Recording Cash Pledges

This article consists of the below topics:

Specifying Giving Type
Specify Guest Lists
Specify Pledge Contacts
Marking a Pledge As Written

Recording Cash Pledges

Follow these steps to record a cash pledge:

1. Open a new record from the Pledges service.
   • You can also open new Pledges records from Fundraising Campaigns or Fundraising Campaign Solicitors records.
2. Select IndividualPledge or CorporatePledge.
   
   • For an individual pledge, enter a Contributor.

   • For a corporate pledge, enter a Company and a Contact.

      The person (for Individual pledges) or company (for Corporate pledges) must have sufficient available credit to cover the amount of the pledge in order to save it as Written. See Understanding Order Credit for information on extending credit to Persons and Companies.

3. Enter the fundraising campaign in the Campaign field.
   • All pledges must be associated with a campaign. If some pledges are not applicable to any campaign, Aptify recommends that you create a Miscellaneous campaign to which these types of pledges can be linked.
     
     
4. If needed, modify the currency in which you want the pledge to be calculated in the Currency Type field.
   • When opening new a record from the Pledges service, the Currency Type field defaults to your organization's functional currency or the system's default currency if an organizational currency is not specified. Once a campaign is specified or if you open the new Pledges record from a Fundraising Campaigns or Fundraising Campaign Solicitors record, the Currency Type field defaults to the campaign's currency type. You can modify the currency type as needed to create a pledge in a different currency.
     
5. If this prospect has an assigned solicitor, enter that person in the Solicitor field.
6. Select the Source for the pledge from the drop-down list.
7. Select the current Stage for the pledge from the drop-down list.
   • The options in this list correspond to the records in the Pledge Stages service (see Creating Pledge Stages).
   • A stage whose base status is Verbal corresponds to an unconfirmed pledge. A stage whose base status is Written corresponds to a confirmed pledge which generates an order in Aptify.
   • Typically, a pledge starts out in a verbal stage and later changes to a written stage once confirmed.
     
8. If the contributor does not want to be included in donor lists that can be generated in the reports for the Pledges service, clear the Show in Donor List option. Otherwise, leave the option selected.
9. If the contributor is a VIP donor, select the VIP option.
   
10. Click the Funds tab.
11. To allocate a pledge amount, select a fund from the list in the Fund field.
    • Funds are only available for selection if they have been set up for the relevant Fundraising Campaign.
12. Enter an amount for that fund and click Add. If necessary, repeat this step to allocate an additional amount to one or more funds.
    
    • The Amount field is expressed in the currency type of the pledge.
    • The Giving Category field in the Pledges record's top area updates automatically to use the category specified in the Fundraising Campaign that corresponds to the amount of the donation.

    

13. Click the General tab.
14. Enter the Date Sent and Date Received for the pledge.
15. Select Cash from the Pledge Type drop-down list.
    • The Amount field is read-only. It displays the total pledge amount allocated to one or more funds on the Funds tab.
16. If discounting future pledge payments to their present value, enter the Discount %.
    • This is the discount rate used to calculate the present value for future payments. See About Present Value and Discount Rates for more information.
    • This field is only applicable when present value calculations are enabled in the Fundraising Campaign. See Specifying Pledge Discount Options.
    • Contact your accounting department for assistance if you do not know what discount percentage to use.
      
17. Specify how often the donor will make a pledge payment from the Frequency drop-down list.
    • Standard options include One Time, Monthly, Quarterly, Semi-Annually, and Annually.
18. If you specified a Frequency other than One Time, enter the number of installment payments the donor intends to make to satisfy this pledge in the # of Payments field.
19. Enter the date when the donor intends to make the first payment (or the only payment if the Frequency is One Time) in the Payment Start Date field.
    
    • The system populates this field with today's date by default.
    • Leave the Payment End Date field blank. The system will calculate this date automatically when it generates the payment schedule.
      
      
20. Click the Create Payment Schedule button to generate the payment schedule. 
    • A message displays confirming that a schedule is being created based on information entered in the Pledges record (amount pledged, number of payments, frequency, and start dates).
21. Click OK to create the payment schedule.
    
    • Aptify also automatically enters the Payment End Date and calculates the Present Value of the entire pledge amount. If discounting was applied to the pledge, the amount in the Present Value field is less than the amount in the Amount field.
      
      
22. To review the payment schedule, click the Payment Schedule tab.
    
    • This tab displays information about the expected payments based on the information entered on the General tab.
    • If future payments are being discounted to present value, the tab displays the payment's amount, the discount amount, and the payment's present value.
      
      
23. Modify the payment schedule if necessary. There are two options to change the schedule:
    
    • Edit any of the required fields on the Pledges record and click the Payment Schedule button again.
    • Double-click a specific payment line on the Payment Schedule tab and edit the Payment Schedule record directly. 
24. Specify Giving Type information, if desired. See Specifying Giving Type for details.
25. Specify Guest List information, if applicable. See Specifying Guest Lists for details.
26. Specify Pledge Contacts, if desired. See Specifying Pledge Contacts for details.

27. Save and close the Pledges record.

    When saving a Pledges record in a different currency than the campaign, a valid Currency Spot Rates record (including cross rates if applicable) must exist within the system for the currency relationship. If a spot rate does not exist, an error message will display and the pledge cannot be saved until a valid Currency Spot Rates record is created.

28. Modify the pledge as needed to reflect any changes in the donor's pledge before it becomes confirmed.

29. Once the donor has confirmed the pledge, change the pledge's Stage to a stage that corresponds to the Written base stage. This locks down the pledge and prevents any further changes. It also causes the system to generate an Orders record for the pledge. See Marking a Pledge As Written for details.

    Orders linked with a pledge should not be created manually.

    Specifying Giving Type

    Giving types allow donors to specify Pledges on someone else's behalf. Available options include Standard, In Recognition Of, In Memory Of, and In Honor Of.

    1. Open the Pledges record, if not already opened.
    2. Select the Giving Type tab.
    3. Select the Giving Type from the drop-down list.
    4. Depending on the type selected, enter the person on whose behalf the pledge is being made.
    5. The In Recognition Of, In Honor Of, and In Memory Of fields link to the Persons service.
    6. Enter a Giving For Description.
       
       
    7. Save the Pledges record.

    Specify Guest Lists

    A fundraising organization may invite some or all contributors to a gathering to celebrate the success of the fundraiser. The Guest List form can capture extensive information about each guest that the contributor invites. To track guests for a gathering, use the Guest List tab on the Pledges record.

    Follow these steps:

    1. Open the Pledges record, if not already opened.
    2. Click the Guest List tab.
    3. Enter the guest in the Guest field and click the Add button.
       • The guest is added as an entry in the sub-type grid.
       • Note that the Guest field links to the Persons service.
    4. Click Add.
    5. Double-click the guest's entry in the grid to open the Guest List record.
       
       • Aptify automatically completes one or more fields on this form based on information stored in the corresponding Persons record (such as name, address, and title).
    6. 
    7. Edit any information on this form as necessary.
    8. Click OK to save and close the record.
    9. Repeat the steps listed above to add additional guests, as necessary.

    Specify Pledge Contacts

    You can associate one or more persons as points of contact for questions related to this pledge. This is particularly useful for Corporate pledges that may have multiple points of contact.

    Follow these steps to add pledge contacts.

    1. Open the Pledges record, if not already opened.
    2. Click the Contacts tab.
    3. Click the New icon in the toolbar to open a new Contacts record.
    4. Enter a contact person in the Person field.
       • This links to the Persons service.
    5. Enter a Contact Type.
       
       • This field links to the Pledge Contact Types service. See About the Pledge Contact Types Form.

       

    6. Enter any additional information on the Comments tab.
    7. Click OK to save and close the record.
    8. Add additional Contacts as necessary.

    Marking a Pledge As Written

    A written pledge is a written promise to contribute to the campaign. Written pledges are locked when they are saved and cannot be altered again.

    Follow these steps to mark a pledge as written:

    1. Open the Pledges record.
    2. Check that the credit of the donating individual or company is sufficient for the written pledge. The Credit Status must be Approved and the Credit Line must cover the amount of the pledge.
       • To check the credit status of a company, click the Company link and look at the Details > Organization tab of the Company record.
       • To check the credit status of an individual, click the Contributor link and look at the Details > General tab of the Persons record.
         
    3. In the Stage field, mark this pledge as Written.
       • Or, select a stage that has been Written as the Base Stage. See Creating Pledge Stages for details.
    4. Save the pledge. A message prompting that various fields of the Pledges record be double-checked displayed. To edit the record, click Cancel and make the necessary changes.
    5. When the information is correct, click OK. The Pledges record is saved. The record is also automatically locked down so the information cannot be edited.

    Once a pledge's stage is set to Written and the record is saved, an order is created to book Accounts Receivable and Sales Revenue for the entire amount.

    Orders linked with a pledge should not be created manually.

    In addition, scheduled transactions are created to:

    • • Reverse the discounted portion of the revenue and,
      • Recognize the discounted portion of a scheduled payment on the payment due date.

    Specifying Payment Type for Purchase Orders

    Written pledges generate Orders records with a payment type of Purchase Order. The Pledges entity has the ability to control the Purchase Order payment type that is specified on the Orders record. This is a configurable attribute located in the Pledges entity and can be accessed and modified by your system administrator as needed. Below is a description of the attribute:

    PurchaseOrderPaymentTypeID: The Purchase Order payment type record (by ID) to be specified on the Orders record. The default value for this attribute is 1 (the Purchase Order included with standard Aptify installations). Note that the ID specified must have a base type of Purchase Order to generate the proper type of payment information on the Orders record.

    Also note that if an organization specific payment type exists that is different from the purchase type specified in the Pledges entity; the organization specific payment type will be used for employees linked to that organization. See the Managing Payment Types.