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Subscriptions and donation pledges

Pour :Administrateur
Preview: Subscriptions and donation pledges

A donation pledge is a donor's written or oral commitment to give a specified amount (for example, 1,800 € for the annual gala). Rather than paying at once, the donor can spread the payment over several months through a Unisoft subscription. This page explains the setup and tracking.

The principle​

Each successful direct debit:

  • Creates a child payment attached to the pledge
  • Decreases the remaining balance of the pledge
  • Generates an individual tax receipt (if enabled)

When the balance reaches zero, the subscription automatically moves to Completed and the pledge to Fully honored.

Setup​

Step 1 — The pledge already exists​

The pledge must have been created beforehand in the Pledges module. If not, do this first: record the contact, the total amount and the commitment details.

Step 2 — Calculate the number of installments​

Decide on the pace with the donor:

Total amountDonor's wishInstallmentNumber of months
600 €Over one year50 €12
1,800 €Over two years75 €24
1,200 €Over ten months120 €10
3,000 €Over five years50 €60

Step 3 — Create the subscription​

  1. 1

    Open the Recurring payments screen

    Finance menu → Recurring payments.

  2. 2

    Click on “Add a subscription”

  3. 3

    Select the donor

    The same contact who holds the pledge.

  4. 4

    Choose “Donation pledge” as the reason

    In the reason selector.

  5. 5

    Select the relevant pledge

    The list shows the donor's open pledges (not yet fully honored). Click on the right one.

  6. 6

    Enter the monthly amount

    For example 150 €.

  7. 7

    Enter the number of installments

    For example 12 for a 1,800 € pledge at 150 €/month.

  8. 8

    Check the tax receipt box if applicable

  9. 9

    Choose the method (card or direct debit) and validate

    See Create a subscription for the details.

Automatic tracking​

Once the subscription is created, Unisoft does everything:

At each successful direct debitAutomatic effect
Creation of the child paymentAppears in the pledge's list of payments
Update of the pledgeRemaining balance decreases by the debited amount
Generation of the tax receipt (if enabled)Sent by email to the donor
Statistics updatePledge progress updated everywhere

You can check the progress at any time:

  • From the Pledges module: the pledge displays its remaining balance in real time
  • From the Recurring payments screen: the subscription details show the history of all direct debits

Special cases​

The donor wants to stop before the end​

If after a few months the donor no longer wishes to honor the pledge:

  1. Cancel the subscription
  2. Decide on the fate of the pledge itself: keep it as is (with a remaining balance), close it manually, or reduce it (see the Pledges module)

The donor wants to change the amount or duration​

No modification is possible on an in-progress subscription. Procedure:

  1. Cancel the current subscription
  2. Create a new subscription with the new amount or duration
  3. Check that the pledge remains correctly attached

Several pledges to honor at the same time​

If the donor wants a single monthly subscription to honor several pledges simultaneously, this is possible through the multi-reason subscription.

→ See Multi-reason subscription

The pledge is bigger than what the donor is paying​

If the donor pays 50 €/month over 24 months for a 1,800 € pledge, the total reaches 1,200 € — 600 € remain owed.

At the end of the 24 installments, the subscription moves to Completed (limit reached) and the pledge remains partially honored with a 600 € balance. At your choice:

  • Create a new subscription for the remaining 600 €
  • Collect the rest by check, transfer or one-off payment
  • Reduce the pledge in the Pledges module if the donor can no longer pay

Overrun: direct debits continue after the pledge is honored​

If the subscription has no limit (nb = 0) and continues after the pledge is fully honored, subsequent direct debits will no longer decrease the balance (which is at 0). They are simply added to the main cash register or to another item according to your configuration.

To avoid this case, calculate the number of installments precisely when creating the subscription.

Best practices​

  • Document the context: use the subscription comment field to recall the pledge being honored ("Gala 2026 pledge, 1,800 € over 12 months")
  • Check after a few months: open the pledge to make sure the balance is decreasing as expected
  • Notify the donor: send a thank-you message halfway through or at the end of the installment plan
  • Anticipate the end: notify the donor a month before the last installment — it is a good opportunity to propose a new commitment

Going further​