Anonymous Gift Designated for Church Staff

A member donated $3000, and requested it be given to six different staff members ($500 each).

The donor wished to remain anonymous, and only gave the funds to the church for the purpose of remaining anonymous to the recipients.

The donor does NOT expect nor wish for the $3000 to be credited as a deductible charitable contribution (he regularly also makes unrestricted gifts which are deductible).

If the church forwards this money as desired by the donor, should the $500 payments be considered taxable income to the recipients?

We believe these payments are NOT from church funds, but the church is merely doing a "pass-through" favor for the donor by getting these payments to the desired individuals without revealing the donor. Nor does the donor receive any charitable contribution credit. As such, they should not be added to the employees' W-2's as taxable income.