At the last board meeting a question was asked about giving envelopes and their importance along with questions regarding annual statements. So I wanted to take a moment to explain the process.
The IRS requires that a statement be given to any individual who gives a one-time donation of $250 or more— Say you tithe $100 weekly ($5,200 per year); however, you wrote one check to the church for $250 for the roof campaign. That would “trigger” a statement, but the $5,200 total annual donation would not—if they were given in $100 increments. However, if you would like a statement for tax purposes, we would be more than happy to provide that to you. Simply call or stop by the church office!
The reason for using your envelope is two-fold. First, it is much more efficient for financial record keeping. If you “drop” a loose check (not in an envelope) into the offering basket, we manually have to write your name and amount on our balance sheet, which takes a little more time. If you have an envelope, your amount is written on the envelope by an elder and put into the stack to be entered into the computer. Much easier!
But I give cash! Do I still need an envelope? If you want your giving “tracked,” you must use an envelope. However, if you do not itemize your tax return and record-keeping isn’t important, you may simply drop your cash offering into the basket. However, please remember we have no way of knowing who dropped the cash in the basket, so it will not be tracked for giving/IRS purposes.
Thanks for the great questions. If you have more, please do not hesitate to ask!