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
- From the admin sidebar, go to Finances > Pledges.
- The 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.
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 and New Pledge — and each one opens a pop-up form (a modal) without leaving the page.
Creating a Campaign
- On the Pledges page, click + New, then choose New Campaign. A campaign form opens in a modal.
- Fill in the campaign details:
Basic Information
| Field | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Name | Yes | The campaign name (up to 255 characters). |
| Description | No | A detailed description of the campaign's purpose (up to 2,000 characters). |
| Fund | No | Link the campaign to a specific giving fund. Pledges and donations to this campaign will be allocated to this fund. |
| Goal Amount | No | The fundraising goal. Used for progress tracking. |
| Start Date | Yes | When the campaign begins accepting pledges and donations. |
| End Date | No | When the campaign ends. Leave blank for open-ended campaigns. |
| Status | No | Draft, Active, Completed, or Cancelled. Defaults to Draft. |
| Color | No | A color for visual identification. Choose from 10 color options. |
The Category dropdown shares the same list everywhere in the form. The options are: Mission Trip, Building/Facilities, Benevolence, Education, Ministry, and Other.
Public Campaign Settings
The Public Campaign toggle turns on a public donor page for the campaign. When it's on, these additional settings appear:
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Public Campaign | A toggle that turns on a public page visible to anyone with the link. |
| Cover Image | Upload a cover image (up to 5MB). Displayed on the public campaign page. |
| Video URL | A URL to an embedded video (e.g., YouTube or Vimeo link). |
| Minimum Donation | Set the smallest amount a donor can give to this campaign (in the Goals & Timeline area). |
| Donor wall | Choose how recent donors appear on the public page: no donor wall (default), avatars only, or full names of donors who opted in. |
| Show donor names publicly | Display donor names on the public page. |
| Show donation amounts publicly | Display individual donation amounts on the public page. |
| Allow anonymous donations | Allow donors to give anonymously. |
| Allow donor messages | Allow donors to include a message with their donation. |
- Click Save. The campaign is created with a unique URL slug based on the campaign name.
Campaign Statuses
| Status | Description |
|---|---|
| Draft | Campaign is being set up. Not visible publicly. |
| Active | Campaign is live and accepting pledges and donations. |
| Completed | Campaign has reached its goal or end date. No longer accepts new pledges. |
| Cancelled | Campaign was cancelled. Preserved for record-keeping. |
Public Campaign Page
Active, public campaigns get a shareable URL:
https://yoursite.com/c/your-church-slug/campaign/campaign-slugThe 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 (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.
- On the Pledges page, click + New, then choose New Pledge. A pledge form opens in a modal.
- Fill in the pledge details:
| Field | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Person | Yes | The individual making the pledge. Start typing a name in the search box and select the person from the results. |
| Campaign | No | Link this pledge to a specific campaign. The fund is inherited from the campaign. |
| Fund | No | The fund the pledge is directed to (auto-filled if a campaign with a fund is selected). |
| Name | No | An optional label for the pledge (up to 255 characters). |
| Total Amount | Yes | The total amount the donor is committing to give (minimum $1). |
| Frequency | Yes | How often the donor plans to give: One Time, Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly, or Annually. |
| Installment Amount | No | The amount per installment period. This field appears only when the frequency is not "One Time". |
| Start Date | Yes | When the pledge period begins. |
| End Date | No | When the pledge period ends. Leave blank for open-ended pledges. |
| Status | No | Active, Completed, Paused, or Cancelled. New pledges default to Active. |
| Notes | No | Internal notes about the pledge (up to 1,000 characters). |
- Click Save.
Pledge Statuses
| Status | Color | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Active | Green | Pledge is in progress. Donations are being collected. |
| Completed | Blue | Pledge has been fully fulfilled (amount_fulfilled >= total_amount). |
| Paused | Yellow | Pledge is temporarily on hold. |
| Cancelled | Red | Pledge has been cancelled by the donor or administrator. |
Recording Payments Against a Pledge
There are two ways to record a payment toward a pledge:
Method 1: Quick Payment from the Pledges Page
- Find the pledge in the Pledges list (the Record Payment action is available on Active pledges).
- Click the Record Payment action. A payment modal opens.
- Enter:
- Amount (minimum $0.01)
- Donation Date
- Payment Method
- Notes (optional)
- Click Save.
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:
- In the "Apply to Pledge" dropdown, select the active pledge.
- Complete the rest of the donation form as usual.
- The donation is linked to the pledge, and the fulfilled amount updates.
Tracking Pledge Fulfillment
Each pledge shows:
- Total Pledged -- The committed amount.
- Amount Fulfilled -- How much has been paid so far.
- Remaining -- The difference.
- Progress Percent -- Visual progress bar.
- Expected Progress -- Based on the elapsed time between start and end dates.
- Behind Schedule -- A flag if actual progress is more than 10% behind expected progress.
Viewing Pledge Details
Click any pledge to view:
- Full pledge information.
- A list of all donations linked to this pledge with dates, amounts, and payment methods.
- Campaign association (if applicable).
Sending Pledge Reminders
TimelyChurch can email a friendly reminder to donors who are behind on their pledge. Reminders are sent on demand by you -- you click a button when you want to nudge a donor. There is no automatic, scheduled delivery; nothing is emailed unless you send it.
There are two ways to send a reminder:
- One pledge: Open a pledge's detail page and click Send Reminder. This emails that single donor. (The button is only available when the person has an email address on file.)
- A whole campaign: Open a campaign's detail page. If any donors are behind schedule, a Send reminders button appears next to the "Behind schedule" count. Clicking it emails every behind-schedule donor on that campaign in one batch. 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).
Pledge Statistics
The Pledges page shows summary statistics:
| Stat | Description |
|---|---|
| Total Pledged | Sum of all active pledge amounts. |
| Total Fulfilled | Sum of all amounts paid toward active pledges. |
| Active Pledges | Count of pledges with "Active" status. |
| Completed Pledges | Count of fully fulfilled pledges. |
Campaign Updates
Keep donors and pledgers informed with campaign updates:
- Open a campaign's detail view.
- In the Post a campaign update form, enter:
- Title (required, up to 255 characters)
- Update content (required, up to 2,000 characters)
- Notify donors -- Check this box to notify all donors via email and Telegram, according to each donor's notification preferences.
- Click Post update.
Updates appear on the campaign detail view in reverse chronological order, showing the title, content, date, and author name.
Campaign Totals
Campaigns track two sources of income:
- Pledge Fulfillments -- Money received through pledge payments.
- Direct Donations -- Donations linked to the campaign but not tied to a specific pledge.
The Total Amount Raised is the sum of both. The campaign progress percentage compares this total against the goal amount.
Campaign totals (total_pledged, total_raised, pledge_count, donation_count) are automatically recalculated whenever pledges or donations change.
Filtering Pledges
| Filter | Description |
|---|---|
| Status | Active, Completed, Paused, or Cancelled. |
| Fund | Show pledges directed to a specific fund. |
| Campaign | Show pledges for a specific campaign. |
| Person | Show pledges from a specific donor. |
| Search | Search by pledge name, donor name, family name, or campaign name. |
| Sort | Sort by date created, amount, fulfilled amount, start date, end date, status, or name. |
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 Campaigns and Pledges
Deleting a Campaign
- A campaign can only be deleted if it has no existing pledges.
- If the campaign has pledges, consider completing or cancelling it instead.
Deleting a Pledge
- A pledge can only be deleted if it has no linked donations.
- If donations have been recorded against the pledge, consider cancelling the pledge instead.
- When a pledge is deleted, the associated campaign totals are automatically recalculated.