We're considering implementing a Monthly Giving Program and I have a few questions for all the collected wisdom of the Fourm users:
- How do you manage the program in Tessitura? For example, do you multiply the gift by 12 and book a pledge and then pay it off or book each month seperately? And is there a script or report that you run once a month or do you process payments manually? Etc.
- How do you facilitate recognition/benefits for this donors? Again, do you multiply their monthly gift by 12 and give them the appropriate level recognition/benefits or do you have a special, separate recognition program for monthly givers? Etc.
- Last, but not least, for those who have successfully implemented such a program, what did you find out in actual practice that you wish you had known ahead of time?
Thanks in advance for everyone's insight and suggestions!
We don't do large batches of these but have a few that we do each month so hopefully my reply helps.
We do one pledge with the 12 pledge payments. We recognize each payment as they arrive with a note on their receipt like "Thank you for your first installment of $25 towards your pledge of $300. Your remaining balance is $275". The change of number of installment and balance each month in our acknowledgements are added manually by the person who processes them. Payments charged to credit cards can be processed all at one time for each campaign by using the Pledge Billing Report under Renewal Notices and Bills, you just need to set up the pledge billing type as Auto-CC Billing under TR_Billing_Type and attach that billing type to your monthly giving pledges.
And to reply to what we would do differently...that would be to establish one date each month for the date to charge all monthly giving donors and include this date on all documents and forms. Right now our donors are charged monthly on the date they first give. This means that we really can't use the handy dandy TR_Billing_Report to charge the credit cards because none of them have the same date for billing.