This document summarizes a presentation on pledges and recurring donations in Bloomerang. It covers the differences between pledges and recurring donations, how to create and edit pledges including adding payments and handling failures, and reporting options. It also includes bonus slides on rapid gift entry, split payments, and recurring donations. The presentation aims to provide attendees with information and best practices for managing pledges and recurring donations in Bloomerang.

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4. Poll

5. Margie Worrell
Margie Worrell is the Curriculum Manager at
Bloomerang. She serves on the board of the
Peace Learning Center in Indianapolis, and
has worked extensively with nonprofits as
both a staff member and a lead volunteer.
Her passions include education, theatre, her
two children and her two small dogs.
Curriculum Manager

6. Donations and Pledges Part 2

7. What will
we cover
today?
● Pledge vs Recurring Donation
● Creating and editing pledges
● Adding pledge payments
● Payment failures
● Refund and Delete Transactions
● Pledge reports
● Pledge reminders
BONUS SLIDES:
● Rapid Gift Entry
● Split payments
● Recurring payments

8. Pledge vs Recurring Donation
Pledge Recurring Donation
Total Amount Recurring Amount
Timeframe Frequency
Fulfilled when payments equal
pledge amount
Open-ended, continues until the
donor requests to stop
Payment methods may vary Typically auto-processed

9. Creating pledges
Different options: Pledge with a set frequency of installments
Enter the information for the
pledge. Be sure to put the full
pledge amount in the Amount
section. If the method of
payment is cash/check, select
None under Method.
Enter the First Installment Date,
Frequency, and Installment
Amount. Then click Generate
Installments. The installments
will populate according to the
schedule info you provided.

10. Creating pledges
Different options: Pledge with a custom frequency
Adds an
installment
underneath
Deletes this
installment
Click into these to edit
the date or the amount of
this installment

11. Editing pledges

12. Adding pledge payments
Find the pledge and
click on it.
Click Actions and then
New Payment.
Fill in the payment info and
click Save.
The pledge payment
shows on the timeline.

13. Handling payment failures
What counts as a failed payment?
● The payment's pledge or recurring donation schedule automatically processes with a credit card.
● The last attempted payment was unsuccessful.
● The last attempted payment was during the current fiscal year.
● If the recurring donation schedule has an end date, it is after today.
If the credit card is expired, resolve the failed payment in one of three ways. Reach out to the
constituent and:
● Update the credit card.
● Change the payment method.
● Set an end date on the recurring donation schedule.
Fix Credit Card Payment Failures
Payment Failure Dashboard Basics

14. Write off or delete pledges
Go to the
original pledge
on the timeline.
Click Actions,
then Write Off.

15. Write off or delete pledges
This is irreversible, so the
warning box will ask you to
verify.
The pledge and
pledge payment will
still show on the
timeline, but when you
click in it will have a
message indicating
that this pledge was
written off.

16. Refund or delete a pledge payment
Click on the pledge payment that you wish to refund.

17. Pledge reporting
Three pre-built pledge templates to help you get started

18. Creating pledge reminders
Use this template to get a
report of people who have
a pledge installment in the
next month. Create a
reminder email and set a
monthly schedule for the
email send referencing this
report in your filter.

19. BONUS SLIDES

20. Rapid Gift Entry
When you click this
after entering your
donation info…
…the next donation will automatically fill in with the
default fields (see next slide for details on fields).

21. Details on Rapid Gift Entry fields
Fill in the values that you’d like to store as default. The following donation fields may be stored as
defaults:
● Date. If the date is left blank, it will default to the current date.
● Amount
● Non-Deductible
● Fund
● Campaign
● Appeal
● Method. Details on various payment methods (for example, Check Date) are not stored as
defaults.
● Note
● Soft Credits
● Tribute
● Acknowledgements
● Custom Fields
Click Store as Default Values and then click Save. No longer want the default values? Just click Actions
and Remove Default Values!

22. Split Payments
1.
2.
3.
4.
Enter total payment
amount then click
pledge payment
5.
Enter pledge
payment amount
then click “+”
Enter donation
amount then click
Save
6.
7.
Shows up on
timeline like
this

23. Recurring Donations
1.
2.
3.

24. Into the demo database we go!

25. Resources
Bloomerang Knowledgebase and Support Portal

26. Resources
Knowledgebase
Donations and Pledges
Rapid Gift Entry
Create or Edit Split Payments

27. Speaking of donations…are you
using Bloomerang Payments?

28. Thank you for attending!
And thank you for all you do in
your communities!
Visit our website to see more upcoming
Bloomerang Academy webinars!