Recording fund raiser to budget

One of our wards is having a fundraiser for their summer camps. They are putting on a ticketed dinner and an auction. How do you generally handle recording donations. Do you try to record individual entries for tickets and any auctions linked to a member record, or is there a better way. Personally, I have always linked it to the members record, but also know the book keeping nightmare it creates for the clerk. So, if anyone has a better suggestions, I'd love to learn. Especially curious now that we are recording the donations to a budget account, instead of a member financed activity account.

Thanks.

I've always encouraged my units to use the normal process: money in envelope with donation slip given to member of the bishopric and recorded normally. I don't know of anything in the handbook or other procedures which allows for different procedures for fundraisers.

I'd likewise encourage running a tight ship with fund raiser donations. I've seen many times where "random" (aka non-Bishopric) members are collecting the donations, either taking money into a lock-box at the door, or taking checks from members during an auction. Adhering to policy is not only the right thing just because, but it really avoids potential issues where donations are accidentally lost or mis-counted (as well as the potential for intentional misappropriation of funds when passing through multiple hands).

That said, your OP does raise a valid point about good/better/best ways to try and organize the whole process. I think our local experience isn't anything anyone else would want to model, so I'm looking for other ideas here as well

As of Sep 9, 2022:
Historically, some units have accepted cash contributions and even invited members to make cash contributions to fund service projects organized at the ward or stake level such as Christmas “Sub for Santa” collections, refugees and homeless shelter assistance initiatives, and many others. While these initiatives are founded in the desire to follow the Savior’s commandment to love our neighbor, accepting cash for these purposes is not in compliance with financial policy and guidelines – some cases may even increase tax or legal risk to the Church – and must be discontinued. However, collecting items to be distributed to individuals and families in need may be an acceptable alternative.

That policy does apply to all other fundraisers, but a single annual fundraiser for camps is still allowed (per both the same letter dated Sept 9, 2022 and the general handbook). The original question here is about how to process the donations from this annual fundraiser (assuming it is needed--which shouldn't be a given).

With the Authorize Member Financed Activities (AMFA) category gone, the only option is directly into a budget category. Perhaps you (and I) will need to create a Camp Subcatergory under the Young Men's and Young Women's budgets and use those to track those donations?

jonathan_call wrote: Sun Dec 18, 2022 2:28 pm With the Authorize Member Financed Activities (AMFA) category gone, the only option is directly into a budget category. Perhaps you (and I) will need to create a Camp Subcatergory under the Young Men's and Young Women's budgets and use those to track those donations?

That's what I am recommending to the units in my stake.