Counting cash donations?  We try to always have two church Members count the donations every week. We do this as we do not want just one person counting.

1) someone suggested ...

Tithing  Do you know where on the 1040a I put the amount I tithed to my church?

Thanks

Paul Ingram

Charging Overhead to Non-Profits  We house several non-profit organizations in our facilities, and we process contributions and expenses for them. We are looking for an easy, fair, and ...

entering donation for building fund on donor record  I entered a contribution from a donor to the building fund on the donor statement to track tithes and offerings but when I enter it doesn't show the amount ...

Single Contribution checks less than $250.00  Some families turn in their offering envelopes every Sunday. Some families turn them in maybe once a month.

Let's say a family only attends church ...

Vehicle Loaned for Pastor's Use  We have two members who loaned their vehicle for the pastor's use during a time when he didn't own a car.

They would like to receive a contribution ...

Donated Space Acknowledgment  How do we acknowledge the contribution of donated space/utilities for a fundraiser?

I have been told that a qualifying statement/disclaimer needs to ...

Mailing Contributions  We have a very large church and we hand out our contribution statments. Every year we have several left over from where our members either did not want ...

Discounted merchandise donation  A local company allowed us to purchase carpet padding at a discounted price and now wants us to provide a tax deduction receipt for the difference b/w ...

Gifts smaller than $250  Our church has never kept records and issued receipts for gifts less than $250.

We get somewhat regular questions from new attenders who want all ...

Accounting for facility rental fees.  Our church lets outside groups use our facility and asks for a "donation" for use of such areas, I assume to avoid unrelated business use issues. Should ...

On Line Contributions  We are a new church and want to encourage on line giving. However, all of the searching we have done has indicated a need to use a third party to make ...

Do we need to keep the tithing envelopes?  We are a small church and have small tithing envelopes that our congregation can choose to use to put their tithes in.

I was told by the retiring secretary ...

Federal Tax ID  Are there any dangers for putting the church tax id on a member's contribution letter? Can the church include the Federal tax id number on the contribution ...

Checks being copied  As a new church administrative secretary I am fully aware of the worries of making sure everything we do is legitimate.

I agree, keeping actual copies ...

How Do You Handle Pastoral Support?   Question regarding pastor’s love offerings:

The Pastor does not receive a salary from the church, however, on a weekly basics he does receive an offering,...

Annual Giving Statements   Question regarding including certain amounts on the annual giving statements.

Our pastor's daughter recently graduated from high school and had now ...

Recording and Acknowledging a Noncash Donation  Regarding a noncash contribution: We were blessed to have someone gift our church a building for our church. The building was appraised at $360,000.
We ...

Pastor's Tithes  Question regarding Pastor's tithes.

Our church of course has a pastor, however, my pastor has a pastoral covering to whom our church pays tithes off ...

Donated Supplies  Question regarding noncash donations.

Sometimes people purchase things for our church - classroom supplies, food for church events, etc. and turn the ...

Is an annual contribution receipt required by law?   I understand that it is a good idea for members to receive a giving receipt at the end of the year for their cash donations, but our newly started church ...

MEMBERS CONTRUBTIONS LETTERS  My family has been attending our recent church for 1 year and has faithfully been giving our tithes and offering. Should we still get a contributions statement?...

Musical Instruments donated to our church  We have in the past had members donate stuff to the church, but when they leave, they claim it back. Is there a form that we could get them to complete ...

Does a receipt need to made each Sunday for a gift over $250?  Our staff and finance people are having a debate regarding whether we need to receipt each week for the checks over $ 250 or is one receipt at the end ...

Need Envelope for Cash Contributions !!!  I have a question regarding Envelopes for Cash Contributions. My church provides envelopes for Cash offering, but some people they do not want the church ...

Designated offering.  When someone gives an offering and designates to something specific (Not on the future to do list) but you need that money to pay necessary utilities?...

How do I account for Gift Cards to the church?  How do I account for a donation in the form of a gift card that is redeemable by the bearer at a specific retail store? These are being donated to support ...

Minstry getting Taxed  We started a ministry and are starting to receive substantial donations. In response to our blessing regarding growth, we got a EIN number, fictious name ...

Posting Goods on Contribution Record  I have a member who has donated material to the church for repairs. Rather than a letter acknowledging this gift, he has given me copies of the receipts ...

Designated Donations  My Church considers all designated donations to be non-deductible. I wrote two checks during 2010 to my church with a word in the memo area: "Honduras"...

CONTRIBUTION RECEIPTS  How long do we need to keep contribution receipts that couldn't be mailed to the giver due to lack of address? There's always those visitors that will ...

How do I account for donated labor?  I am new to church accounting (and rusty on regular accounting) and we had some work done and the company did not charge us for the labor or the services....

How long can church hold designated gifts?  I have just become the Treasurer of a small church. We have some missions projects which are supported solely by designated contributions. The church has ...

How do we record scholarship money?  I am a church employee who was recently awarded a scholarship by an outside organization for training in Grant Writing and Quickbooks.

The award committee,...

does a church member have to use a CID # for tithes?  Does a church member have to use a CID# for tithes each week, for tax purposes? (contribution identification number ) Is this a new law? If so when does ...

charitable offering or not  We are going to have 20 volunteers to go on our annual mission trip from the church. It is going to cost $10,000 for the trip and we raised only $8,000....

Are we required to keep offering envelopes?  Are we required to keep offering envelopes if we document on the check each fund and amount the donation was for? We keep a copy of each check with the ...

Church Revenue  Having a program with the Treasurer of our church, what is church revenue and how is suppose to be brought in to show it as revenue? What is designated ...

Receipt Numbers  Does the IRS require receipt numbers?
For instance, Good Will has receipt numbers at the top of their forms/receipts for donations

Answer

No. The ...

Gift to Deacon  The chairman of deacons served as church leader in the absence of a pastor. At the end of his service, the church voted to give him a financial gift of ...

what happens if you can't get the end of year statements out by January 31st  We sent most of the statements out by the end of January; however, some statements were sent out in February and unfortunately, a few were sent out the ...

Selling a Donated Item  We are thinking of selling the church piano. It was donated to the church over 20 years ago and the member who donated it has since passed away. Is there ...

Copies of offering checks  Does a church need to make copies of all offering checks received? We record the name, amount and check number in QuickBooks. Wouldn't this be enough?...

Issue Contribution Receipts to All Members?  Do you have to issue a contribution letter to all your members?

vickey's reply

You are required to record and keep track of each donor’s donation;...

Non Cash Donations for Youth Garage Sale  How do I handle contribution statements for non cash donations given to the youth garage sale?

Answer

A written receipt should be issued for all ...

Signing Contribution Receipts  Should all contribution tax receipts be signed or is a letterhead with the organization's name enough?

Answer

That I know of there is not an IRS ...

A format to give members regarding tithes and offering for tax purposes  I need a statement that I can give to each member in order for them to use their tithes and offerings totals for their 2009 taxes. What wording can be ...

Mailing Contribution Receipts ........Or Not  Is the church required to mail a contribution receipt to someone who no longer attends our church?

What is the best way to handle this?

Answer...

Revocable Trust Charitable Contribution   I have a member who gave a large sum on January 4, 2010 from a Revocable Trust. He says he is able to claim this as a deduction for 2009 b/c it is from ...

Giving Limit on Annual Contribution Statement  Do we give an end of the year statement to everyone or just the people who gave over a certain limit? For example what if someone gives $40 for the whole ...

Supplemental To Church Pastor's Housing Allowance  Our pastor's Housing Allowance is insufficient in our small, rural church. So, several church members want to increase his 2010 Allowance by donating the ...

Tax Receipt for Fundraiser?  Our teens sold sheets as a fundraiser for youth trip. Should tax receipts be given to the people who bought them since they actually received "goods"?

Answer...

Contribution Limits by Individuals  Could you please comment on whether the IRS has different accounting requirements if an individual contributes over a certain threshold, say over $10,000 ...

Yearly Acknowledgement of Tithes & Pledges.  How to write a receipt of church charitable donations?

Answer

Except for Form 1098-C, used for gifts of autos, boats, or airplanes, the IRS does ...

Tax ID on Church Receipt?  Does a church need to give their tax ID number on the receipt?

Answer

No, the only required information for your church receipt is your church’...

Giving Check for Services  Question regarding giving restricted gifts:

A person in the church pays for the tuning of the organ in the amount of $255. She pays the church this ...

Contribution Statements  Question regarding annual contribution statements:

I am the Financial secretary at our church. When I took over the position I was told that if a person ...

Pastor's Tithe Fund  Question regarding Pastor’s tithes:

Currently our church has a tithe fund where the pastor receives 85% as his salary. Should the pastor's tithe be ...

Church Receipt for all Cash Donations?  Is there a dollar figure for cash donations that must require the church to give a receipt?

Answer

No. It is the donor's responsibility to obtain ...

Pastor Discretionary Fund  Have a sub-account for pastor discretionary fund. Funds are received from members/non-members of church as a gift/donation to the pastor of church. With ...

Guidelines Trustee/Treasurer  What are the guidelines for a church trustee giving a love offering to those in need (homeless)?

Answer

That depends. If you are talking about ...

Donation Receipt Letters  Who should sign annual donation receipt letter?

Answer

Whoever takes care of your contribution tracking. Most of the time it will be the secretary ...

Non Cash Contribution of Event Space  Question regarding non cash contribution:

We recently had an event at a Wine House as a fund raiser. We are a 501 3 c. Can I issue this Wine House ...

Giving Your Pastor and Staff a Christmas Offering  Question regarding different ways to give Pastor and staff a Christmas offering:

In previous years we have passed envelopes out and called it Christmas ...

Recordkeeping: Copies of Tithing Checks   What are the rules with keeping copies of tithing checks? Should we keep copies and keep with our deposit accounting records and if so for how many years?...