Introduction
ShulCloud’s Forms builder has a very special field type perfect for shuls that ask members to make annual pledges called Donation Based on Contributed Amount. This can be used on an online pledge form to remind members what was pledged last time and suggest increased pledge amounts for the current renewal.
This article walks through a typical pledge form setup and focuses mainly on the core aspects of the Donation Based on Contributed Amount field. Each organization will have a need to include additional fields and may want to choose to use different form options.
Form Options
Form Options provides the details about the form and how the form will work.
General
Submit Button Wording. The default wording is "Submit" but can be customized.
Form Permissions
Form Visible To. Set this to Logged in Only. The form cannot suggest a pledge based on the last time without knowing who is making the pledge.
Financials
Time of Payment. Make a selection based on how the organization handles pledges. In this example, In our example, we only want the member to make a pledge, not actually pay it upon submitting the form. As the page indicates, that means some extra work for Admins to create the charges at a later date.
If a shul wants to collect payment when the member submits the form, decide whether to require immediate online payment or whether to allow the member to bill the pledge amount to their account. To reduce administrative work, and members are hesitant to submit a partial payment initially, select the option for members to bill to their account.
Be sure to pay special attention to the following fields:
- Charge Note. This appears on statements so make it simple yet descriptive.
- Charge Date. The default is to use the date of submission. However, for this particular application, it makes sense to set the Charge Date in the future, such as the start of the next fiscal year (July 1 for many shuls).
Emails
Sending a confirmation email is a good practice as it gives members a record in his/her inbox. It is also an opportunity to say thank you. So consider a few words from the Board of Directors or the Rabbi. Remember to add the email field to the form so the system knows which email address to use as a confirmation email.
Confirmation Messages
The confirmation messages are another opportunity to communicate meaningfully with members. They appear on screen after a form is submitted. Sure, the defaults get the job done – form received or form not received. However, considering kicking them up a notch with a big thank you when the submission goes through or how to get help when the submission does not.
Status
Open. Set this to Yes when it is time have members complete the pledge form.
As previously mentioned, there are many more form fields available.
Setting Up A Donation Based on Contributed Amount Field
With your form options set, it is now time dive to the Donation Based on Contributed Amount found in the Financial Fields section of the Field Type dropdown.
General Settings
The Donation Based on Contributed Amount field starts out looking like an ordinary Enter an Amount payment field. Enter the label, adjust the width if desired, assign a Charge Type, and enter an optional description.
In this example, we are showing a Charge Type. As this is a "Pledge Only" form, it is not actually required here. If requiring payment and/or billing at the time of submission, then the Charge Type setting in this section should reflect the new charges that will be created when the form is submitted.
Use the Description field to convey additional information. It could be a pitch to be generous, details on how the funds are used, or how and when payment is due.
Financials Settings
The first four rows of settings dictate the past transactions that are used to compute the suggested pledges for the coming year.
Date. Choosing to specify a date range really depends on the Charge Type(s) chosen on the third row of settings. For the pledge suggestion to be based on Charge Type(s) only used during the prior fiscal year (typically indicated in their name, such as "FY19-20 Dues," a date range doesn't need to be entered. However, the suggestion is based on continuously used Charge Types (such as "Membership Dues"), then be sure to restrict the transactions by date.
Amount. Most shuls will leave the starting amount at 0 and raise the upper limit above 1000 (especially if using the "in total" option as dues are often over $1,000) to cast the widest net.
Charge Types. Determine which Charge Types should be used in the suggestion computation. What is chosen here will dictate the verbiage set further down below when describing the member’s past activity and when presenting the suggested pledge amount.
Payment Status. Choose whether or not to include past transactions based on whether or to what extent they are paid. If Paid Partially is included, the full amount pledged is used in the suggestion computation. Uncheck Unpaid to exclude transactions that were never paid at all.
The next two rows have to do with what will happen when the member has no charges meeting the criteria set above.
If 0 - Label. In cases where a suggested pledge cannot be computed using past transactions, suggest a starting amount. This field will be used to introduce that suggestion.
Suggested Amount. Enter the amount to suggest when the suggestion cannot be computed using past transactions (such as a member who recently joined). In the Using field choose the Charge Type to use if any payment is being taken at the time of submission.
Override Description Below. A different description may be used below the suggested pledge amount in cases where the suggestion is not computed based on past transactions. Enter it here.
The next four settings govern if and how an increased pledge is suggested based on last year’s.
Suggested Multiplier. If a recommended increase is suggested, complete this field. The first increase will be used as the default, so if no increase is suggested, enter 0 first. Entering 0,5,10 would show last year’s amount, that amount plus 5%, and that amount plus 10%.
Multiplier Display As. Choose to show the suggestions in a dropdown list or text.
Multiplier Label. Label appears on the dropdown list or as the heading of block of text, depending on the choice above.
Previous Contribution Label. Enter language to display before last year's contribution amount.
A Look at the Sample Form
Here is how our sample pledge form is set up to solicit pledges for FY 2020-2021:
- Pledge Only (set back in Form Options)
- Suggest amount based on charges that are
- All dates (because our Charge Type used for the suggested amount computation is very specific)
- Less than $100,000
- Made to Charge Type 2019-2020
- Paid or partially paid (if the member paid nothing we are going to skip that charge)
- If there are no transactions to use to compute the suggested amount:
- Display "Please consider a pledge of this amount:"
- Suggest $360
- Using the Pledge 2020-2021 Charge Type (because this is a pledge-only form, this can really be left blank)
- Show the override message explaining that no past applicable pledges were found
- If there are transactions to use to compute the suggested amount we want to suggest:
- Last year's amount as the default
- Possible increases of 3%, 6%, or 18%
- Show the suggestions in a dropdown (down below you can see how it would look with the Text option)
- Our form also has two other fields:
- An Information Snippet to introduce the form and the pledge drive.
- An Email field that will be used for our confirmation email
- We have also set the confirmation messages as shown above
Our first member is Shulem Shtisel. Here is a look at Shulem's transactions.
See that Shulem has a charge for Pledge 2019-2020 for $3600 and like a mensch he has timely paid it. So we expect to see that $3600 used on the pledge form when he logs in and fills it out.
When Shulem clicks the dropdown list he will see the 3%, 6% and 18% amount options. Of course, Shulem can enter any amount he wishes to pledge. After he submits his form, he will see this:
Once Shulem submits his pledge, he sees our Thank You confirmation message. He will also receive an email.
Next, we have Libbi Shtisel. She's new to the shul with no transaction history. Here is what Libbi sees:
She has no history so she is presented with our default suggested pledge of $360.
Lastly, we have Akiva (Kive) Shtisel. Here are his transactions.
He made a second pledge but failed to sell his big painting so it remains open or unpaid. Because we chose to exclude unpaid pledges, the form displays $1800, not $3600.
Conclusion
There are many options available in order to tailor a pledge form for each shul's needs. For example here is how showing the suggested amounts as a text block instead of a dropdown looks:
Be sure to test the form created to ensure it acts as expected by choosing a few members that reflect different scenarios.