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PEF & Temple Patron Assistance Fund


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I failed to notice it earlier, but the Church is no longer accepting offerings intended for the Perpetual Education Fund (PEF) or the Temple Patron Assistance Fund.  PEF has long been one of our favorite charitable targets, so it caught me off guard.  Here's the statement on LDS.org:

"The generosity of Church members and others has led to sufficient levels of donated funds to the Perpetual Education Fund and the Temple Patron Assistance Fund.  As a result, members are encouraged to select other categories for their ongoing donations. Because many members donate online, the Perpetual Education Fund and Temple Patron Assistance Fund categories have been removed from the online donation form. These categories will remain available for donations processed in wards and branches."

How likely is it that a charitable organization closes down its donation function indicating they'd "received enough"?  I've donated to other charities, and even a few things via GoFundMe; but I don't think I've ever seen any of those closed to donations just because the goals have been met.

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4 minutes ago, Okrahomer said:

I failed to notice it earlier, but the Church is no longer accepting offerings intended for the Perpetual Education Fund (PEF) or the Temple Patron Assistance Fund.  PEF has long been one of our favorite charitable targets, so it caught me off guard.  Here's the statement on LDS.org:

"The generosity of Church members and others has led to sufficient levels of donated funds to the Perpetual Education Fund and the Temple Patron Assistance Fund.  As a result, members are encouraged to select other categories for their ongoing donations. Because many members donate online, the Perpetual Education Fund and Temple Patron Assistance Fund categories have been removed from the online donation form. These categories will remain available for donations processed in wards and branches."

How likely is it that a charitable organization closes down its donation function indicating they'd "received enough"?  I've donated to other charities, and even a few things via GoFundMe; but I don't think I've ever seen any of those closed to donations just because the goals have been met.

I would imagine that once the surplus has been used that donations will be accepted again.

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48 minutes ago, Okrahomer said:

I failed to notice it earlier, but the Church is no longer accepting offerings intended for the Perpetual Education Fund (PEF) or the Temple Patron Assistance Fund.

They will still accept it using the paper donations but it's not an option online anymore. 
There is this statement when making donations:
"Though reasonable efforts will be made to use donations as designated, all donations become the Church's property and will be used at the Church's sole discretion to further the Church's overall mission"

If they are going to use donations however they want anyway, not sure why removing those two options is necessary. I would think that eventually they will be needed again. 

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57 minutes ago, ksfisher said:

I would imagine that once the surplus has been used that donations will be accepted again.

Yes, that sounds reasonable to me.

7 minutes ago, JAHS said:

They will still accept it using the paper donations but it's not an option online anymore. 
There is this statement when making donations:
"Though reasonable efforts will be made to use donations as designated, all donations become the Church's property and will be used at the Church's sole discretion to further the Church's overall mission"

If they are going to use donations however they want anyway, not sure why removing those two options is necessary. I would think that eventually they will be needed again. 

Yes, I agree.  And I hope my post doesn't come across as a "complaint"--I'm not complaining at all.

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2 hours ago, Okrahomer said:

I failed to notice it earlier, but the Church is no longer accepting offerings intended for the Perpetual Education Fund (PEF) or the Temple Patron Assistance Fund.  PEF has long been one of our favorite charitable targets, so it caught me off guard.  Here's the statement on LDS.org:

"The generosity of Church members and others has led to sufficient levels of donated funds to the Perpetual Education Fund and the Temple Patron Assistance Fund.  As a result, members are encouraged to select other categories for their ongoing donations. Because many members donate online, the Perpetual Education Fund and Temple Patron Assistance Fund categories have been removed from the online donation form. These categories will remain available for donations processed in wards and branches."

How likely is it that a charitable organization closes down its donation function indicating they'd "received enough"?  I've donated to other charities, and even a few things via GoFundMe; but I don't think I've ever seen any of those closed to donations just because the goals have been met.

Two things may be at play here:  On the one hand, PEF is a revolving fund and is repaid by the users.  It may well be that enough capital has been amassed that it is now like a self-perpetuating endowment fund and needs no more buttressing..  On the other hand, the Church has just instituted an even more far-reaching worldwide educational plan, BYU Pathway.  https://byupathway.lds.org/ .  Thus, our contributions may be better placed in other categories.

Edited by Robert F. Smith
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Someone somewhere suggested a big endowment might have been provided that puts in enough income to cover expenses.  Would not be surprised if this happened with the TPA fund while the other wasa result of the repayments being consistent enough to be self sustaining.

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2 hours ago, Robert F. Smith said:

Two things may be at play here:  On the one hand, PEF is a revolving fund and is repaid by the users.  It may well be that enough capital has been amassed that it is now like a self-perpetuating endowment fund and needs no more buttressing..  On the other hand, the Church has just instituted an even more far-reaching worldwide educational plan, BYU Pathway.  https://byupathway.lds.org/ .  Thus, our contributions may be better placed in other categories.

Thank you!  That makes a lot of sense.

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Well, I'm having a hard time thinking of one myself, but no doubt some critic of the Church will manage to come up with some nefarious reason for this discontinuance, or some spin that will come across in a negative way.  It's bound to happen.

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I think the most interesting thing about this is that it seems to show that even though the church says that it can use donations however it wants, they don't make a habit of taking money that was given for one thing and applying it to something else. 

This situation seems to show that that disclaimer is more about keeping liability as low as possible and not describing a common practice.

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