Friends Of Scouting Privacy Error

[Calm]

For those of you involved in the Friends of Scouting, you should be aware of an error in the packet that has been sent out this year...

 

It has been reported that they ask for the ward directory to be uploaded into the FoS website...which means that FoS will then have your ward members' personal contact information available directly to them for the purposes of fundraising.

 

There is a very firm policy in the Church not to allow such information to be used outside of the Church in my understanding.  I know that officially in this case the Powers that Be have sent out information that this is not to be done.      I don't know if the FoS packet has been sent directly from FoS to the wards or someone from CH just missed this before sending it out, but it has now been caught and will be corrected.  Hopefully ward clerks or whomever else was given the job to deal with the packet will have known better than to do it.

 

I am posting this info here just in case anyone is concerned enough that they want to go to their bishop or ward clerk or whomever and make sure that this isn't done.

 

PS:  this may be only a Utah Scouts thing as I can't find anything else besides that which is linked to below.  Perhaps a different fundraising method is used for other states due to members not being so close geographically speaking.

Edited October 14, 2013 by calmoriah

[Calm]

I believe this is the basic instruction, not sure if it is the same as the FoS packet that sent out.  It explains the purpose of the upload which they were going to use to create routes and other stuff and make it easier to keep track of donations for the ward itself and perhaps would not have been used to send out donation requests directly...still not a good idea imo.  They need to instead make the program for creating such to be downloadable for the ward to use and not the other way around.

 

http://utahscouts.doubleknot.com/friends-of-scouting/ward-fos-online-system-management-training/53745

 

 

• This system will allow wards to manage rosters, delete move-outs or deceased, print control sheets, to be used on routes, print donor cards, log a donation through check, cash, credit card, or a bill-me pledge, and merge duplicate records.
• Donations can be logged at the door through a tablet or smart-phone with a QR code or donation record number.

 

Note that the site is "Utah Scouts", so possibly this is limited solely to Utah.

Edited October 14, 2013 by calmoriah

[Kenngo1969]

Doh! 

[Calm]

Yep.

[ERayR]

For those of you involved in the Friends of Scouting, you should be aware of an error in the packet that has been sent out this year...

 

It has been reported that they ask for the ward directory to be uploaded into the FoS website...which means that FoS will then have your ward members' personal contact information available directly to them for the purposes of fundraising.

 

There is a very firm policy in the Church not to allow such information to be used outside of the Church in my understanding.  I know that officially in this case the Powers that Be have sent out information that this is not to be done.      I don't know if the FoS packet has been sent directly from FoS to the wards or someone from CH just missed this before sending it out, but it has now been caught and will be corrected.  Hopefully ward clerks or whomever else was given the job to deal with the packet will have known better than to do it.

 

I am posting this info here just in case anyone is concerned enough that they want to go to their bishop or ward clerk or whomever and make sure that this isn't done.

 

PS:  this may be only a Utah Scouts thing as I can't find anything else besides that which is linked to below.  Perhaps a different fundraising method is used for other states due to members not being so close geographically speaking.

 

In our ward the Bishop takes a ward list and marks thhe ones he doesn't want contacted and the ward clerk(me) sends out the letters.

[BCSpace]

As a side note, our Stake's FOS goal is down this year because of the gay issue.  However, many instead donated directly to our YM/YW program and our Bishoprics received many apologetic notes with the tithing slips these last few weeks stating their opinion and that they were donating this way instead (we have a special "flag" fund for the youth we put those donations into).

 

Most seem to be prepared (pun intended) to pull their kids from scouting and any contributions the instant they allow gay leaders.  However, the signal from the Church is the the Church itself will pull out under those circumstances anyway and create or combine with a new program in that case.

[Calm]

Don't want this subject to devolve into a conversation about BSA and gays.

[frank_jessop]

I was google "ward list friends of scouting" and this thread was one of the results.

Calmoriah, what is the "privacy error" you refer too in the first post?

The result I got on google include the page you quoted in your second which instructs:

• It is recommended that wards use the ward roster from lds.org to update their rosters before they start their campaign.

o Go to www.lds.org

o Login with your lds.org login and password

o Navigate to the online ward directory (under [your name]/tools) at the top of the page

o Click on Export Households

o Save file to your desktop or another location (do not change file format or reformat file)

o Go to donate.utahscouts.org and login to your ward account with the login give to you by your stake

o Click on Import Prospect List and select the file you just saved Upload file to the system, and click on Donors to review

An other result was to gslc council "Campaign tools for LDS Units"

And a third result was to the Grand Canyon Council directed to LDS Units.

Both the gslc and Grand Canyon are associated with patchfunding.com

[Bernard Gui]

From lds.org ward directory page when you want to export households:

Download Households

 

The data export file contains confidential Church

information and must only be used by Church officers for

official Church purposes. This data must not be used for

personal, political or commercial purposes, and it must

be deleted from all personal electronic devices when

Church officers are released from their callings.

 

If you plan to distribute to ward members, you should not

include data for members who have opted to keep their

information private.

 

Since I am the ward clerk, I assume this can be done only by

those who have callings that will allow access to household

information. I don't know what will show if someone without

clerk/leader access will allow.

 

In any case, I think downloading this information for any reason

other than official Church use is unethical and may violate

privacy rights. Whoever recommends doing this and anyone who

actually downloads and shares should get a 55 gallon barrel

of butt whooping. I volunteer to administer the whooping.

Edited March 24, 2014 by Bernard Gui

[Calm]

Read the second paragraph in the OP for the error.

[frank_jessop]

From lds.org ward directory page when you want to export households:

Since I am the ward clerk, I assume this can be done only by

those who have callings that will allow access to household

information. I don't know what will show if someone without

clerk/leader access will allow.

 

In any case, I think downloading this information for any reason

other than official Church use is unethical and may violate

privacy rights. Whoever recommends doing this and anyone who

actually downloads and shares should get a 55 gallon barrel

of butt whooping. I volunteer to administer the whooping.

Well, I do not know what to say.

2014 Friends of Scouting Campaign Management Software

FOS Campaign Management System

System Objective

This system will be an invaluable tool to LDS Stakes and Wards, as well as the Council to manage

and track each FOS campaign. This tool was developed to serve those who have been called to collect

financial support.

Key objectives:

• Single point of tracking donations and prospects, eliminating confusion between the Ward, Stake

and council

• Eliminate paperwork between LDS Stakes/Wards and the council

• Allow the Stake and Ward to define prospects – ensuring they are correct and

complete

• Provide a safe, secure method for individuals to donate to the Boy Scouts of

America

Create Shared Allocation Targets | For Each Stake/Sub-district

An exciting new way to help a Stake and Ward visually manage a FOS campaign is utilizing the “Fundraising Target” area also know as the shared allocation target.

FAQ: How many Stake Logins can I create?

Create as many as you would like. It is typical to see an account created for a Stake President,

Councilors, Stake Primary Leaders, Etc.

Edited March 24, 2014 by frank_jessop

[frank_jessop]

Read the second paragraph in the OP for the error.

It would appear the information you were provided is now outdated or there is a distinction without a difference going on with patchfunding storing information v FOS storing information.

Patchfunding.com is providing the software and presumably the server space for at least the Great Salt Lake Council and Grand Canyon Council. And it would appear that the Donor information will be stored in/on patchfunding.com servers. Or from the company patchfunding uses for data processing.