Pledges Overview
Pledges in DonorDock allow your organization to track a donor's commitment to give a specific amount over time. A Pledge can be fulfilled through one payment or through multiple Pledged Gifts or installments.
Pledges are available under Transactions > Pledges and can be used to track the amount committed, payments received, remaining balance, payment schedule, Campaign, Appeal, Fund, and pledge-related follow-up.
Helpful Pledge Definitions
Term | Description / Usage |
|---|---|
Pledged Gift | A Gift connected to a Pledge. Received amounts from connected Pledged Gifts contribute toward the amount received on the parent Pledge. |
Pledge | The Pledge associated with an individual Pledged Gift. A Gift can only be connected to one Pledge at a time. |
A Pledge may be fulfilled through manually received payments, checks, online payments, or other Gift records connected to the Pledge.
Pledge Status vs. Pledged Gift Status
The status of the overall Pledge and the status of an individual Pledged Gift are managed differently.
Record | Status | How It Works |
Pledge | Pledged | Automatically shown while the Pledge has an outstanding balance. |
Pledge | Received | Automatically shown when the Pledge balance reaches $0 or less. |
Pledged Gift | Pledged | Indicates that the expected Pledge payment has not yet been received. |
Pledged Gift | Received | Used when the funds for the Pledged Gift have been received. |
Pledged Gift | Cancelled | Indicates that the expected Pledged Gift has been cancelled. |
Create a New Pledge
Navigate to Transactions > Pledges.
Click + Add Pledge.
Select the Contact making the Pledge.
Enter the applicable Pledge information.
Click Create and Save.
Pledge Fields
Pledge Field | Description / Usage |
Contact | The Contact making the Pledge. |
Pledged Amount | The total amount the donor has committed to give. |
Pledge Start Date | The date the Pledge begins. |
Schedule of Installments | Determines how the Pledged Amount is divided into planned Pledged Gifts and Due Dates. |
Pledge Notes | Internal notes or additional information about the Pledge. |
Campaign | Campaign associated with the Pledge. |
Appeal | Appeal associated with the Pledge. |
Fund | Fund associated with the Pledge. |
Installment Schedules
When creating a Pledge, you can select an installment schedule to create planned Pledged Gifts.
Schedule | Description |
Just Once | Creates a single expected payment for the Pledged Amount. |
Semi-Monthly | Divides the Pledge into recurring semi-monthly installments. |
Monthly | Creates monthly installments. |
Quarterly | Creates installments every three months. |
Semi-Annually | Creates installments every six months. |
Annually | Creates annual installments. |
Creating installments allows DonorDock to assign a Pledged Amount and Due Date to individual Pledged Gifts.
These Due Dates can then be used for Pledge reminders, Action Board follow-up, reporting, and Automations.
Editing an Existing Pledge
Pledges have limited editing after they are created.
You can update:
Pledge Notes
Campaign
Appeal
Fund
You can't freely edit the pledge amount or installment structure after creation.
Adding Gifts to a Pledge
Received Gifts can be connected to a Pledge so their Received Amount contributes toward the Pledge total.
Pledged Gifts can be added in three primary ways:
Create Pledge Installments when you first create the Pledge.
Create a new Pledged Gift while viewing the Pledge.
Attach an existing Gift to the Pledge after the Gift has been created.
Create Pledged Gifts with Installments
When you create a Pledge with an installment schedule, DonorDock creates the applicable planned Pledged Gifts.
Installments are the primary way to establish:
A Pledged Amount for an expected payment
A Due Date for that payment
These values are created from the Pledge installment schedule and cannot be edited directly on the individual Pledged Gift after creation.
Attach an Existing Gift to a Pledge
If a donor makes a payment that already exists as a Gift in DonorDock, you can attach that Gift to the applicable Pledge.
Open the individual Gift.
Locate the Pledge section on the Gift Overview.
Click the option to Add to Parent Pledge or attach the Gift to a Pledge.
Select the applicable Pledge.
Confirm the connection.
The Gift will now contribute toward the Received Amount and remaining balance of the parent Pledge.
💡 If you attach Gifts to a Pledge that already has installment Gifts representing the same payments, you may need to delete any gifts that are duplicates and open in pledged status.
Paying a Pledge Online
Transactional Templates can include a special Pledge payment link that allows a donor to make an online payment toward a specific Pledge.
The merge tag is: {{gift.pledge_payment_link}}
When this merge tag is included in a Pledge reminder, DonorDock generates a link the donor can use to make an online payment.
A Gift created through this specific Pledge payment link is automatically connected to the applicable parent Pledge.
💡 If the donor instead makes a payment through a regular Online Giving Page that is not the generated Pledge payment link, the resulting Gift will not automatically be connected to the Pledge. You can open the Gift afterward and manually attach it to the appropriate parent Pledge.
Pledge Reminder Templates
Pledge reminders are sent using Transactional Templates. Any applicable Transactional Template can be configured for use as a Pledge reminder and can include Gift and Pledge Merge Tags to personalize the communication.
Available Pledge-related Merge Tags include:
Information | Merge Tag | Description |
Pledged Gift Amount | {{gift.pledged_amount | currency}} | The pledged amount of a gift in pledged status. |
Remaining Pledge Balance | {{gift.pledge.balance | currency}} | The open balance on a pledge. |
Total Number of Payments | {{gift.pledge.total_payments}} | Number of payments linked to a parent pledge. |
Pledge Payment Link | {{gift.pledge_payment_link}} | Link to online giving page to make payment on an open pledge. |
Total Payment Amount | {{gift.pledge.total_payment_amount | currency}} | Total amount paid/received so far on the parent pledge |
Pledge Start Date | {{gift.pledge.pledge_start_date | date:"MMMM dd, yyyy"}} | The date the pledge is set to start on |
Total Pledged Amount | {{gift.pledge.pledged_total | currency}} | The total pledged amount of the pledge |
Merge Tags are replaced with information from the applicable Gift and Pledge when the template is generated.
Send a Pledge Reminder
When a Pledge reminder is sent through DonorDock, the Gift can be marked to indicate that a reminder has been sent. The Pledge Reminder Sent field is available on the Gift and in Gift Reports and displays Yes or No.
Control the Pledge Reminder Sent Status
Transactional Templates can be configured to automatically update the reminder status when they are used.
Open the applicable Transactional Template.
Click Set Email Options.
Locate the setting that controls whether sending the template should mark a Pledge reminder as sent.
Turn the setting on or off based on how you will use the template.
Click Save.
When enabled, using that template on a Pledged Gift will update Pledge Reminder Sent to Yes. This makes it easier to report on which expected payments have already received a reminder.
Automate Pledge Payment Follow-Up
DonorDock Automations can also be used to create follow-up workflows around upcoming Pledge payments.
The Pledge Payment Due Automation Trigger starts based on the Due Date of a Pledge installment.
For example, an Automation could begin when a Pledge payment becomes due and then:
Send a Pledge reminder email
Send an internal notification
Create a follow-up task for a team member
Perform other configured Automation steps
You can add additional filters to the Trigger if you want the Automation to run only for certain Pledges or donors.
Pledge Payment Due Dates and the Action Board
Installment Due Dates can also help your team manage upcoming Pledge payments through the Action Board nudges.
DonorDock can alert the responsible team member when a Pledge payment is approaching or due. This provides another way to follow up on outstanding commitments in addition to reports and Automations.
Pledge Reports
DonorDock includes standard reports for reviewing Pledge payments and outstanding balances.
Available reports include:
Pledges Due This Month
Pledges Due This Quarter
Pledges Due This Year
Pledge Balances
Gift Reports can also include Pledge-related fields such as:
Gift Status
Pledge Reminder Sent
Parent Pledge Balance
Parent Pledge Start Date
These fields can help identify outstanding Pledged Gifts, payments that still require reminders, and Gifts connected to Pledges with remaining balances.
Managing Pledge Totals
Received amounts from Gifts connected to a Pledge roll up into the amount received on the parent Pledge.
The remaining balance is based on the Pledged Amount compared with the qualifying received payments connected to that Pledge.
💡 After adding or updating Gifts connected to a Pledge, you may need to refresh the Pledge page to see the updated Received Amount and remaining balance.
Pledges vs. Recurring Gifts
Pledges and recurring subscriptions can both involve payments over time, but they serve different purposes.
Feature | Purpose |
Pledge | Tracks a commitment to give a specific total amount. |
Pledged Gift / Installment | Tracks an expected or received payment toward that commitment. |
Recurring Subscription | Automatically processes payments on an ongoing schedule through a payment processor such as Stripe. |
Creating a Pledge does not itself establish an automatic recurring subscription, and recurring subscriptions set up through giving pages do not require pledges.