• When it comes to the weekly collection, duties should also be divided among a number of people and there should always be at minimum two people to collect and count the offering. Members should be highly encouraged to use envelopes. And to prevent skimming of an individual’s tithe without anyone recognizing it, the collection team, count team and person handling the deposit should not have access to the general ledger or the member contribution records.
• To reduce credit card fraud, the church should have a written policy on use and misuse, receipts should be required, and charges should be reviewed monthly. Penalties for misuse of a credit card—such as payroll deductions or termination—should be spelled out.
• As with most organizations, allowing wider oversight will provide better objectivity and protection for the church. If you can, put members on your church finance committee who have a background in accounting or other financial expertise who can understand potential exposures. The finance committee should be reviewing monthly financial statements, and meeting at least quarterly to discuss results and inquire about anything unusual or unexpected.
• The finance committee can also be a bulwark against what is known as “affinity fraud,” when fraudsters come in and try to infiltrate the church, going after individual members at first and then the group, centered around a scam with some seemingly positive religious purpose.
• An audit can turn up potential weaknesses in financial controls. But if your church is not required to have an audit by a lender or denominational affiliation, it still could get a less costly internal control assessment consultation from a qualified CPA that will help identify potential vulnerabilities that should be addressed.
Most important, if your church does fall victim to fraud, don’t hesitate to report it. Unfortunately, an estimated 80 percent of church-related fraud goes unreported, sometimes because church leaders want to downplay the loss of funds to its congregants. Most perpetrators of fraud know that, affirming their belief that they can steal from the church and get away with it.
