Pledge entry

In this article:

Enter a pledge

NOTE: For more information on any data fields in this form that are not discussed in this article, please refer to the Data Dictionary (also available from the Flex Importer page in your LGL account).

You can add a pledge to your database by clicking the Add gift button on the Dashboard or on the Fundraising tab, or from any individual constituent record. Then select Add pledge from the dropdown menu that opens.

Add the pledge data. Please note that you will not have the option to assign a payment type or a deposit date, because those items are not available for pledges. (You can enter that data when you receive the pledge payment/s, which you will enter as a gift/s.)

Once the basic pledge information is set, you can add installments to it if desired.

Can multiple constituents make payments on the same pledge?

No. Little Green Light does not support the ability for multiple constituents to pay down a pledge balance. In addition, payment toward a pledge can be made only by the constituent who originally made the pledge.

If you are soft crediting a pledge

Note that if you are soft crediting another constituent for a pledge payment, the soft credit will not appear immediately. The soft-credited constituents will receive soft credits automatically for all future pledge payments rather than for the pledge itself.

Create pledge installments

Pledge installments allow you to define the payment schedule for a particular pledge. They also make it easy to map gifts to the proper pledge during gift entry. 

Installments can be generated according to different schedules: One-time, weekly, monthly, quarterly, or annually. For one-time payments, you just need to set the date and one installment for the full amount of the pledge will be created. For all other intervals, you can set the interval, first payment date, and payment amount. For the $1,000 pledge from Antonio Banderas (see the last screenshot in the previous section), you can create a monthly payment interval of $100:

Click the Calculate installments button to create entries for all the installments that are required to fulfill the pledge, according to the specified start date and interval:

When you save the pledge, the installments will be created.

When you enter a gift toward a pledge installment, you can then choose to connect the gift to the installment to close it. To do this, find the constituent, add a gift, and choose the installment that the gift is in payment of:

NOTE: If you don’t set everything up completely the first time, you can always come back and reconfigure the payment schedule by editing the pledge you want to update.

If you want to take action in a specific way in response to a gift or pledge, such as a follow-up thank you call or a reminder email or mailing, you can add one or more related tasks to the pledge. You can add as many related tasks as you need to, and each will be connected to the gift’s constituent.

Add multiple pledges sequentially

If you have a stack of pledges to enter, you can save time on data entry by turning on the Use values for next gift? setting and clicking the Save and add another button when you are ready to save each pledge. This will save the pledge (and any related gifts, tasks, or installments) and reload a blank pledge entry form. 

Add pledges in bulk

It's also possible to enter data for multiple pledges at one time by entering your pledges in bulk. To use this feature, click the Fundraising tab and choose Bulk gift entry:

Change the Bulk gift entry form to accept pledge records:

Then enter your pledge data, one pledge at a time, clicking the Save and add another button to enter data for each new pledge:

When you've added all your pledges, click the Save button:

Acknowledge pledges

As you may know, you won't be providing a tax receipt for a pledge amount; you'll only provide this for an actual payment. But we encourage you to thank your donors for committing to give a pledge to your organization and, in that spirit, to develop and use pledge acknowledgment templates that appropriately further your stewardship efforts. To learn how to send acknowledgments for pledges, read the Acknowledging gifts in LGL article.


Add a pledge payment

When a constituent makes a pledge payment, you will enter it as you would a gift record. Once you have entered the gift amount, use the Connect to an open pledge, goal, or installment dropdown menu to connect it to the correct pledge or pledge installment. 

If you have set up pledge installments, connect the pledge to the corresponding pledge installment. If you have not set up installments, connect it to the pledge. 

When the gift record is saved, the pledge balance will decrease by the amount of the gift. The installment record will also be replaced by the gift record. 

Write off a pledge

You would typically write off or write down a pledge when a constituent is unable to fulfill the complete pledge. To do this, you can edit the pledge:

You can then zero out the balance of the pledge by typing the full amount of the pledge balance (whatever is remaining that has not been paid) in the write-off amount field, as shown here:

LGL takes the write-off date into account and marks the pledge complete if the total for the payment combined with the write-off amount is greater than or equal to the total pledge balance amount.