Pledge Campaigns

Pledge campaigns let your church raise funds for specific projects and goals. Members commit to giving a certain amount over time, and you track their progress toward fulfilling those commitments. Campaigns can also accept direct donations from anyone, with an optional public-facing campaign page.

Accessing Pledges and Campaigns

1. From the admin sidebar, go to Finances > Pledges.
2. The Pledges & Campaigns page is one scrollable view with two stacked sections: a Campaigns section at the top and a Pledges section below it, each with its own stats, filters, and list.

Plan note: Pledges & Campaigns is a Pro feature. On the Starter or Growth plan the Pledges item appears in the Finances sidebar as a locked / upgrade entry, and the page itself shows an "upgrade required" prompt instead of the management view. Upgrade to Pro to unlock it.

Who sees pledgers: Campaign progress and pledge totals are visible to everyone with access to Pledges. Who pledged what -- the pledge list, each pledge's page, and the pledgers and recent donations on a campaign -- needs the Bookkeeper Giving level or higher; below that, names read "Donor" and the pledge list is replaced by a Donor details are private panel. See Who Can See Giving and Donations.

To add anything new, use the single + New button in the top-right corner of the page. It opens a small menu with two choices -- New Campaign ("A fundraising goal with a deadline") and New Pledge -- and each one opens a pop-up form without leaving the page. Next to it, Recently Deleted opens the list of deleted pledges and campaigns (see Deleting and Restoring).

Creating a Campaign

1. On the Pledges page, click + New, then choose New Campaign. A campaign form opens in a pop-up window.
2. Fill in the campaign details:

Basic Information

Goals & Timeline

Public Campaign

The Public Campaign toggle ("Enable public access to allow anyone to donate via a shareable link.") turns on a public donor page for the campaign. When it's on, these additional settings appear:

Appearance

Pick a Campaign Color (10 options) for visual identification.

1. Click Create Campaign (or Update Campaign when editing). The campaign is created with its own web address based on the campaign name.

Campaign Statuses

The Campaign Page

Click a campaign's name (or View in its row menu) to open its page. The page has four tabs, and an Edit Campaign button at the top opens the same form you used to create it.

• Dashboard -- Progress toward goal (with the percent raised and pledged), the Given, Pledged, and Goal amounts, and counts of Pledgers, Direct donors (last 20 shown), Behind schedule, and Days remaining. Below are Top pledgers and Recent direct donations.
• Details -- The campaign's name, fund, goal, date range, description, category, and minimum donation.
• Public Page -- The public link and sharing tools (see below).
• Notifications -- Post updates to donors (see Campaign Updates).

Sharing a Campaign: Links and QR Code

Public campaigns get a shareable web address. You can share it in two places:

• Public Page tab -- Shows the Full URL, a Share campaign button (short link, QR code, and social sharing), and a Preview button that opens the public page in a new tab. A Public page settings box summarizes your donor-name, amount, anonymous, and message choices.
• Edit Campaign window -- When you edit a public campaign, a green box at the top shows the Short link ("best for SMS, social") and the Full link, with Copy short, Copy full, Preview, and QR Code buttons. QR Code shows the code with a Download button, ready for bulletins and slides.

If the campaign is not public, the Public Page tab says "This campaign is private. To enable sharing (QR code, embed, donor page), edit the campaign and toggle "Public" on."

Draft campaigns can be shared early. A public campaign still in Draft shows "This campaign is a Draft — pre-launch URL ready" on its Public Page tab: share the link in bulletins, emails, or social posts before launch so donors are primed. The page works in preview-only mode until you change the status to Active.

Public Campaign Page

The public page displays:

• Campaign name, description, and cover image.
• Progress bar showing amount raised vs. goal.
• Days remaining (if an end date is set).
• Recent public donations and the donor wall (if enabled).
• Donor messages (if enabled).
• A button to donate directly to the campaign.

Campaign pages track view counts automatically.

Creating Pledges

Pledges are individual commitments from members to give a specific amount to a campaign or fund.

1. On the Pledges page, click + New, then choose New Pledge. A pledge form opens in a pop-up window.
2. Fill in the pledge details:

1. Click Create Pledge (or Update Pledge when editing).

Pledge Statuses

Only Active pledges are marked Defaulted -- a pledge you set to Paused or Cancelled keeps that status. If a defaulted donor catches up, edit the pledge and set its status back to Active or Completed.

Recording Payments Against a Pledge

There are two ways to record a payment toward a pledge:

Method 1: Quick Payment from the Pledges Page

1. Find the pledge in the Pledges list (the Record Payment action is available on Active pledges, for people with the Create permission on Pledges).
2. Click the Record Payment action. A payment window opens.
3. Enter:
   • Payment Amount (minimum $0.01)
   • Date
   • Payment Method (Cash, Check, Card, Online, Direct Deposit, or Other)
   • Notes (optional) -- for example a check number or reference
4. Click Record Payment.

This creates a donation record linked to the pledge. If the pledge has a fund, the donation is automatically allocated to that fund. The pledge's fulfilled amount updates automatically. If the total fulfilled reaches the pledge total, the pledge status changes to "Completed."

Method 2: Link a Donation to a Pledge

When recording any donation from the Giving page:

1. Switch on Link to Pledge and select the active pledge.
2. Complete the rest of the donation form as usual.
3. The donation is linked to the pledge, and the fulfilled amount updates.

Tracking Pledge Fulfillment

Each pledge tracks:

• Pledged -- The committed amount.
• Received -- How much has been paid so far.
• Remaining -- The difference.
• Progress -- A visual progress bar with the percent complete.
• Expected progress -- Based on the time elapsed between the start and end dates.
• Behind schedule -- A flag shown when actual progress is more than 10% behind expected progress.

Viewing Pledge Details

Click a pledge in the list to open the pledge page. It shows:

• Fulfillment progress with Pledged, Received, and Remaining.
• Pledge info: frequency, per-payment amount, start and end dates, reminder setting, and notes.
• Payment history: every donation linked to the pledge with its date and amount (refunded payments are marked Refunded).
• Edit, Record Payment, and (for pledges behind schedule) Send Reminder buttons.

Pledge Reminders

TimelyChurch can email a friendly reminder to donors who are behind on their pledge. Reminders are sent when you choose to send them -- there is no automatic, scheduled delivery; nothing is emailed unless you click a button. Sending reminders needs the Edit permission on Pledges.

There are two ways to send a reminder:

• One pledge: Open a pledge's page and click Send Reminder, then confirm. This emails that single donor. The button appears only when the pledge is behind schedule and the person has an email address on file.
• A whole campaign: Open the campaign's Dashboard tab. If any donors are behind schedule, a Send reminders → link appears under the Behind schedule count. Clicking it (and confirming) emails every behind-schedule donor on that campaign whose pledge has Send payment reminders ticked. Donors without an email on file are skipped automatically.

After sending, you'll see a confirmation showing how many reminders went out (and how many were skipped for a missing email).

About Reminder cadence: The cadence you pick on a pledge (Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly) is saved with the pledge, but TimelyChurch does not send reminders on that schedule by itself. Use Send reminders → on the campaign, or Send Reminder on the pledge, whenever you want a reminder to go out.

Pledge Statistics

The Pledges section shows summary cards:

The Campaigns section above it shows Total, Active, Raised, and Pledged.

Campaign Updates

Keep donors and pledgers informed with campaign updates:

1. Open a campaign and go to its Notifications tab.
2. In the Post a campaign update form, enter:
   • Title (required, up to 255 characters)
   • Update content (required, up to 2,000 characters)
   • Notify donors via email + Telegram (per their preferences) -- Tick this to send the update to the campaign's donors.
3. Click Post update.

Updates are listed under Past updates, newest first, showing the title, content, date, author, and whether donors were notified. You can delete an update; donors who were already notified do not receive a follow-up.

Campaign Totals

Campaigns track two sources of income:

1. Pledge Fulfillments -- Money received through pledge payments.
2. Direct Donations -- Donations linked to the campaign but not tied to a specific pledge.

The amount raised is the sum of both. The campaign progress percentage compares this total against the goal amount. Campaign totals -- amount pledged, amount raised, and the number of pledges and donations -- are recalculated automatically whenever pledges or donations change.

Filtering Pledges and Campaigns

Campaigns: use Search campaigns…, the fund filter (All funds), and the status buttons All, Draft, Active, Completed, Cancelled.

Pledges:

Click Filter to apply, or Clear to reset.

Duplicating a Campaign

To reuse a campaign's setup for a new year or a similar effort, open the campaign's row action menu (the ⋮ button) in the Campaigns list and choose Duplicate. This creates a new Draft copy with the goal and settings carried over and the dates reset, so you can adjust the dates and details before making it active.

Deleting and Restoring Campaigns and Pledges

Deleting a Campaign

• Choose Delete in the campaign's row menu, or Delete campaign in the Edit Campaign window.
• A campaign can only be deleted if it has no existing pledges. If it has pledges, consider completing or cancelling it instead.

Deleting a Pledge

• Choose Delete on the pledge's row.
• A pledge can only be deleted if it has no linked donations. If donations have been recorded against it, consider cancelling the pledge instead.
• When a pledge is deleted, the associated campaign totals are automatically recalculated.

Recently Deleted

Deleted campaigns and pledges are not gone for good. Click Recently Deleted at the top of the Pledges & Campaigns page to open Recently Deleted Pledges & Campaigns, which lists deleted Campaigns and Pledges separately with when each was deleted:

• Restore brings the item back, along with its totals and progress.
• Delete Permanently removes it for good. This cannot be undone.

Related Articles

• Recording Donations
• Managing Funds
• Giving Reports and Analytics
• Who Can See Giving and Donations