Overview

Online pledges allow your donors to commit to a future gift through your GiveCampus Giving Forms. Donors can choose to pay their pledge in full at a later date or set up installment payments over time. This feature helps secure future commitments while offering donors flexible payment options.

Key benefits of online pledges:

• Flexibility for donors to commit now and pay later
• Options for one-time future payments or installment plans
• Automated payment processing for donors who provide credit card information
• Robust reporting tools

We’re also working on features for pledge reminders and fulfillment,launching in the coming months. If you’re interested in joining our advisory group to provide feedback, please contact your Partner Success Manager!

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Getting Started

Pledge Forms are a type of GiveCampus Giving Form, with many similarities to traditional Giving Forms. If you’re new to Giving Forms, we recommend reviewing these articles first:

• How to Launch a Giving Form
• The Form Builder
• Adding Designations

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Setting Up a Pledge Form

1. Initial Form Creation

1. Go to your Giving Forms dashboard.
2. Click Create New Form.
3. In the pop-up, select Pledge Form.
4. Enter a form name and (optional) category.

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2. Pledge Settings

In the Forms tab, configure the following pledge options:

• Pledge Payoff Structure Decide how donors can structure their payment schedules:
  • Monthly Payments: Split the pledge into monthly installments.
  • Annual Payments: Split the pledge into yearly installments.
  • Enable one, both, or neither option.
  • Note: One-time pledge payments are always available.
• Payment Options Choose how donors provide payment information:
  • Allow donors to submit their payment details for automatic processing.
  • Allow donors to pledge without providing payment information upfront.
  • Enable one or both options.
• Pledge Parameters (Optional) We recommend setting this strategically depending on different initiatives for pledges. For example, are you collecting pledges from Parents for the current fiscal year? Set your maximum payoff date to June 30. Or, are you looking for a 5 year reunion pledge commitment? Set the date to June 30, 2030.
  • Set a minimum pledge amount:
  • Define a maximum pledge payoff date.

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3. Form Questions, Language, and Imagery

To customize your Pledge Form:

• Go to the Forms tab > Form Builder to add pre- or post-payment form questions.
• Edit language and images for the Pre-Payment, Payment, and Post-Payment stages under their respective tabs.

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4. Email Confirmations and Notifications

Donors are notified after submitting their pledge. If they provide payment information, they’ll also get updates about charges or changes to their pledge.

Customizing pledge confirmation emails

Customize your pledge confirmation emails to reflect your organization’s voice and branding. You can update the email content, subject line, and remove merge tokens for a cleaner, more generic confirmation.

To edit your confirmation email templates:

1. Open your pledge form's email template settings from Giving Experience > Gift Confirmation Emails.
2. Select the relevant pledge confirmation email template.
3. Update the text and remove any merge tokens you do not want to use.
4. Save your changes.

Tip: For a minimal confirmation, use clear, concise language without extra merge tokens so donors receive a straightforward acknowledgment.

• Donors without payment information receive a confirmation of their pledge but no automated reminders at this time.

To manage email templates:

1. Go to Pledge Form Settings > Email Templates.
2. Review, edit, and activate the following notifications:

Email Notifications:

1. Payment Provided: Confirmation Email Sent when donors submit a pledge with payment information.
2. No Payment Provided: Confirmation Email Sent when donors submit a pledge without payment information.
3. Payment Provided: First Installment Reminder Sent 3 days before a donor’s first installment is charged (if it’s at least 2 months after the pledge was established).
4. Payment Provided: Annual Payment Reminder Sent 3 days before annual payments for multi-year pledges. Note: In the first year, donors receive the “First Installment Reminder” instead.
5. Payment Provided: Pledge Cancelled Sent when a donor cancels future pledge payments.
6. Payment Provided: Pledge Paid Sent when a pledge is paid in full. Sent when the first and only payment is made on the same day as the pledge commitment.
7. Payment Provided: Pledge Failed Sent if a donor’s payment method fails.
8. Payment Provided: Pledge Reactivated Sent when a previously failed payment is successfully reactivated.

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Reporting on Pledges

Click here pledge reporting tips.
If you are leveraging the GiveCampus API, please review updates to the Recurring Subscription API.

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FAQ:

• Can I accept pledges through Social Fundraising campaigns?
  • At this time, pledges can only be processed through Giving Forms. Our recommendation is to keep an eye on pledges as they come in and then enter them as Offline Gifts in the campaign.

• Can I modify the pledge?
  • Yes! When reviewing pledges, you'll see a Donation ID--this is where you can modify the pledge commitment including designation, payment information, etc. Note that you can even add payment information after the fact if the donor did not enter it at the time of making the pledge!
• Why aren't ACH or Digital wallets offered as payment methods?
  • ACH and digital wallets do not allow for preauthorization for payments being made at a later date. Only credit card payment is available for pledge payments. 

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More Questions?

Contact support@givecampus.com.

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Pledge Forms vs. Recurring Gifts: Setup and Integration

Understanding the difference between pledge forms and recurring gift forms, and how they integrate with your donor management system.

How Pledge Forms Work

Pledge forms allow donors to make commitments for future giving, with or without immediate payment.

Pledge Form Without Payment

• When donors fill out a pledge form without providing payment
• No record is sent to your donor management system (like Blackbaud)
• Only gifts with processed payments are exported to external systems
• The pledge intent is recorded in GiveCampus but not transferred

Pledge Form With Payment

• When donors complete a pledge form and make an immediate payment
• This should export as a pledge to your donor management system
• Should NOT appear as a recurring gift

Common Integration Issues

Pledges Showing as Recurring Gifts

If pledge forms with payments are appearing as recurring gifts in your system:

1. Check your export settings

- Verify the 'donation_type' field is set to "pledge"

- Ensure 'subscription_type' field is set to "pledge" not "recurring subscription"

2. Review integration configuration

- Confirm pledge forms are properly configured in your integration settings

- Check that form types are correctly mapped

3. Verify form setup

- Ensure your pledge forms are set up as pledge forms, not recurring gift forms

- Check form settings and donation type configuration

Troubleshooting Steps

Step 1: Verify Form Type

1. Go to your pledge form settings

2. Confirm it's configured as a "pledge" form type

3. Check that payment options are set correctly

Step 2: Check Integration Settings

1. Review your Blackbaud or other CRM integration settings

2. Verify pledge export configuration

3. Ensure proper field mapping for pledge vs. recurring gifts

Step 3: Review Recent Exports

1. Check recent export files for donation_type values

2. Look for any recurring subscription flags on pledge gifts

3. Verify that pledge payments have correct categorization

Key Differences

| Feature | Pledge Forms | Recurring Gift Forms |

|---------|--------------|---------------------|

| Purpose | Future commitment with optional payment | Ongoing automatic payments |

| Export behavior | Only exports if payment made | Exports recurring schedule |

| System classification | donation_type: "pledge" | donation_type: "recurring" |

| Payment frequency | One-time or manual schedule | Automatic recurring |

Recurring Gifts vs. Pledge Forms

Understanding the Difference

Recurring Gifts on Standard Forms:

• Allow donors to make ongoing donations with flexible end dates
• Can be indefinite (ongoing) or time-bound (e.g., monthly for 1 year)
• Process automatically on the selected schedule
• Begin immediately - the first installment is charged the day the recurring gift is set up
• Cannot be scheduled to start on a future date
• Managed through Giving Forms > Giving Experience > Recurring Giving

Pledge Forms:

• Create formal pledge commitments that can be fulfilled later
• Allow donors to commit now and pay in full later or in installments
• Provide more structured pledge management and tracking
• Best for capital campaigns or formal pledge drives

When to Use Each Option

Use Standard Recurring Gifts for:

• Annual giving programs
• Ongoing monthly/quarterly donations
• Simple recurring support without formal pledging
• Immediate donation processing with ongoing installments

Use Pledge Forms for:

• Capital campaigns requiring formal commitments
• Major gift solicitation with future payment plans
• Situations requiring pledge tracking and fulfillment management
• When donors need to schedule payments to start on a future date

URL parameters and autofill limitations for pledge forms

When building personalized links to a pledge form (for example, those shared in email outreach), note that while standard personalization fields work normally, not all pledge-specific settings can be pre-filled via URL parameters. In particular:

• Installment frequency (single vs. multiple payments) cannot be preset.
• Start and stop dates cannot be preset.
• Pledge-specific parameters aren’t supported in autofill.
• Standard personalization parameters (like donor name, email, and amounts) function as expected.

This means that:

1. Donor personalization remains effective—standard fields pre-filled from the URL appear when the form loads.
2. Donors must select the installment schedule and enter any applicable dates while completing the pledge.
3. To guide donor selections, adjust your form settings. For example, enable only one payment option or set a maximum payoff date using Pledge Parameters.

Requiring donors to choose schedule options on the form helps keep payment processing, reminders, and installment setups consistent.