idealist.org

Features Column 3 Promises, promises

Dear Kim,
My organization recently had a major event, with varying sponsorship levels. Many people pledged the amount they wanted to give towards the event and followed through with their pledges. But, many people have yet to fulfill their pledges. What is the proper way of reminding those individuals to follow through on their pledges? Also, what is appropriate for a second reminder to some that you have already reminded once?
Promises, promises

Dear Promises,
Unfortunately, in all fundraising we have to budget for unfulfilled pledges. This is sometimes called the "discount rate" and it runs 10-15 percent. So, know that no matter what you do, short of breaking their kneecaps—which I don't recommend—you will not get all the money that was promised.

To insure that you keep your rate of fulfillment as high as possible, be sure to send a letter that looks like a friendly invoice and shows very clearly the amount that is owed. It should have this tone: "Thanks so much for your pledge of $500. You will be pleased that we netted $10,000 from our event and your commitment is a big part of that. I am enclosing a reminder card and a stamped return envelope. We look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience." Then add either a pledge card or another sheet of paper which they can include in the envelope.

For those who don't respond to that, I would suggest dividing them into categories:

• Category 1
  Those people or companies who are known to a board member or staff member. The person who is the contact should call them and see what is going on.
  
  
• Category 2
  Those people or companies who pledged over $500. (Many of these are probably in Category 1). They need to be called also.
  
  
• Category 3
  Those who pledged less than $500 and who no one knows personally. You need to decide how much more time and effort you want to put in to collecting those debts. I would suggest one more reminder mailing. At a certain point, you will have spent more time and money trying to collect the pledge than the pledge is worth. You will also have your greatest unfufillment in this category.
  
  

For Category 1 and 2, offer people the option of paying their pledge in several installments. Anyone who does not pay after the phone call should get one more letter, and then let it go.

It is frustrating that people make a pledge and don't pay, but sometimes something comes up for them—a financial emergency, a death in the family—and they triage all other commitments. Some people have such a hard time saying "no" that they say "yes" and mean "no." And sometimes, the person who solicited the pledge heard "yes" when the person being asked said, "I'll think about it" or "I think I can do it, but I have to get back to you."

Ultimately, the best way to insure pledges are paid is to make sure that you have set out the terms of the pledge at the time it's made. For example, Dave, who owns Dave's Electronics, pledges $2500 for your event. He makes this promise to a board member who has been trained to say, "Dave, that's fantastic. Thank you so much! How would you like to pay that?" Or, "Would you like to pay that right now, or would you prefer to get an invoice in the mail?" Or perhaps, "We'd like to collect all the pledges before the event. What would be the best way for me to collect your pledge in the next week?" You get the drift.

Good luck,
Kim

 

If you have a question you would like Kim to answer please email reading@idealist.org with the subject line "Dear Kim". Please note: Due to the large volume of email received, Kim will not be able to answer all the questions asked or respond to emails personally.