Community Partners uses a service called Lockbox to handle all checks. Lockbox is a service provided by banks to companies for the receipt of payment from customers. Under the service, payments made by customers are directed to a special post office box instead of going to the company. The bank goes to the box, retrieves the payments, processes them, and deposits the funds directly into the company's bank account.
Why are we using it?
Because checks are going directly to the bank, they will pass fewer sets of hands before being deposited, and they will be deposited in the bank sooner. When you receive a notification email, the check will already have been deposited in the bank, and the funds will have been entered in NetSuite.
Where do I mail checks?
Instead of sending your checks and deposit forms to our office, projects should send all checks and deposit forms to our Lockbox with Bank of America. Once the bank has received the check, they will scan and deposit all checks using optical character recognition (OCR). Please include a deposit form.
There are two addresses to mail checks to, one is for USPS (snail mail) and the other is for courier services (UPS, FedEx, etc).
Post Office Remittance Address:
Community Partners
P.O. Box 741265
Los Angeles, CA 90074-1265
Physical Address (For Courier Service – UPS, FedEX Only):
Bank of America Lockbox Services
Lockbox #741265
2706 Media Center Drive
Los Angeles, CA 90065-1733
Should checks be made payable to Community Partners?
Make sure that all checks to your project are made payable to Community Partners for [Project Name]. Complete a Deposit Form, make a copy for your files, and mail or deliver the form and checks. Select the revenue code in the deposit form that best matches the type of revenue.
Should I send cash to the Lockbox?
Cash should never be mailed in general. Please drop off cash to our Receptionist or convert the cash to a money order at a local bank or post office to mail to the Lockbox address. In the event that cash is mailed to the Lockbox, it will be deposited, but there may be additional fees assessed.
What happens if a grant agreement and/or check request are mailed to the Lockbox?
Bank of America scans copies of everything that goes through the Lockbox. Our accounts receivable team will forward scanned copies of non-check items to the appropriate departments. In the event we need the original document, we may request the original through our Lockbox Customer Service representative. Checks are kept for 10 days and remittance documents are kept for 60 days. The turnaround time to retrieve is generally 48 hours.
How frequently does Bank of America deposit checks into our bank account once it arrives at the Lockbox location?
Deposits of checks into our bank account are done once a day. Cut-off time for checks received to the Lockbox for deposit the same day is 6 AM.
What happens when a check for a separated project is sent to the Lockbox?
The accounts receivable team will submit a refund request through NetSuite and include with the check a letter noting that the project is no longer with Community Partners.
Under this process, will I still receive a notification via e-mail?
Yes, projects will continue to receive revenue notifications. Notifications are typically sent 2-3 business days after a check is cashed by Bank of America, but there are times when the volume is high and it may take longer for the notifications to go out.
How do I notify my donors and funders of this new mailing address?
Community Partners has sent postcards to donors who have donated $5,000 or more in the last three years or have been a recurring donor with your project for the last three years. If you want to personally contact your donors, our communication team can provide you with a set of postcards.
As you are notifying funders of the change in address, please take this opportunity to remind them to include your project name and number on the check (payable to, memo, or remittance). The more information your funders can put on the check, the more easily Community Partners will be able to determine that the check belongs to your project. Checks without this information will still be able to be deposited, but they may go to our suspense account before we can match them to your project.
What if I or my donors accidentally mailed the check to Community Partners’ address instead of the Lockbox?
If you or your donor send a check to Community Partners, we will forward it to the Lockbox. You will receive an electronic reminder of the new mailing address for checks. The donor will receive a postcard to inform them to update the addresses accordingly.
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