I'm in the process of setting up a small batch for an employee campaign that we did at one of our subsidiaries.  A question cropped up pertaining to inputting the information into a batch as a pledge gift or as a recurring gift.  I have always used the pledge gift attribute but was wondering if it wouldn't be better to input this campaign information as a recurring gift.  I do end of month employee pledge reports for our Finance dept.

Has anyone come up against the same question - pledge gift vs. recurring gift?  What was your final decision and did you find it was a best practice for you.

Thanks.

Kathleen 

A pledge is a finite amount. example: $1,200 - ($25 a month for 48 months)  payments may be split out over weeks, months, years, etc. but the $1,200 revenue is counted on the date the pledge is made.

A recurring gift is a gift that can be discontinued at any time. example: $25 a month until the donor requests in writing for the gift to be discontinued (or the employee is terminated, etc.) The payments count as revenue when they are received.

If your major gift officers or others have goals set of money to raise - if you use recurring gift in place of a pledge they will likely be extremely unhappy so I would consider that issue before making a pledge a recurring gift. If you are in Campaign you would also be cutting the dollars raised if you change a pledge to a recurring gift.

We also discovered that there is a difference between a Recurring Gift and a recurring batch.  We have employee gifts as well, but just for our annual campaign.  Because the paycheck cycle could vary from year to year, we set them up as a Recurring Gift Batch - aka a batch of gifts where the batch recurs - not the gift.  We set up a batch for just payroll gifts, and set it to recur.  We enter the payroll gifts monthly, so we update the dollar amount (for a 4 week or 5 week paycheck month) and change the date.  Then we commit the batch.

The gifts are not pledges, nor are they recurring gifts.  It just makes gift entry easier.  We don't pledges from our employees.  While they can discontinue their giving at any time, the montly amount isn't necessarily the same.   This works for us.

Laurel explained it very well.  I alway figure that a pledge needs to be renewed when a specific amount is met and recurring gift just keeps going until you are told not to continue.  Our Finance Department, Auditors, and Development staff all prefer a pledge.  It is much easier to gage where you stand in a campaign so I try to get written pledges annually from the people who want monthly payments.  Our employee payroll deductions are always booked as pledges and booked annually.

Laurel,

Thanks for the information. How the revenue is counted is the major difference between the two.  Kathleen

I'm new to this forum aspect of Blackbaud.  I believe I'll be using this often.  Thank you all for your information.