Knowledge Base

Tales From Tech 2 - Issue: 7

Dealing with the abnormal: Non-cash Contributions and UFO's... that's Unidentified Funds in the Offering plate.

Today I am thrilled to announce that we have another winner in our "Give Tech 2 a Suggestion for an Upcoming Newsletter and if Your Suggestion is Used You'll Win a Fabulous, Limited Edition, PowerChurch Plus Mug" contest! (See Volume 4.5 for contest rules and guidelines.)

Beth at the First Presbyterian Church in Mount Vernon, Illinois suggested that I talk about how to enter non-cash contributions so that individuals get credit for them on their Contribution Statements. When I read her suggestion, I thought that I might also want to talk a little about how to handle loose plate offerings. Since I came up with the idea of discussing loose plate gifts, I'll give myself a mug in addition to the one I'm sending Beth. (Of course, I already have 62 fabulous, limited edition, PowerChurch Plus mugs at home, but what's one more?) Anyway, thinking about contributions and gifts reminded me of that old saying: You can lead a gift horse to water, but don't kiss him on the mouth.

DOUGHNUTS AND DOUGH NOTS

I've heard that people in the old days used to contribute chickens and other farm animals to the church. Today, contributors might give a can of paint, office supplies or some other non-cash contribution and they'd probably like to get credit for the item on their Contributions Statement.

In order to enter and post a contribution (so it appears on the Contribution Statement) you must have a Contribution Fund set up. This is done through the Maintain List of Contribution Funds screen. The fund number and name are entirely up to you. I sort of like "Non-cash Gifts," but that's just me. What you want to consider carefully is what (if any) accounts you want to debit and credit when these non-cash contributions are received.

When you set up your contribution fund, you might not choose to affect accounts in Fund Accounting. If you leave the Debit and Credit Account Numbers as 00-0000-000, then no contributions to that fund will be transferred to Fund Accounting when you post in Contributions.

If you do want to affect Fund Accounting with these contributions, pay close attention to what accounts you affect. I can't tell you which accounts to use from your Charts of Accounts, but I can say that you probably don't want to affect the church's checking account since you can't deposit a can of paint. (And, if someone does indeed contribute a chicken to the church, please don't walk down to the bank and try to put it in the vault. People will stare at you. Trust me, I know. Besides, I really doubt any chicken would like being cooped up in a vault all day!)

As a side note here, if you do print out and use the Bank Deposit Slip report in Contributions, you might want to enter and post your non-cash contributions separately since you don't want them to be included in those numbers.

PENNIES FROM HEAVEN

Sometimes I'm asked what to do about money that's found on the floor or at the bottom of the collection plate when you have no idea who it's from. Certainly, you can't just stick it in your pocket (yes, I'm talking to you now). You've got to enter it into Contributions. But, what envelope number do you give credit to?

What many churches do is set up a non-existent person (in a non-existent family) with an easy to remember envelope number and they give that person credit for the contribution.

You can call the person anything you want, but some of my favorites include Johnny or Lucy Cash. (Get it? Lucy Cash. Loose Cash. That still makes me laugh.)

As a side note here, you might choose to give them an envelope number outside of the range of numbers you've given your members so that you can exclude them from reports or when you print statements. (Of course, you might want them on reports. I don't know. It's up to you.) Either way, you might give them the church's address in case you accidentally send out a statement or print a label for them. You might also want to exclude them from mailouts and Membership reports, but again, that's up to you.


Created: 08/14/2000
Last updated: 07/25/2021