Linking a Pledge Payment to Its Pledge

Overview

Every pledge in Humanitru is tracked through its scheduled installments, and each pledge has its own system Campaign — labeled "Pledge ID: #" — used to connect payments back to the original commitment. When a donor pays down a pledge through an online donation page, that payment arrives as its own Donation Action rather than linking automatically to the pledge. This article walks through how to connect the two, so your pledge tracking and reporting stay accurate.

When to Use This

Use this workflow any time a pledge payment comes in through an online donation form, payment processor, or other integration rather than being entered directly against the pledge's own installment schedule. This keeps the online gift and the pledge connected for reporting, while avoiding double-counting the payment.

Step-by-Step

1. Locate the unverified placeholder installment on the original Pledge Action — this is the installment waiting to be matched to a real payment.
2. Find the incoming online donation that corresponds to that payment.
3. Open the donation for editing. The donation needs to already be saved as an Action before you can attach the pledge's Campaign to it. If you just recorded the donation, save it first, then reopen it to continue.
4. Add the pledge's Campaign ("Pledge ID: #") to the donation Action in the Campaign field.
5. Copy over any relevant notes or Key Value Pairs from the original placeholder installment — for example, check numbers or other payment details — so that context isn't lost.
6. Delete the original unverified placeholder installment now that the real payment is linked.

Pro Tips

• Save before you link: if you're setting up the donation for the first time, save it first and add the pledge Campaign on a second pass once the record exists.
• Keep it to Donations: this workflow is built around Donation-type Actions, so recording the incoming payment as a Donation is what makes it eligible to carry the pledge Campaign.
• Surfacing what's due: set up a Notification to send a recurring digest of unverified donations — scoped by Tag, Campaign, or User — so your team always knows which pledge payments need personal outreach.
• Outbound reminders: build a Constituent Report filtered to open pledge installments, then use it for a mail merge letter or as an email segment for your outbound reminder campaign.
• Once linked: the donation reports and rolls up alongside the original pledge, giving you an accurate picture of what's been fulfilled.