Tracking donations

[RC_USER]

ex. Currently our Benevolent donations are not deposited (usually small amounts <$75, kept in safe)
I would like to make sure contributor gets credit for it. Im thinking setup a contribution fund and enter here and once I set up accounting make sure I don't include it?

Also does PC allow you to keep track of recipients of Benevolent funds?

Note: haven't set up accounting yet. Plan to next week after accounting class.

Thanks
New User 2013
PC 11.5

[NeilZ]

ex. Currently our Benevolent donations are not deposited (usually small amounts <$75, kept in safe)
I would like to make sure contributor gets credit for it. Im thinking setup a contribution fund and enter here and once I set up accounting make sure I don't include it?

Also does PC allow you to keep track of recipients of Benevolent funds?

Note: haven't set up accounting yet. Plan to next week after accounting class.

Thanks
New User 2013
PC 11.5

Um .. you don't want to track the money in Accounting ?? How would you dispense the money you collect, directly out of the safe ?? On a strict fiduciary basis, that is not a good way to handle it, there is no audit trail, and it leaves perfectly honest people open to charges if money disappears. I would track the money in a separate Accounting fund, you can use the same checking account, but you would have an idea of how much is coming in, and how much is available.

Currently, Powerchurch does not track benevolences unless you wish to setup a special vendor for it, and add names in the notes field of the check transaction. If you don't want to issue checks, you could treat the cash in the safe as 'petty cash', and replenish the money issued by writing a check for petty cash, and enter the name of the person receiving the benevolence there.

[RC_USER]

Thank You!

Trying to get back on track,
I need an example on the best way to go about members that contribute/donate to a Benevolent Fund?
Ex. If a member writes on his envelope "Benevolent" what do I need to do? Aren't benevolent donations not
tax deductible?

[NeilZ]

Thank You!

Trying to get back on track,
I need an example on the best way to go about members that contribute/donate to a Benevolent Fund?
Ex. If a member writes on his envelope "Benevolent" what do I need to do? Aren't benevolent donations not
tax deductible?

Setup a temporarily restricted income account in Funds Accounting, then when you write a check for benevolences you release the money from the restricted account. You can find out more about the restricted accounts in the Powerchurch help.

Once you have that setup, you setup a Contribution Fund that uses your standard checking account, and the restricted income account as the income account. You can find out more about setting up Contribution accounts in the Powerchurch help.

In other words, you set it up in Contributions the same way you would any other Contribution fund.

[RC_USER]

Thanks

[Jeff]

Aren't benevolent donations not
tax deductible?

This might depend on how the church handles the money that is received. There are several issues with benevolence giving that need to be addressed. Here are a couple of links that explain more of issues involved.

Are Designated Gifts for Individuals Tax Deductible?
http://blog.managingyourchurch.com/2013 ... indiv.html

BENEVOLENCE: THE RIGHT HELP GIVEN THE RIGHT WAY
http://www.wkpz.com/content/files/Benev ... %20Way.pdf