Pledges

Contents

Entering a New Pledge
Entering a Pledge with Multiple Expected Installments
Adding a Pledge Payment
Adding a Donation as a Pledge Payment
Linking a Donation to a Pledge
Linking a Donation to one of a Pledge's Expected Installments
Un-Linking a Donation from a Pledge
Pledge Invoicing
Writing Off Pledges
Pledge Reporting
Installment Reporting

NeonCRM lets you track donor pledges as well as link gifts to existing pledges. In NeonCRM, Pledges and Pledge Payments are types of Donations - they are not their own separate type of payment or gift.

Entering a New Pledge

Entering a new pledge follows a very similar process to entering a new donation. To do so, first select the Quick Add button and "Add Pledge."

You will then be taken to the Pledge: Create screen. First, you want to see if the donor for whom you are entering a pledge already has a record in NeonCRM. Simply start typing their name into the Donor field to see if there is an existing record.

A drop-down search window will appear as you type with suggested matches. To select a constituent, click on their name. Their information will then populate the Donor field.

If a matching record does not exist in NeonCRM, finish typing the name of the new donor into the Donor field and click on New Individual (or Company, if the pledge is from a company).

Next, complete the appropriate fields to add the pledge.

• Donor is the constituent making the pledge.
• Amount is the amount of the pledge.
• Date will automatically populate as today's date, but can be otherwise specified.
• Status indicates whether the pledge has actually been committed (Succeed), or whether you are still waiting for confirmation from the constituent (Pending). It does not indicate whether the pledge has been paid.
• Expected Date is the date by which you expect the pledge to be paid.
• Purpose, Campaign, and Fund are optional fields which can be used to track additional information about how the pledge and, ultimately, donation should be used. These can be set up under Global Settings cog Global Settings Payments & Transactions Allocation.
• Anonymous is whether or not this pledge should be anonymous.
• Donor Name is how the donor would like to be acknowledged publicly. Because donations cannot be entered on Households, this is often used for the couple's names (i.e. Mr. and Mrs. Jane and John Doe). This can be left blank if the donor wishes to be acknowledged the same way their name appears in the first Donor field.
• Source is used to track more specific information about how a pledge was solicited. Learn more about how to configure Sources here.
• Social Fundraiser is the solicitor for the pledge. These can be configured at Fundraising > Peer-to-Peer Fundraising.
• Solicitor is any solicitor who may have assisted with this donation. 
• Solicitation Method is how the pledge was solicited.
• Acknowledgee Name is for tracking who to contact in the case of tribute donations. Learn more about Tribute Donations here.
• Tribute Name tracks for whom the donation is in honor or memory.
• Custom Fields will display Donation Custom Fields. Learn how to create and configure Custom Fields here.

On the next screen, you will be provided with a Pledge Summary for the pledge.

The pledge will now display on the constituent's record in the Donations section. 

Entering a Pledge with Multiple Expected Installments

General guidelines for installments

• A single payment cannot be applied to more than one installment. If this is necessary, you must first split the payment.
• More than one payment can be applied to a single installment.
• Recurring donations cannot be automatically applied to installments. Pledge payments that are generated by a recurring donation must be manually applied to installments after they have processed.
• Pledge payments do not necessarily have to be applied to an installment; they can be applied to the pledge without being matched to an installment.
• The installment schedule is not linked to the overall pledge amount. This means that you can have a schedule of installments that total a different amount than the overall pledge. If you require the installment total to match the pledge amount, you must ensure that the amounts you enter add up correctly.
• Writeoffs cannot be applied to an installment, only the pledge itself.
• As is the case with regular pledge payments, it is possible to over-pay an installment.

Creating a pledge with installments

Navigate to the Quick Add button Add Pledge. Credit the pledge to a specific Donor and enter the total pledge Amount. The Date is not as important, as each installment has its own Expected Date. Click Next.

On the Pledge Summary page, click Add Installment.

Enter the Expected Date and Amount for your first installment, then click Submit.

Repeat these steps until you have entered all installments expected for this pledge.

Adding a Pledge Payment

You can link pledge payments to the original pledge. To do so, navigate to the account of the constituent who made the original pledge. In the Donations section, select the pledge to which you would like to apply a payment. Under the Payments section of the Pledge Summary page, click on Add Payment.

This will take you to the Pledge Payment: Create screen. NeonCRM will automatically populate the Amount based upon the original pledge amount that you entered.

On the right side of the screen is the Pledge Information section. This will show you all of the information that you originally entered about the pledge.

After making your desired changes, click on Continue.

The next screen will show you a summary and fields for payment information.

Similar to entering a standard donation, you will be provided with the option to send a Donation Appreciation System Email and/or add this person to the Mail Merge queue to receive a hard copy letter. You can also add additional items to the transaction at this time.

Complete the payment fields and save or submit the payment.

This will take you to the Pledge Payment Summary screen. Note that the Pledge Details section includes the original amount of your pledge and the option to Un-Link Donation from Pledge. This indicates that this payment is linked to the original pledge.

Adding a Donation as a Pledge Payment

If you forget to enter the transaction as a pledge payment, Neon will prompt you to do so any time you add a donation to an account with an open pledge. Once you enter a donor account, you will have the option to select any open pledges on that account to put that donation toward, or you can choose to proceed with the donation separately from the pledge.

Linking a Donation to a Pledge

A full guide to linking an existing donation to a pledge is available here.

Linking a Donation to One of a Pledge's Installments

Payments can be applied from several places.

If you are already on the pledge detail page, click the Detail link next to an installment. On the Installment Detail page, click Add Payment.

Or, from the Pledge Payment Summary page, click Apply to an Installment.

When you do this, you will be presented with a list of installments. Select the appropriate installment for this payment, and click Next. If you choose Do not apply this donation to an installment, the installment will be applied to the pledge, but not to any specific installment.

The Pledge Summary page will now show the payment with a note that shows the payment has been linked to a particular installment. The installment's Amount Paid and Remaining Balance columns will be updated to reflect the new balance on the installment.

Donors Linking Donation to a Pledge

Donors can link their donations to a pledge through the Constituent Login Portal Donation page. Select Make Payment.

You can see that there is a link to the pledge noted on the payment page.

Donors can also link their donations to a pledge when logged-in and on a standard donation form. 

Un-Linking a Donation from a Pledge

You can also un-link a donation from a pledge. From the Pledge Payment Summary screen, click the link labeled Un-Link Donation from Pledge. This will remove the payment from the Pledge, and convert the payment back into a general donation.

Writing Off Pledges

The remaining balance on pledges can be written off if you no longer anticipate receiving payment. To do this, go to the record of the constituent who made the pledge. In the Donations section, select the pledge you wish to write off. This will bring up the Pledge Summary screen. Scroll down to the Payments section at the bottom.

The Payments section at the bottom of the page will show the total amount paid toward this pledge. To write off the remaining balance of this pledge, select Writeoff. The Pledge Writeoff screen will then appear.

This screen will display the total amount of the pledge (in this case, $3,000) as well as each of the payments made to date toward this pledge. Balance calculates how much is remaining on the pledge. In the Write-off Amount field, enter the amount of the pledge that you wish to write off. In this case, I want to write-off the entire remaining $1,500 balance. Click Submit. The Pledge Summary screen will appear. In the Pledge Payment Information section, you will now see both the payments to this pledge and the amount of the write-off.

Pledge Reporting

You can report on pledges and pledge payments using the Reports module. Because pledges and pledge payments are types of donations in NeonCRM, you can report on them using any of the reports in the Donation section of the Reports module by using the Donation Type filter.

In addition, the Pledge and Payment Report is a report that returns one line per pledge and will display summary information such as Balance Due, Write Off Amount, Number and Amount of Paid/Unpaid Pledge Installments, etc. as well as standard donation and account data.

Installment Reporting

Installment data can be retrieved from two reports: the Pledge and Payment Report, and the Installment Report.

Pledge and Payment Report

In this report, each row of data is a pledge. For each pledge, you can retrieve and query summary-level information about installments, including:

Search Criteria:

• Number of Pledge Installments
• Number of Paid Pledge Installments
• Number of Unpaid Pledge Installments

Output Columns:

• Number of Pledge Installments
• Number of Paid Pledge Installments
• Number of Unpaid Pledge Installments
• Amount of Paid Pledge Installment
• Amount of Unpaid Pledge Installments

Installment Report

In the installment report, each row of data is a pledge installment. This allows you to retrieve specific details about each installment. You might use this report to retrieve:

• A list of unpaid installments
• A list of installments that belong to a particular donor
• A list of installments attributed to a particular campaign, fund, or purpose
• A list of all installments expected on a particular date

Pledge Invoicing

With pledge invoicing, you can set up automated pledge reminders and pledge overdue notices for donors.

The Pledge Invoice and Pledge Overdue Notice system emails and letters can be configured by going to Global Settings > Communications > Transaction Acknowledgements.

Here you are able to create custom versions of these emails and letters, as well as configure different conditions based on the pledge amount, balance due, installments, and more.

The Pledge Invoice emails and letters can be configured to automatically generate based on different schedules in advance of pledge due dates. You can also choose to include a PDF Invoice attachment. 

The Pledge Overdue Notice emails and letters can be configured to automatically generate based on different schedules after the pledge due date.  You can also choose to include a PDF Invoice attachment.