Pledging...
This is course 2 of 5 in The Features of Online Donation Providers
Pledges are automatic and hassle free. They are processed by your donation provider without administrative assistance by the organization. No manual batches to process and no time consuming reports to run.
Pledges made through Qgiv are also active, not passive. They are not just a promise to send a monetary gift at regular intervals, but permission for the online donation provider to initiate a transaction at a set time. This means no need for follow-up; the transaction occurs automatically and the donor is sent an email receipt detailing the transaction.
There are two main types of recurring billing, simple recurring donations on a set schedule and custom recurring donations that allow the donor to configure an amount or time interval for their donation. The intervals can be weeks, months, quarters or longer. A simple recurring donation is usually a set amount at a set time interval. Examples of custom recurring donations would include pledging, tithing, membership levels or other programs that benefit from custom recurring options.
Simple Recurring Donations
On the surface this would seem to be the same as a pledge. The reason we call this type of billing 'simple recurring' is the simplicity for the donor. This type of system is an 'up sell' system. If a donor has come to your organization's site to give $100, they may see the recurring option and decide to make their gift recur every quarter, or every month. This multiplies the effect of their gift and provides new funding that might otherwise have never occurred.
Pledging and Tithing Donations
Pledging and tithing options allow your donors to specify custom recurring donations that meet their own individual situations. With the ability to set their own amounts and schedules, donors have the ultimate flexibility in how funds are given to your organization. Your donation provider should give your donors the ability to create their own unique pledges or tithes as part of the recurring donation option.
Membership Levels
If your organization has membership levels, you should allow your donors the option of paying over time or paying the entire sum up front. Levels provide you the ability to keep your level names (ex. Bronze, Silver, Gold) while giving your donors flexibility in how to pay. Automatic billing also takes the hassle out of remembering to send their funds.
Management and Reporting Options
Management of these recurring billing options is also a key feature that must be included by every online donation provider. Examples of management include:
• The ability to easily update billing information as credit cards expire or account numbers change.
• The ability to create custom restrictions that allow donors to specify campaigns or special purpose projects for their funds.
• The ability for recurring donors to cancel or renew their pledges from every receipt they receive.
Your online donation provider should also have a suite of reporting tools that allow your organization to see upcoming donations based on the total number of pledges in the system, including a breakdown of pledges and tithing by specific restrictions or campaigns.
The text portion of Qgiv's Donation University is licensed under a
Creative Commons License.