Tracking Pledges for a Campaign

A pledge drive — "we're asking every family to commit $1,200 to the building fund" — needs one thing above all: knowing where each pledge stands without anyone keeping a side spreadsheet. In GoodBooks, pledges live on the campaign, and fulfillment is computed live from actual gifts — record the gift like you always do, and the pledge updates itself.

Availability: Foundation plan and up.

Setting up the drive

Open the campaign (Donations → Campaigns) and go to its Pledges tab:

1. Switch Pledge tracking enabled on.
2. Set the drive's Start Date and End Date — only gifts dated inside this window count toward pledges. Leave the end date blank for an open-ended drive.

Recording pledges

On the same tab, add each pledge: pick the donor, enter the pledged amount, and an optional note ("$100/month for a year"). One pledge per donor per campaign — if a family increases their commitment, edit the amount rather than adding a second pledge.

How fulfillment works

There's no "apply this gift to the pledge" step. Any gift the donor makes to the campaign, dated inside the drive window, counts automatically — entered by hand, through Batch Gift Entry, or given online. The Pledges tab shows each donor's pledged amount, fulfilled amount, and a progress bar; the donor's own record shows their pledge too.

Pledge credits (soft credits)

Sometimes the right person to credit isn't the person whose name is on the money — a business owner gives through the company, a matching gift arrives from an employer, or one spouse writes the check for a pledge made jointly. For those, add a pledge credit: it counts toward the person's pledge progress without putting a gift on their giving record.

You can add a credit right from the donation entry screen when recording the gift, or from the donor's record. Credits are tracking-only — they never appear on giving statements or receipts, so tax records stay accurate.

Good to know

• Refunded gifts drop out of pledge fulfillment automatically; partially refunded gifts count at their original designated amount.
• Turning pledge tracking off hides the prompts at gift entry but keeps every pledge and its progress — turn it back on and nothing is lost.
• Pledges don't post to your books. They're commitments, not receivables — the accounting happens when the actual gifts arrive. (If your auditor wants pledges receivable on the books, that's a journal entry decision to make with them.)
• A gift split between campaigns counts toward the pledge only for the portion designated to the pledged campaign.