Insisting on safety controls for your offering plate is key to maintaining the trust and confidence of your membership.
Do you require dual signatures for withdrawals and for endorsing and cashing church checks?
Do you ask congregants to put offerings, including cash, in envelopes preprinted with their names and addresses?
Do you use a secure area for counting church offerings?
Do you conduct thorough background checks on volunteers who handle money?
Do you always have at least two people present when counting money?
Do you enlist money counters who are unrelated and who don’t work at the same place during the week?
Do you avoid selecting money counters who are experiencing personal financial crises?
Do you rotate money counting teams on a regular basis?
Do you immediately stamp checks “FOR DEPOSIT ONLY” when endorsing them?
Do you use a safe for petty cash, small valuables, keys, and important documents?
Do you deposit cash daily into your bank account to avoid having cash on the premises?
Do you have someone other than the counters regularly reconcile the bank account and list of money received?
Do you send periodic statements to donors detailing the dates and amounts of gifts received?
Do you prepare cash disbursements only when someone has approved and documented payment?
Do you mark supporting documents “paid” to prevent resubmission?
Do you lock up all bank checks?
Do you disable or lock up credit card terminals when not in use?
Do you have someone other than the individual preparing disbursements reconcile check registers to the bank statements regularly?
Do you avoid making loans or the equivalent to staff or board members?
Do you strictly prohibit the use of church credit cards for personal purchases?
