I know you are just asking, and you don't know all the ramifications of the question. But we tried to explain this at the last conference when it came up, too.
In order to take checks, a couple of very complicated things have to happen:
I'd need to pay for a P.O. box to send them to because none of us want our home addresses on the internet.
I live ten miles from town, so I'd have to pack up my very disabled child and drive to the post office to check the mail a couple times a week, getting her in and out of the car and up our very old Post Office steps.
We at AO chose our bank because we had a local branch near me, and one of our overseas people uses the same bank so we could easily get two names on the account even though none of us live in the same state (or even country). But the local branch closed. So, to cash a check, I'd have to get to the nearest branch, which is 40 miles away. I have PTSD, and one of the manifestations is I don't and can't drive on that highway. I can barely be a passenger- and when I am it's unpleasant for everybody and requires a day to recover. So I have to find somebody else who doesn't mind my jumping, gasping, occasioinal screaming, and seatbelt chewing all the way down and back again, and on a weekday. And not just once, probably once a week, at a minimum, basically rendering myself unfit for getting anything done for two days of every week because it is just that triggering. I have grandchildren in that town and I can manage to get down there maybe every two or three months because it's that hard. Meanwhile, I'm also trying to get ready for the conference, to finish up some big AO projects, to get ready for 8 weeks of orphan hosting two boys from Ukraine this summer, when caring for the orphans is our entire focus and all we'll be able to do for those 8 weeks (based on experience with these boys for four weeks over Christmas) and... getting ready for a huge move in the fall.
I'd love to be able to work it so we could take checks. But it's not a simple matter of just asking us to cash a check. It's asking quite a lot more than that. I'm not trying to guilt trip anybody, just explaining why we may seem unaccommodating when it's really not just us being difficult.
In order to take checks, a couple of very complicated things have to happen:
I'd need to pay for a P.O. box to send them to because none of us want our home addresses on the internet.
I live ten miles from town, so I'd have to pack up my very disabled child and drive to the post office to check the mail a couple times a week, getting her in and out of the car and up our very old Post Office steps.
We at AO chose our bank because we had a local branch near me, and one of our overseas people uses the same bank so we could easily get two names on the account even though none of us live in the same state (or even country). But the local branch closed. So, to cash a check, I'd have to get to the nearest branch, which is 40 miles away. I have PTSD, and one of the manifestations is I don't and can't drive on that highway. I can barely be a passenger- and when I am it's unpleasant for everybody and requires a day to recover. So I have to find somebody else who doesn't mind my jumping, gasping, occasioinal screaming, and seatbelt chewing all the way down and back again, and on a weekday. And not just once, probably once a week, at a minimum, basically rendering myself unfit for getting anything done for two days of every week because it is just that triggering. I have grandchildren in that town and I can manage to get down there maybe every two or three months because it's that hard. Meanwhile, I'm also trying to get ready for the conference, to finish up some big AO projects, to get ready for 8 weeks of orphan hosting two boys from Ukraine this summer, when caring for the orphans is our entire focus and all we'll be able to do for those 8 weeks (based on experience with these boys for four weeks over Christmas) and... getting ready for a huge move in the fall.
I'd love to be able to work it so we could take checks. But it's not a simple matter of just asking us to cash a check. It's asking quite a lot more than that. I'm not trying to guilt trip anybody, just explaining why we may seem unaccommodating when it's really not just us being difficult.