Adding Pledges in Batch

This guide walks you through creating a batch of pledges, either by entering them manually or importing from a spreadsheet.

Creating a New Batch

1. Go to Manage > Batches
2. Click Create
3. Give your batch a name (e.g., "Annual Appeal Pledges" or "Monthly Donors Q1")
4. Select the Pledges tab

TIP

Use descriptive batch names to make them easy to find later. You can edit the batch name anytime before processing.

Adding Pledges Manually

Click Add to open the pledge form. Fill in the required fields and any optional information.

Required Fields

Field	Description
Display Name	The donor's display name
Total Amount	The full pledge amount (e.g., $1,200 for a $100/month pledge)
Currency	Select the currency (defaults to your organization's currency)
Period	Number of installments (e.g., 12 for monthly over a year)
Interval	Payment frequency: monthly or yearly
Start Date	When the first installment is due
Created Date	When the pledge was made
Campaign	Which campaign to credit

TIP

The system calculates the installment amount automatically: Total Amount ÷ Period = Installment Amount. For example, a $1,200 pledge with 12 monthly installments = $100/month.

Contact/Organization

There are two ways to link a pledge to existing records in your CRM:

Contact/Organization selector — Use the dedicated selector at the top of this section to explicitly search for and link to an existing contact or CRM organization.

Auto-suggest while typing — As you type in the Display Name, First Name, Last Name, or Email fields, the form searches your existing contacts in real-time and shows suggestions. Selecting a suggestion links the pledge to that contact and pre-fills their details (name, email, address).

Auto-linking by email

If you provide an email address but don't explicitly link a contact, the system will search for an existing contact with that email and link to them automatically. If no matching contact is found, a new contact is created from the donor details you provide. This prevents duplicate contacts from being created when a matching email already exists.

New contact creation — If no contact is linked (either manually or via email matching) when the batch is processed, a new contact is created from the donor details you provide (name, email, address).

Optional Fields

Field	Description
Reference ID	A unique identifier for this pledge (useful for updates)
First/Last Name	Individual name fields
Email	Donor's email address
Address	Street, city, state, zip, country
Comment	Notes about the pledge
Anonymous	Hide the donor's name publicly
Donation Form	Which form to associate (if any)
Site/Project/Team/Network	Fundraising page associations
Tribute	Honor or memorial designation
Pledge Tags	Add tags for organization
Custom Fields	Any custom fields configured for the donation form

Expected Revenue Details

Each pledge creates an expected revenue record. You can optionally set payment details:

Field	Description
Payment Method	Expected payment method (none, cash, check, bank transfer, credit card, gift in kind, other)
Status	Expected status (pending, completed, partial, voided)
Payment Channel	Online or offline
Payment Reference	Check number, wire reference, receipt number, etc.
Payment Notes	Additional payment details
Fund	Which fund to allocate expected revenue to
Fund Amount	Amount to allocate to the fund (defaults to full pledge amount)
Expected Revenue Tags	Tags for the expected revenue record
Expected Revenue Custom Fields	Any custom fields configured for expected revenue

TIP

For pledges paid by check, use "check" as the payment method and enter the check number in the Payment Reference field when payments are received.

Editing and Removing Rows

• Edit: Click anywhere on a row to open the form and make changes
• Delete: Click the trash icon on the right side of a row

Importing from Spreadsheet

For large batches, importing from a spreadsheet is faster:

1. Click Import from Spreadsheet at the bottom of the batch
2. Select your CSV or Excel file
3. Map your columns to the correct fields (if needed)
4. Review the imported rows

See Importing from Spreadsheet for detailed instructions on the import process.

Automatic contact linking during import

When importing from a spreadsheet, if you include an email column but no contact_id, the system automatically searches for an existing contact with that email and links them — similar to how online pledges work. If no matching contact is found, a new contact is created from the donor details you provided (name, email, address).

This differs from manual entry, where you use the contact selector or auto-suggest to explicitly link a contact before processing.

Supported CSV Columns

Below is the full list of columns supported when importing pledges from a CSV or Excel file.

Core (required)

Column	Description
total_amount	Full pledge amount (e.g., 1200.00 for a $100/month × 12 pledge)
currency_code	Currency code (e.g., USD, CAD)
period	Number of installments (e.g., 12)
interval	Payment frequency: monthly or yearly
start_date	When the first installment is due (e.g., 2024-01-15)
created_at	Date and time the pledge was made (e.g., 2024-01-10 10:30:00)
campaign_id	Campaign ID to credit the pledge to

Defaults (required, pre-filled if omitted)

Column	Default	Description
anonymous	0	Whether to hide donor information publicly (0 = no, 1 = yes)
anonymous_type	name	What to hide: name, amount, or both

Donor

Column	Description
display_name	Donor display name
first_name	Donor's first name
last_name	Donor's last name
email	Donor's email address
line1	Street address line 1
line2	Street address line 2
city	City
state	State or province
zipcode	Postal/zip code
country	Country

Associations

Column	Description
contact_id	Link to an existing contact by ID
crm_organization_id	Link to an existing CRM organization by ID
donation_form_id	Associate with a donation form
site_id	Associate with a fundraising site
project_id	Associate with a fundraising project
team_id	Associate with a fundraising team
network_id	Associate with a fundraising network

Other

Column	Description
comment	Donor's public comment or note
reference_id	External or unique identifier — if a pledge already exists with this reference ID, core and expected revenue payment fields will be updated. Expected revenue splits, credits, and tribute soft credits are only set on initial import.

Expected Revenue

Column	Description
expected_revenue_payment_method	Expected payment method (e.g., check, cash, bank_transfer)
expected_revenue_status	Expected revenue status (e.g., pending, completed)
expected_revenue_payment_channel	Where the payment was received (e.g., online, offline)
expected_revenue_payment_reference	Reference number (check number, wire reference, etc.)
expected_revenue_payment_meta	Additional payment notes

Fund

Column	Description
fund_id	Fund designation ID — the donor's intended fund
fund_amount	Amount to allocate to the primary fund

Tribute

Column	Description
tribute_type	honor (In Honor Of) or memory (In Memory Of)
tribute_honoree_name	Name of the person being honored or memorialized
tribute_contact_id	Link the tribute to an existing contact by ID

Expected Revenue Splits (numbered, via column mapping)

Split expected revenue across multiple funds using numbered column pairs:

Column	Description
expected_revenue_split_fund_id_1	Fund ID for the first split
expected_revenue_split_amount_1	Amount for the first split
expected_revenue_split_fund_id_2	Fund ID for the second split
expected_revenue_split_amount_2	Amount for the second split

Add more numbered pairs (_3, _4, etc.) as needed.

Expected Revenue Credits (numbered, via column mapping)

Assign soft or hard credits to additional contacts using numbered column sets:

Column	Description
expected_revenue_credit_contact_id_1	Contact ID for the first credit
expected_revenue_credit_amount_1	Credit amount
expected_revenue_credit_type_1	soft or hard
expected_revenue_credit_category_1	Optional: tribute, matching, solicitor, household, or other

Add more numbered sets (_2, _3, etc.) as needed.

Custom Fields (numbered, via column mapping)

Add custom field values using numbered columns:

Column	Description
pledge_custom_field_1	Value for the first pledge custom field
pledge_custom_field_2	Value for the second pledge custom field
expected_revenue_custom_field_1	Value for the first expected revenue custom field
expected_revenue_custom_field_2	Value for the second expected revenue custom field

Add more numbered columns (_3, _4, etc.) as needed.

Tags (numbered, via column mapping)

Apply tags using numbered columns:

Column	Description
installment_profile_tag_1	Tag name to apply to the pledge
installment_profile_tag_2	Second tag for the pledge
expected_revenue_tag_1	Tag name to apply to the expected revenue record

Add more numbered columns (_2, _3, etc.) as needed.

TIP

Expected revenue splits, credits, custom fields, and tags use numbered suffixes (_1, _2, etc.) and require the column mapping step during import. When you upload your file, map each numbered column to the correct field.

How Contacts Are Linked

When a pledge row has no contact_id but has an email:

• Email matches an existing contact → the pledge is linked to that contact.
• Email doesn't match any existing contact → a new contact is created using the row's name, address, and email.
• Multiple rows in the same batch share the same unmatched email → rows 2..N are flagged with a warning on the review screen, and all of them link to the single new contact created by the first row. Later rows' name/address fields are discarded.

TIP

Email lookup happens at upload time. If you add a contact through the UI after uploading but before processing, the batch will create a new contact instead of linking. Use contact_id explicitly to force a specific link, or use reference_id on the pledge for idempotent re-imports. See Importing from Spreadsheet for details.

Reviewing Your Batch

Before processing, review your data:

• Check that amounts are correct
• Verify period and interval combinations
• Confirm start dates
• Look for any error indicators

Processing the Batch

When you're ready to finalize:

1. Click Process Batch
2. Confirm the action
3. Wait for processing to complete

Important

Batch processing cannot be undone. Once processed, each pledge becomes a permanent record. Double-check your data before processing.

After Processing

Once processed:

• Pledges appear in Manage > Pledges
• Expected revenue records are created automatically
• Installment schedules are generated
• Contacts are created/linked as specified
• Stats and reports are updated

Tips and Best Practices

1. Start small - Test with a few records before importing thousands
2. Use reference IDs - Makes it easy to update records later
3. Review before processing - Check for duplicates and errors
4. Verify schedules - Double-check period and interval combinations
5. Set correct start dates - This determines when installments are due
6. Keep your spreadsheet - Useful for troubleshooting or re-imports