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So I'm in a bit of a dilemma. My Director is of the opinion that when pledges are fulfilled we should send a letter to the donor stating that unless they tell us otherwise we will continue with a renewal of their pledge on the same terms that they had previously.
If they were paying off a $500 pledge $100/month then we would continue charging their credit card for another 5 months unless they told us to stop.
I would say absolutely not! It goes against the Donor Bill of Rights in my opinion.
You typically offer them a recurring gift OR a pledge and not assume a pledge is a recurring gift. Without expressed permission from the donor I would never run their card longer than they gave you permission.
I would definitely write them and offer to change their gift to a recurring gift that they can cancel at any time but never have to renew btu if they choose another pledge - it is a pledge - not a recurring gift.
Yikes! That means that someone has to *opt out* of a pledge that they didn't authorize. Sounds a bit illegal to me! But, you are in Canada, maybe your rules are different!!! I'd ask your legal advisor to look into it.
Barbara
__________________ Barbara A. Schlichter Technical Project Coordinator Burlington, MA www.lahey.org
Only thought I have is that this doesn't sound legal. It would also seem to
me that you would anger donors the second the realize this, and probably
lose them.
As with everyone else, this is a bad situation. A huge no-no.
When I think on it, our auditors don't count pledges without signed forms, so it becomes an outright gift, not a pledge payment.
I have a few constituents in our database that are "action reminders" to send a letter and see if they'd like to continue their pledges. Maybe something like that could be done instead to ease your Director's mind about cash flow.
__________________ Sage
Advancement Database and Records Manager
Grand View University www.grandview.edu
Peter, my old foundation went through the same thing a few years ago. Our telethon encouraged pledges of a year of giving each month for many years. We were told the usual method for monthly giving was to continue until we were told to stop and that's what they wanted us to do.
We stood our ground about the fact that these donors were only asked to donate for 12 months so a compromise was reached and a letter was sent to every monthly donor explaining the change in our policy and that if they had any concerns to contact us. We made it as positive as possible, explaining that now they would no longer have to call the telethon each year to make their pledge but that the 12x$?? would still be included in the grand total each year.
It was still a little off for some of us but at least we could say we informed them of our new policy if they called later saying "what are you doing?" It was still a little stickey in further years, b/c long standing announcers were so used to saying 12 months, but a follow up letter emphasized that it would continue indefinitely until they contacted us.
Some people are of the mind that it is easier to ask forgiveness than permission.
__________________ Leslie Robertson- Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation - Atlantic Chapter Coordinator, Data Entry & Database Research LRobertson@cbcf.org
My first reaction wa no... no NO!!!!!.... however from a stewardship standpoint - there are some perks -- BUT ONLY IF YOU CONTACT THE DONOR PRIOR TO CONTINUING THE CHARGES AFTER THE END DATE!!!
If the PTB decide that this is something they MUST have I would:
Create a query that indicates what pledges are ending in the next month
Give that list to the PTB with contact phone, email etc.
Have it be the responsibility of the PTB contact the donor and offer the option of "renewing the pledge" or creating a recurring gift (with no end date) and possiibly increasing the amout as well. Of course in the communication the PTB would thank the donor for their support, include recent news about your organization and then DOCUMENT the outcome of the contact.... (yea yea yea... sometimes I DO live in an alternate unvierse)
__________________ Elaine Tucker Stewardship Coordinator St. Mark's School of Texas USA www.smtexas.org
I'm glad you said it b/c I was about to! Can I come live with you?
__________________ Leslie Robertson- Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation - Atlantic Chapter Coordinator, Data Entry & Database Research LRobertson@cbcf.org
We've done an analysis of the volume of pledges we'd have to deal with each month for the next year and have determined that we can take the time to make individual phone calls for now.
When volume increases we'll have to revisit that for resource reasons.
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