Sometimes you want to capture pledges - promises of donations that may or may not materialise. Donorfy already lets you create and covert Pledges where the are part of an Opportunity, but you can also create individual Pledges for Constituents directly from their Timeline.

This makes it quick and easy to record a Constituent's Pledge where there is no requirement to create or link it to an Opportunity. 

This article will guide you through:

• Adding a standalone Pledge
• Viewing Pledges on the Constituent Timeline
• Invoicing or cancelling Pledges
• Paying Pledges

Adding a standalone Pledge

To add a new Pledge to the Constituent Timeline, click on the Add on the Timeline and select Pledge

A form will display where the relevant details for the Pledge are to be added. The Form is split into two sections - Payment and Allocation. Complete the header section for the Pledge first, followed by the Allocation section.

Pledge Header section

• Description*: This defaults to 'Pledge' however you should rename so that it fits the item pledge item better
• Campaign*: Select the Campaign from the drop-down list
• Date of expected payment*: Select the date when you expect the payment to arrive by
• Generate Reminder: (This appears after Date of Expected Payment is set) - Defaults to Yes
• Campaign Item:  If the Pledge is to cover a Campaign item the item can be selected from the drop-down list. (Optional. Also requires Campaign Items to be configured for the Campaign).
• Amount*: Enter the amount being Pledged
• Bank Account*: Select the relevant Bank Account from the drop-down list
• Currency*: Select the Currency from the drop-down list
• Channel*: This is your marketing channel and is not related to Channel Permissions
• Soft Credits: If the Pledge is to be Soft Credited to another Constituent Profile, click on the orange Add button, type into the search box the name and select from the available options provided.

Pledge Allocation section

• Product*: Select the relevant Product for the Pledge from the drop-down list
• Qty: This defaults to 1
• Amount Due*: Enter the Amount 
• Fund*: Select the destination (Fund) for the payment from the drop-down list
• Department: Select which department it is assigned to  (Optional)
• Date Due: This defaults to today, however, you can alter it to a different expected date
• Accounting Date: This defaults to today, however, you can alter it to a different accounting date
• Potentially Gift Aid-able?: Set as Yes if Gift Aid can be claimed for the transaction when the Pledge is paid
• Add Beneficiary: If the payment for the Pledge is to benefit a particular Constituent you can add the details here. Click on the orange Add Beneficiary button, type into the search box the name and select from the available options provided.

Multiple Allocations:

If the Pledge is to be made up of multiple Allocations, click on the Add Allocation button and enter the details for that Allocation. 

The sum of the multiple Allocation's Amount Due field are required to match the Amount in the Header section.

Once all required fields have been completed, click on Save Changes.

All items marked with a * are required fields. 

Example for a Pledge:

Viewing Pledges

From the Constituent Timeline:

All Pledges will be viewable within a Constituent's Timeline. It will be displayed as a Pledge on the date that it is Expected. A single-line summary of the Pledge will be visible also.

From the Timeline filter view:

From within the Pledges view (under the Finance in the left-hand navigation) you will be able to view and manage the Pledges on your Constituent's Timeline. This saves scrolling down the Timeline to locate the correct Pledge.

The Pledges view will be in a list style:

If the Constituent has a lot of Pledges, they may not all be viewable on the page. You either can alter the number of Pledges returned by clicking on the numeric box to the right and selecting a larger number, or you can click on the Next page button to scroll through the pages of Pledges. Clicking Previous moves you back a page.

Pledges can be managed with either of the above views. You will be able to:

• change the status of a pledge from Pledged, to Invoiced or Cancelled
• convert a Pledge to a status of "received", which automatically generates a Transaction

Changing the Pledge status

The status of a Pledge can be changed from Pledged, to Invoiced or Cancelled. 

• Invoiced- means you have requested the payment by, for example, raising an invoice in your accounting system for it.
  When selected it will change the Status of the Pledge to Invoiced in the List view and Timeline.
• Cancelled- the Pledge is no longer required - perhaps the constituent has changed their mind or is funding via different means instead.
  When selected it will change the Status of the Pledge to Cancelled in the List view and Timeline.
• Pledged- (Only available where either status above has been set.) When selected it will revert the Pledge back to the Pledge status.

Open the Pledge where the status is to be altered, and click on the Manage button to the right.

Hover over Set Status to which provides the above options. Click on the one that you want to set the Pledge status to be and 

Paying Pledges

When a payment has been received for the Pledge, it can be marked a Paid, which will automatically create a Transaction on the Constituent Timeline. 

Open the Pledge for which the payment has been received and click on the Manage button to the right.

Hover over Set Status to and then click on Paid - Create Transaction

This will then:

• Mark the Pledge as Paid and make it read-only
• Adds a Connected Transaction to the Constituent Timeline (for reference only)
• Adds a Transaction to the Timeline with a Date Paid of today

You can edit the Transaction to additional details, such as Payment Reference, alter the Accounting Date, etc.