Enable and Submit Online Pledges and Promises

Online pledge and promise submissions allow donors to commit to giving directly through the Giving Hub or the Portal's Donor tab without contacting organization staff. When a donor submits the online pledge/promise form, CommunitySuite automatically creates and posts or commits the record.

Pledge/Promise Overview provides more details on pledges and promises.

Who: Finance or accounting teams, donor development teams, and Portal administrators at faith-based foundations and other organizations that use pledges, annual appeals, annual campaigns, or commitment-based giving programs.

When to Use Online Pledge/Promise Submission

Use online pledge and promise submission to:

• Allow donors to commit to a future gift through the Giving Hub or the Portal's Donor tab without staff assistance.
• Streamline pledge and promise pipeline management by automatically creating and posting records in CommunitySuite when donors submit the form.
• Reduce manual follow-up with automatic staff notifications and donor acknowledgment emails sent at the time of submission.

Before Enabling Online Pledge/Promise Submission

It is important to set up any staff notification, donor acknowledgment, or form customization items before you enable the online pledge/promise for use. Applicable items to configure are listed below:

• Configure internal staff notification for the pledge/promise form submission in Portal Notifications on the Portal Options Page. Portal Setup and Configuration provides additional details.
• Customize a donor acknowledgment email after the form is submitted using the Pledge Form Acknowledge Email Subject and Pledge Form Acknowledge Email Body content areas. Customize Pledge/Promise Content provides additional details.
• Customize the pledge/promise form on the Giving Hub in the Pledge tab of the Giving Hub Content page. This will allow custom language to be added to the top of the form and to the page that appears after the form is submitted on the Giving Hub. Customize Giving Hub and Portal Content provides additional details.
• Customize the pledge/promise form on the Portal in the Donor tab of the Portal Content page. This will allow custom language to be added to the top of the form and to the page that appears after the form is submitted on the Portal. Customize Giving Hub and Portal Content provides additional details.
   

Enable Online Pledge/Promise Submission

The online pledge/promise form must be enabled on the Giving Hub or the Donor tab of the Portal before it is available to donors. By default, all submissions on the form will create a promise record unless the Pledge/Promise Form Type setting in Pledges/Promises Settings is changed to pledge.

Enable the Pledge/Promise Form on the Giving Hub

To enable the pledge/promise form on the Giving Hub in CommunitySuite:

1. Navigate to the Portal Options page and click Giving Hub Settings in the left-side menu.
2. In the Donate tab, click Edit Donate.
   
    
3. Check the Enable Pledge/Promise Form box, and then click Update.
   • If applicable, enter a custom label in the Pledge/Promise Form Button Label field. The button is labeled Pledge by default.
     
      

Enable the Pledge/Promise Form on the Portal

To enable the pledge/promise form on the Donor tab of the Portal in CommunitySuite:

1. Navigate to the Portal Options page.
2. Click Portal Settings in the left-side menu.
3. In the Donor tab, click Edit Donor.
   
    
4. Check the Enable Pledge/Promise Form box, and then click Update.
   • If applicable, enter a custom label in the Pledge/Promise Form Button Label field. The button is labeled Make a Pledge by default.
     
      

Submit the Online Pledge/Promise Form

Donors can submit the online pledge/promise form through the Giving Hub or on the Donor tab of the Portal. The form is public on the Giving Hub, and a profile with the donor designation will be created in CommunitySuite if the form is submitted through the Giving Hub. Donors must have an existing profile with the donor designation in CommunitySuite and be logged in to submit the form through the Portal.

Submit a Pledge/Promise on the Giving Hub

To submit a pledge/promise on the Giving Hub:

1. Navigate to the Giving Hub from the direct link in System URLs.
2. Click Donate from the applicable Giving Hub page.
   • The pledge/promise form is built into the donation workflow in the Giving Hub, such as donating to a fund, a fundraising campaign, or a nonprofit. A donation does not have to be made to submit the pledge/promise form.
     
      
3. Click Pledge.
   
    
4. Enter the Pledge Information, and then click Submit.
   • Amount, Number of Payments, First Payment Date, and Your Information fields are required. The First Payment Date will default to today's date.
   • No payment is collected at the time of submission.
     
      
5. Back in CommunitySuite, navigate to the Pledges/Promises page.
6. Click List Pledges or List Promises in the left-side menu.
   • By default, all submissions on the form will create a promise record unless the Pledge/Promise Form Type setting in Pledges/Promises Settings is changed to pledge.
7. Click the Open bucket to view the promise or pledge record.
    

Create a Pledge/Promise Payment provides additional information on how to make payments towards a pledge/promise in CommunitySuite. 
 

Submit a Pledge/Promise on the Portal

To submit a pledge/promise on the Portal:

1. Log in to the Portal as a Donor and click the My Donation tab in the upper navigation bar.
2. Click Make a Pledge in the upper right corner.
   
    
3. Enter the Pledge Information, and then click Submit Pledge.
   • Amount, Fund, Number of Payments, and First Payment Date are required. The First Payment Date will default to today's date.
   • No payment is collected at the time of submission.
     
      
4. Back in CommunitySuite, navigate to the Pledges/Promises page.
5. Click List Pledges or List Promises in the left-side menu.
   • By default, all submissions on the form will create a promise record unless the Pledge/Promise Form Type setting in Pledges/Promises Settings is changed to pledge.
6. Click the Open bucket to view the promise or pledge record.
    

The Pledges section of Portal Setup and Configuration provides additional information on how to make payments towards a pledge/promise from the Portal. 

Convert Pledges/Promises

A promise can be converted to a pledge and vice versa if the pledge/promise is unposted or uncommitted. If the pledge/promise is unposted or uncommitted, it will be available in the New bucket; if it has been posted or committed, it will be available in the Open bucket. All pledges/promises submitted online will be available in the Open bucket.

Convert a Pledge to a Promise

To convert a pledge to a promise in CommunitySuite:

1. Navigate to the applicable pledge record.
2. Click Unpost in the left-side menu, and then click Convert to Promise in the left-side menu.

Convert a Promise to a Pledge

To convert a promise to a pledge in CommunitySuite:

1. Navigate to the applicable promise record.
2. Click Un-Commit in the left-side menu, and then click Convert to Pledge in the left-side menu.