Church pledge campaigns are a fantastic way to boost church giving overall. Often, your congregants can give more over time than they can in a one-time gift – so collecting pledges helps encourage your donors to give deeply, with a set deadline to complete their total gift. In this article, you’ll learn what makes a successful church pledge campaign and how to run one.
People are giving less and less to their churches. In 2022, 17% of families reduced the amount they were giving to their church. That’s a significant decrease – and is the reason why many churches are struggling to grow their giving.
Pledge campaigns can help your church increase the amount each congregant gives by encouraging them to give a little over a longer period of time.
In this article, we’ll walk you through the basics of church pledge campaigns along with the best practices for running one. As a bonus, we’ll include three tips for writing a compelling church pledge drive letter.
Let’s get started!
A church pledge drive or campaign is where donors pledge to give a certain amount of money by the campaign deadline. Donors get to decide when and how often they want to donate to meet the amount they pledged.
This is a handy way for churches to raise money for a specific cause because it shows donors that they don’t have to give all at once. Often, they can give more money over a specified time than they can through a one-time donation.
In fact, recurring donors give up to 42% more per year than one-time donors!
Donorbox makes collecting both one-time and recurring donations toward a pledge easy and smooth. Churches can choose up to four donation intervals to highlight on their campaign donation page. Once someone signs up, their card or bank account will be charged on their chosen interval.
Donors feel empowered when making recurring donations because they can log in to their Donorbox account at any time to change their payment method, update their gift amount and frequency, or cancel their recurring gift.
We love how this cathedral made it so easy for donors to meet their pledges with a handy dropdown option on their donation form that allowed them to choose a designated fund –
Types of pledge campaigns depend on what your church needs. Here are a few common times when hosting a church pledge campaign makes sense!
An annual pledge drive typically starts at the beginning of the year, with a big push during end-of-year giving. The goal of this campaign is to communicate your annual financial needs with your congregants so they feel empowered to give and support your church. You may also choose to host an annual pledge drive for the upcoming year during the year-end giving season.
Fundraising for a new church building is a great time to host a pledge drive. Donors will feel excited to be a part of your church’s future. Because a new building typically takes time to raise funds for, pledge fundraising gives donors the time they need to give more.
Check out our guide to raising money for a church building fund for more tips!
A church capital campaign involves raising money to repair, renovate, or expand existing buildings, or to purchase more property. Similar to a building fund, this is a great time to ask for pledges so donors can give more over time.
We have an all-inclusive guide to church capital campaigns to help you get started.
When you’re running a church pledge drive, it’s important to keep these best practices in mind.
Any time you hold a pledge campaign, it’s important to be clear about your purpose. The more compelling your goal, the more pledges you’ll receive!
For example, if you’re fundraising to expand your church, describe how that will help you serve God by welcoming more people into your church.
Understanding your goal will make donors more excited to take part in your campaign.
A pledge form should be attractive, easy to understand, and detailed enough to collect the information you need.
Typically, a pledge form will include the donor’s preferences for being reminded – making it easy for you to reach out.
Download this free pledge form template to help you get started!
As soon as you begin receiving pledges, it’s important to enable recurring donations so your donors can start donating toward their pledges. These donations are automatically charged to your donors’ payment of choice at the designated interval, meaning your congregants won’t have to remember to give and you won’t have to remind them!
With Donorbox, it’s easy to add recurring donations to any campaign. You’ll simply choose up to four donation intervals out of these options –
Once you select your intervals, you can preselect a default interval and mark your preferred interval with a heart. Here’s an example of what that looks like –
This way, your church donors can choose the recurring donation interval that works for them while still knowing your preference. Paying a little bit at regular intervals will help ensure they meet their pledges!
Learn how to boost recurring giving for your church in this blog.
The easier it is, the more donations you’ll receive toward pledges. That’s why it’s important to make online giving as easy as possible for your donors.
Donorbox makes giving super easy with features like –
And more! These features are easy for your donors and simple for you to set up, too.
Plus, customize your donation form to match your branding and collect any information you need.
Check out how The Church of Life and Praise uses its Donorbox donation form to make giving super easy by offering different options for donors to designate their donations –
Part of making donating easy is offering modern ways to collect in-person donations. In our increasingly cashless world, technology-based giving is key.
Donorbox has a suite of tools to help churches with in-person donations –
These make it easy to capture more in-person donations so donors don’t forget to give later. This increases your donations for your pledge drive because you can fundraise during your service or church events.
No one wants to feel bamboozled by an unclear deadline. When you launch your church pledge campaign, make the deadline for pledges to be paid off very clear.
Sending reminders throughout the life of the pledge will be helpful, too, so donors won’t forget their promise. It’s your job to help them fulfill their pledges through easy giving and regular reminders! Remember – setting up recurring donation options on your giving form can help.
Tracking pledge progress is an important part of helping your donors meet their promises. You can send updates with current totals once or twice during the pledge campaign.
Use Donorbox donor management to see how much a donor has paid on their pledge. Simply find their supporter profile to see their giving history. Here’s what it looks like –
Whether you’re writing a church building fund pledge letter, an annual request for pledges, or one for another pledge drive, here are a few tips to make your ask even more compelling.
Storytelling is an incredibly effective fundraising technique because it helps your audience connect with your ask.
Tell a heartwarming story – perhaps from the perspective of a church member – about your important work to encourage more pledges. Describe how those pledges relate to the story you’re telling – and how donations will help.
See our guide to telling great fundraising stories for help.
Scripture can greatly support your ask. Find scripture relevant to your fundraising purpose that will resonate with your congregation. Ask them to reflect on that scripture as they consider whether or not to pledge.
Say thank you early and often. Regardless of if someone pledges, they’re doing you the service of reading your letter. Remember, if they can’t give now, they might be able to give to your church in the future.
We love how Saint Paul’s Episcopal Church has gratitude built into its donation page. They also include a dropdown so donors can easily note if their donation should go toward their pledge.
Need some inspiration? Check out our list of 34 thank-you messages for church members.
A church pledge campaign can help you increase your overall donations by giving congregants time to give more money. It can also be a good conversion tactic to turn one-time donors into long-term, recurring donors and tithers.
Whether you’re hosting an annual pledge drive or one with a specific goal in mind, some universal best practices will make your drive a success.
The most important practice for your church pledge drive is making donating as easy as possible. Thousands of churches trust Donorbox’s streamlined tools to boost their fundraising programs with modern, online giving. Your donors will appreciate the ability to log into their own Donorbox accounts to update their recurring giving and track their own progress toward completing their pledges.
MinistryMatters is our dedicated pillar for church fundraising with church-specific resources and guides to help you succeed. Watch this short video to learn more –
For more church fundraising tips, check out our Nonprofit Blog. Subscribe to our newsletter for curated blog content delivered to your inbox every month.
Lindsey spent years wearing many hats in the nonprofit world. Whether she was helping arts nonprofits with their messaging and content, planning a fundraising gala, writing an NEA grant proposal, or running a membership program with over 400 members, she learned how to navigate – and appreciate! – the fast-paced world of fundraising. Now, she loves sharing those hard-earned lessons with the Donorbox community.
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Lindsey Baker Bower