is an option we have given to units that have no idea where the funds came from and/or can't identify who contributed in the fund raiser, and are not going to use the funds for the next year and have a deficit and /or need in their ward missionary account. The important thing is you can not use these funds for other activities.



I'm sorry if I have confused the issue.

LSS wrote:In the event you don't use all of the money from a fund raiser, you may hold it over for the next years' annual camp.

This indeed is found in the "Other Account" training material (in the bottom "caveat" box) on slide 12. I didn't notice it the first time through. Another good reason to review the training materials often... I guess I have my question answered.

oregonmatt wrote:This indeed is found in the "Other Account" training material (in the bottom "caveat" box) on slide 12. I didn't notice it the first time through. Another good reason to review the training materials often... I guess I have my question answered.

Excellent catch!

Your find is a perfect example of the wisdom of Bishop Burton's advice:

Clerks and auditors should take the training when they are newly called and then again after they have been serving for a period of time.

There's no way a clerk can catch all the details the first time through the training. Only after he has some experience under his belt is he in a position to notice some of those subtleties. Also, all the training lessons were updated in 2008, so if you took the lessons prior to 2008, there is something new for you to learn.

IS there any policy that bans the exchange of cash at the chapel if we are doing a fundraiser as a cake auction at the chapel rec hall?

ttmetusela wrote: Thu Mar 31, 2022 12:28 am IS there any policy that bans the exchange of cash at the chapel if we are doing a fundraiser as a cake auction at the chapel rec hall?

Not as far as I can find. However General Handbook does say "Only the bishop and his counselors may receive tithes and other offerings" (34.5.2)

Also, under fundraisers, it prohibits things that would be taxable.

Your state may have requirements regarding food items that are sold. Many require that it be cooked in a commercial kitchen witch would be out of reach of the members.