Setting up a Page to Collect Pledges Online
Your Donate Now page can be converted to Pledge Mode to allow users to pledge donations contingent on future events (such as read-a-thons, matching grants etc).
The Pledge Mode setting instructs the software to vault credit card info for future processing, whereas Donate Now mode processes credit card transactions in real time so the two features cannot be used simultaneously.
Check out the Demo site for an example of how the software can be set up to accept pledges, then follow the instructions below to set up your own site/page.
To set up Donate Now Page for a pledge event:
Go to Admin > Site Settings > Online Donation Forms > Donate Cash and Online Store:
1. The Donate Now link will not appear on your homepage until this box is checked AND credit card processing is set up.
2. Each time a pledge is submitted, notification will be sent to this email address.
3. To reduce the probability that confirmation emails will be directed to spam, specify a generic "friendly" from address and a real email address to receive any messages sent via "reply".
4. Enter the text you want to appear on the homepage button to the donation/pledge form.
5. Enter the Header you want to appear at the top of the donation/pledge form. You may also leave this field blank and format your header as desired in the Instructions text box on the pledge page.
6. Edit text as desired - some supporters will prefer to pledge a set amount.
7. Choose amounts guests can give (ie 5, 10, 15, etc) to appear in a dropdown menu and/or allow them to enter an amount.
8. Edit the default text for the donation amount field, if desired.
9. Select Credit card only to require users to vault a credit card for their pledge, if desired.
10. Check the Pledge Mode box to prevent credit cards from being charged when the pledge is submitted.
11. Save any changes to the settings.
12. Since payment will not be processed immediately, you only need to edit the Pay Later confirmation message (see below).
To edit confirmation email:
Click on Edit Pay Later Email (see image above):
1. Change Donation to Pledge.
2. You can either provide hard copy instructions for how and when payments will be processed/collected, or use the custom payment instructions you have set up for the site (see below).
3. Save.
4. Send yourself a preview.
Customize the appearance of your Pledge page:
Go to: Homepage > Pledge (the button you labeled in the first step above)
1. Click on the Edit Icon and add your text and images using the HTML Tool Editor.
2. The Items you create for each Pledge level will display here.
3. You can add one or more Custom Fields (for buyers) as needed.