Creating a Pledge
Last updated: April 10, 2026
Pledges allow organizations to capture donor commitments for future giving. A pledge records a donor's intent to give a specific amount over a defined period, with payments collected through scheduled installments or manual contributions. This article covers how to create a pledge from the WeGive dashboard, including all available configuration options.
Starting a New Pledge
To create a pledge from the dashboard, navigate to the Pledges section and click the create button. A donor search modal will appear, prompting you to search for and select the donor who is making the pledge. Once you select a donor, the system routes you to the appropriate pledge creation form based on the donor type — individual or company.
If the donor does not yet exist in your system, you will need to create the donor record first before creating a pledge for them.
Required Fields
Every pledge requires the following information at minimum:
Pledge Amount — The total amount the donor is committing to give. The minimum pledge amount is $5.00. Amounts below this threshold will be rejected.
Donor — The individual or company making the pledge commitment. This is selected during the initial donor search step before the form loads.
Installment Configuration
Pledges support flexible installment schedules that determine how the total amount is divided into payments.
Installment Frequency Options
WeGive supports the following installment frequencies for pledges:
One-time — A single payment for the full pledge amount.
4 installments — The total amount is divided evenly across 4 fixed payments.
8 installments — The total amount is divided evenly across 8 fixed payments.
Monthly — Installments are calculated based on the number of months between the start and end date.
Quarterly — Installments are calculated based on the number of quarters between the start and end date.
Annually — Installments are calculated based on the number of years between the start and end date.
Note that weekly and biweekly frequencies are not available for pledges (unlike recurring donations).
How Installment Amounts Are Calculated
For fixed installment options (4 or 8), the installment amount is simply the total pledge amount divided by the number of installments.
For date-based frequencies (monthly, quarterly, annually), the system calculates the number of periods between the start and end dates and divides the total amount accordingly. For example, a $1,200 pledge with a monthly frequency spanning 12 months would result in $100 per installment.
As payments are made, the system recalculates the remaining installment size by dividing the outstanding balance by the number of future installments. This means if a donor makes a larger payment early on, the remaining installment amounts will adjust downward.
Start and End Dates
For any frequency other than one-time, you should set a start date and end date to define the pledge timeline. These dates are used to calculate the number of installments for date-based frequencies (monthly, quarterly, annually) and to determine when the pledge is considered active or expired.
Auto-Bill
The auto-bill option determines whether installment payments are charged automatically or tracked manually.
When auto-bill is enabled, the system will automatically process payments on the scheduled installment dates using the donor's saved payment method. Enabling auto-bill requires the following additional fields to be set:
A payment method (credit card or bank account on file)
A start date and end date
An installment frequency
When auto-bill is disabled, the pledge serves as a commitment tracker. The system will send reminder emails as installment dates approach, and the donor can make payments manually through the donor portal or other giving channels.
Fund Designation
Each pledge can be assigned to a specific fund (also called a designation). This determines where the pledged dollars are allocated within your organization's fund structure. You can also associate a pledge with a campaign to track it as part of a broader fundraising initiative.
Pledges are assigned to a single fund. If you need to track commitments across multiple funds, you would create separate pledges for each fund.
Tribute Gifts
A pledge can be designated as a tribute gift — a commitment made in honor or memory of someone. When tribute is enabled on a pledge, the following fields become available:
Tribute Name — The name of the person being honored or remembered.
Tribute Message — An optional personal message from the donor.
Tribute Email — The email address where a tribute notification should be sent.
When installment payments are processed against a tribute pledge, the tribute details carry over to each transaction. If you have the "Tribute Made" triggered message configured and set to Live under Engagement > Triggers, a notification email will be sent to the tribute email address.
WeGive does not distinguish between "in honor of" and "in memory of" as separate categories — donors can express this intent within the tribute message field.
Additional Options
Fee Coverage
The cover fees option allows donors to indicate whether they will cover processing fees on their pledge payments. The include fees in total paid setting controls whether those covered fees count toward the pledge's total paid amount. For example, if a donor pledges $1,000 and covers $30 in fees, this setting determines whether the pledge shows $1,000 or $1,030 as the total paid.
Tax Deductibility
You can mark a pledge as tax deductible or not, which will be reflected in donor-facing receipts and records.
Description
An optional description field allows you to add context or notes about the pledge, such as the purpose of the commitment or any special arrangements with the donor.
Visibility
The is hidden toggle controls whether the pledge is visible to the donor in their donor portal. Hidden pledges are only visible to dashboard users.
Custom Fields
If your organization has configured custom fields, these can be captured on pledges to collect additional information specific to your needs.
CRM Integration
If your organization uses Salesforce or Raiser's Edge, pledges include fields for storing external CRM record IDs (Salesforce ID and Raiser's Edge ID). When a pledge is saved, the system can automatically sync the record to your connected CRM.
Pledge Statuses
Once created, a pledge moves through several statuses based on its payment activity and timeline:
Active — The pledge has not been deleted, is not fully paid, and the end date has not passed (or no end date is set).
Completed — The pledge's total paid amount has met or exceeded the total pledge amount.
Expired — The pledge end date has passed but the total amount has not been fully paid.
Archived — The pledge has been soft-deleted.
The system also tracks whether a pledge is "in arrears" or "due soon" to help you monitor outstanding commitments.
Pledge Reminders
WeGive automatically sends reminder emails to donors as installment dates approach, provided you have the corresponding triggered messages configured. The available pledge reminder triggers are:
1 week before an installment is due
1 day before an installment is due
Day of when an installment is due
Missed installment when a payment date has passed without payment
These reminders are configured under Engagement > Triggers and must be set to Live to send.
After Creating a Pledge
Once a pledge is created, the system automatically:
Creates an engagement record for the donor
Logs the activity on the donor's profile
Calculates the next installment date based on the frequency and start date
Syncs the record to connected CRMs if integration is enabled
Updates the donor's computed giving values and clears relevant caches
You can view and manage all pledges from the Pledges table in the dashboard, which displays key details including the donor, total amount, amount paid, installment frequency, next installment date, status, and associated fund or campaign. From there, you can drill into individual pledge records to view payment history, update settings, or process manual payments.