Let’s discover two fundraising eventualities. College A and College B are each holding month-long read-a-thon fundraising campaigns to cap off the top of the college 12 months. College A asks college students to gather flat donations of $10 from their family and friends. College B makes use of the pledge fundraising mannequin and asks college students to gather $3 pledges for every hour spent studying from their sponsors.

Ultimately, each colleges are profitable—however College B raises more cash and has higher participation from college students. It is because the scholars knew that they may increase extra to assist their faculty just by spending extra time studying.

This information will discover how your faculty or nonprofit can use pledge fundraising to boost its impact by breaking down a few of the prime often requested questions (FAQs). Let’s start.

1. What’s pledge fundraising?

A pledge happens when a donor guarantees to make a present of cash, items, or providers that can be delivered to the group at a later date. Donations, then again, are paid instantly. Generally donors use pledges to stagger bigger funds, breaking them into extra manageable funds (e.g., pledging to present $1,000 over six months).

However how does this course of work in follow? 99Pledges’ guide to kid-friendly fundraising ideas illustrates how your group can weave this fundraising methodology into your subsequent marketing campaign:

1. Work with a pledge fundraising software program supplier to arrange donation pages for members.
2. Encourage your members to share the donation pages on-line.
3. Contributors acquire pledge donations from family and friends, normally corresponding with a unit of distance, time, or amount (e.g., $1 per automobile washed throughout a automobile wash or $3 per mile jogged throughout a jog-a-thon).
4. Monitor pledges utilizing your fundraising software program.
5. Gather proceeds as soon as the occasion wraps up. Your software program ought to routinely ship reminders and acquire funds from donors.

Remember that pledges are totally different from month-to-month giving initiatives. Month-to-month or recurring giving implies that the donor has enrolled in your sustainer program and agrees to donate a particular greenback quantity every month (e.g., $25 every month, on repeat). Whereas a donor could pay some pledged donations in installments, this doesn’t make them part of your month-to-month giving initiative.

2. Why settle for pledges?

Pledge fundraising is an efficient methodology for nonprofits, colleges, and different fundraising organizations as a result of it:

• Is extra versatile. Enhance your donors’ experiences and safe extra donations by providing them alternative ways to donate. For instance, throughout a walk-a-thon they might select between giving pledged donations for every mile walked or donating a flat fee. Flat charges enchantment to donors who know what they need to donate whereas pledges could be higher for many who can not or don’t want to donate instantly.
• Can improve donors’ capability to present. Not your entire supporters can afford to present giant quantities at one time. Nonetheless, pledge donations give them the choice to pay towards a bigger sum over a number of months. Whereas your group received’t obtain an instantaneous main reward, these small donations add up.
• Supplies extra alternatives to steward supporters. With pledged donations, you’ll have a minimum of two alternatives to attach with them: once they make the pledge and once they donate. In the event that they plan to satisfy the pledge in a number of funds, you have got much more possibilities to point out your gratitude. Ship donors heartfelt thank-you messages and share the impression that their contributions should steward the connection.

Pledges are additionally an effective way for donors to offer focused assist to the causes or initiatives they care about most. For instance, an afterschool program may use a sports team fundraising idea like a baseball hit-a-thon to boost cash for its group sports activities program. When donors pledge to donate to this marketing campaign, they’ll know precisely the place their funds are going.

3. How are pledges collected and processed?

There are various alternative ways to handle pledged donations, and it’s as much as your group to determine what works greatest. Nonetheless, there are some ideas and greatest practices to comply with that may preserve the method operating easily:

• Use pledge fundraising software program that may monitor pledges and fundraising progress throughout your marketing campaign.
• Settle for quite a lot of cost strategies like bank cards, PayPal, ApplePay, and GooglePay to make donating versatile and handy for donors.
• Leverage on-line donation pages. Since pledges are sometimes collected by way of peer-to-peer fundraising, contemplate making a donation web page for the entire marketing campaign and permitting members to create particular person pages.
• Select a cost processor or fundraising platform that’s protected and safe. Sometimes, these suppliers are PCI compliant and make use of safety measures like information encryption and two-factor authentication.

Moreover, you’ll must ensure you’re asking for these donations in an efficient method. As a result of some donors is probably not acquainted with pledge fundraising, clarify how the tactic works in your asks. In case your group is holding a peer-to-peer marketing campaign, share some primary fundraising ideas and advertising and marketing supplies with members.

4. What occurs if a donor doesn’t fulfill their pledge?

Sadly, pledge attrition can occur in nearly any marketing campaign. Nonetheless, a mean of 84% of event fundraising pledges are fulfilled, so you may relaxation assured that this isn’t a rampant difficulty that may significantly impression your success. To offset any anticipated losses, set the expectation that you simply received’t obtain roughly 10% of the full quantity pledged.

In lots of instances, pledging to donate just isn’t legally binding. Because of this one of the simplest ways to curb pledge attrition is thru preventative measures. Begin with clear communication—make sure that donors perceive what pledging to donate means, inform them once they might want to make the cost, and ship out reminders. 

Moreover, some fundraising platforms require a donor’s card info to course of the pledge. This fashion, your nonprofit can routinely acquire the agreed-upon quantity on a particular date (and neither you nor the donor will neglect about it).

5. How can your group encourage donors to pledge once more?

You’ll must make efforts to steward your group’s relationship with donors to make sure they pledge once more sooner or later. To take action, set up a gratitude system that features parts like:

• Sending donors thank-you messages. Share an e-mail or handwritten letter expressing your gratitude for his or her assist. eCardWidget’s guide to thanking donors recommends including private particulars like the quantity donated, centering the donors’ impression, and guaranteeing your message suits the reward quantity.
• Creating donor recognition partitions. Recognition partitions are mounted, public shows in your facility that function the names of your prime, most loyal donors. These partitions honor the donors’ contributions, bodily characterize your neighborhood of supporters, and make these featured really feel deeply linked to your trigger.
• Giving prime donors public shout-outs. Establish the donors that pledged the most important quantity, contributed for the primary time, or have joined in on essentially the most pledge campaigns. Then, ask in the event that they’d prefer to be featured in your web site or social media. Think about asking them just a few transient questions on why they assist your trigger. You’ll be able to function their solutions within the publish.

In case your nonprofit or different group shares an impression or annual report, contemplate including a bit that acknowledges impactful donors. Unfold consciousness of your pledge fundraisers and enhance supporter retention by including a particular part to spotlight the impression of pledge-based fundraisers.

Pledge fundraising permits your group to present its supporters a distinct method to contribute to your trigger. The power to make smaller donations over time or sooner or later can enhance your donors’ capability to present. Unit-based pledges can empower members in charity races, dance-a-thons, and different occasions to go the additional mile through the marketing campaign.

To inspire each your donors and members to do extra to additional your mission, contemplate implementing pledge fundraising into your subsequent marketing campaign.

Concerning the Creator

Rodrigo Ramos

Rodrigo Ramos is the Supervisor of Buyer Success at 99Pledges, the #1 on-line fundraising platform for colleges, sports activities groups, music teams, and extra. 99Pledges gives organizations with an easy-to-use, web-based resolution to handle and drive success in fundraising. The platform’s strong performance can assist easy pledge drives in addition to performance-based campaigns (e.g. enjoyable runs, walk-a-thons, read-a-thons, and so on.).