Adding Periodic Pledges to Donors

Use the Periodic Pledges tab on the Donors screen to add a Periodic Pledge to a donor. If you have not yet defined your Periodic Pledges, refer to the Defining Pledges section before continuing.

You can use the Filter button on the Donors screen to display only donors who are Periodic Pledge members. For more information, see the Donor Filter section.

If the donor you are viewing does not have an active Periodic Pledge, the Periodic Pledges tab will not appear by default. However, if you check the Show All Pledge Tabs check box in the lower right corner of the Donors screen, this will make the Periodic Pledges tab visible for all donors.

To add a Periodic Pledge to a donor

On the Donors screen, click the Periodic Pledges tab to open it.
The number in parentheses by the Pledges drop-down list indicates the total number of pledges that the donor is or has been participating in. <<NDP>> in this drop-down list indicates "No Defined Pledges" and <<NAP>> indicates "No Active Pledges".

If the donor has no active Periodic Pledges, only the Pledge drop-down list and the Add/Delete/Modify button appear.

You can select an inactive Periodic Pledge that the donor has had in the past from the Pledge drop-down list. The word Inactive appears next to any inactive Periodic Pledges in the list. When you do so, the Periodic Pledge information will be displayed.
Click the Add/Delete/Modify button in the Periodic Pledges tab.
Make sure you click the Add/Delete/Modify button on the Periodic Pledges tab and not the one at the top of the Donors screen.

This opens the Periodic Pledges - Add/Delete/Modify window.
Go the first blank record and open the Pledge Participation drop-down list.
Choose the Periodic Pledge fundraising activity (FRA) that you wish to add to this donor's record.
If you need to go back and set up this FRA, see the Defining Pledges section.
Click the Close button.

To define donor-specific information for a Periodic Pledge

When setting up a Periodic Pledge membership, three fields on the Periodic Pledges tab are required:

First Installment date
Installment Frequency
Installments (amount of each pledge payment)

The Last Installment, Installments, and Total Pledge fields are related. This means that when you enter information for two of these fields, the third one is determined and entered by Keystone. If all three fields do not "balance", the background color of all three fields is set to red. If they are in balance, the background color is set to green. Balance is defined as being within plus or minus $5.

For example, if a donor indicates they are willing to give $300 per quarter up to a total of $1000, after three quarters they will be within $100 for their total commitment. The three fields will be marked in red since the total commitment is not an even multiple of the installment and the difference is greater than $5. This will require you to ask the donor if you can change their total commitment, or change the donor's last installment.
If only these fields are filled in for a donor, the pledge will continue until you mark the pledge inactive after the donor stops their pledge. Many donors, however, establish additional parameters for their pledge.

Open the Periodic Pledges tab for the donor you are working with.
If you aren't on the Donors screen, open the Development tab in the Keystone ribbon, click Donors, then open the Periodic Pledges tab.
Enter the date on which the donor wants to begin their pledge in the First Installmentfield.
This field is required.
- If the date on which the donor wants to begin their pledge is in the future, enter that date in the First Installment field. Keystone then copies this date to the Next Installment field.
- If the donor has already given you a donation and that donation needs to be entered as a new pledge:
  1. Enter the current month in the First Installment field.
  2. Modify the Next Installment field to be equal to the First Installment date plus the Installment Frequency you intend to use for this pledge.
    For example, if the First Installment date is 6/1/07 and the Installment Frequency is monthly, enter 7/1/07 as the Next Installment date.
  3. In the lower Installment pane, enter the First Installment date in the Installment Due field and check NA (not applicable) under Notification.
    This ensures that the donor doesn't receive a pledge notification for this installment since they already have made that payment.
  4. When you have completed the setup for this pledge, go to the Donations tab and enter the donation the donor has just given you for this pledge. See the Entering Donations for Periodic Pledges section for more information.
Enter how often the donor will make a pledge payment in the Installment Frequency field.
Your options are: <<Not Specified>>, Monthly, Every 2 Months, Quarterly, Twice a Year, Annually, or Every Other Year. While you may leave it as <<Not Specified>> without a frequency, the pledge lacks the critical component of what makes it periodic. If you do leave it as << Not Specified >>, the pledge will not be included in notifications or the Periodic Pledge Revenue Forecast report.

Keystone uses this frequency to calculate the Next Installment date for when the donor’s next payment is due.
Enter the amount the donor has pledged for each payment in the Installment field.
Using the above information, Keystone calculates the Current Goal (the number of installments since their pledge started times their pledge amount), their Paid To Date amount, and the Balance for this donor toward their pledge.
If the donor wants to put a limit on the pledge, enter the date on which the pledge should end (Last Installment date) or the total the donor wants to give over the life of the pledge (Total Pledge amount).
If you enter information in either of these fields, when this limit is reached, this pledge will automatically be set to inactive. If a Last Installment date or Total Pledge amount has been specified, set a Reminder Date in the Donors Log, then turn on reminders, to remind yourself to call the donor to ask them to renew before the pledge runs out.
If a Total Pledge amount is entered, a Total Balance field will appear just below it.
If the donor has provided credit or debit card information to be used for the pledge, check the Use Credit/Debit Card check box.

This allows a different kind of acknowledgement to be sent to this donor. The donor’s credit or debit card numbers cannot be stored in Keystone.
If for some reason this donor should not be sent notifications, check the No Notifications check box.
At some point, if someone - for example, a specific member of the Development Committee - closes this pledge, you can select his or her name from the Who Closed drop-down list.

Once you add Periodic Pledges to the donors, after you start entering payments toward their pledges, you will see their pledge payment history on the Periodic Pledges tab. You will see the date the installment was due, whether they were notified about the pledge (and when), the date they paid the installment, the amount they paid, and whether the payment constituted a complete installment payment.

To enter donations toward donors’ pledges, see the Entering Donations for Periodic Pledges section.