Tracking Pledges and Pledge Campaigns

The Pledges screen allows you to track your congregation's pledges and receipts. The pledge screen can be accessed by opening the contribution screen and clicking "pledges" on the main toolbar. The pledge screen is arranged in three distinct sections, as seen here:

The pledge campaign name and details are in the top left corner of the screen. When creating a pledge description, you should enter a specific title, like "Building Fund Pledges" or "Pledges for 2011". Also, we recommend that you use a unique "Default Category" for your Pledges, and not a category that you also use on the Contribution screen.

When you click on a pledge description, the list of pledges that have been made in that campaign will appear in the window in the bottom left corner of the screen. It is here that you enter each pledger's name and the amount they have pledged. ChurchTrac automatically calculates the values in the "Amount Received" and "Pledge Remaining" columns.

IMPORTANT NOTE: You can use either the Contribution screen or the Pledge's screen payment received window to record pledges received. Do not record pledges received in both locations. If you use both the Pledge screen and the Contribution screen, be sure that the Default Category field on the Pledge screen is set to a unique category that is not used on the Contribution screen for general contributions. Any entries on the Contribution screen using the Pledge screen's Default Category will be applied to the Pledges entered. Regardless of whether you enter the pledges received on the Pledge screen or the Contributions screen, both will appear on the individual's Contribution statement. However, only items entered on the Pledge screen or items entered on the Contribution screen using the correct Category will appear on Pledge reports.

You can also print an overview report for the selected pledge campaign, or interim giving statements for one or more pledgers.