Skip to main content

Pay or Track Your Pledge

Goal: See where you stand on a multi-payment commitment to the affiliate and pay an installment when it's due — without back-and-forth phone calls or paper invoices.

Pledges vs. recurring gifts​

Worth saying clearly:

  • Pledge — a specific total amount you've committed to give over a defined period, paid in installments. Your records and the affiliate's records both track the balance toward your total.
  • Recurring gift — an open-ended monthly or annual gift with no fixed total. Cancel any time without consequence.

Pledges are usually for capital campaigns or major-gift commitments. If you have one, you'll know — there was likely a conversation, possibly a signed agreement, before it was set up.

Where to find your pledges​

At /my-pledges (when logged in), you'll see:

  • Each active pledge with total, balance, and next installment due
  • Completed pledges
  • Any cancelled or written-off pledges (rare; usually only if there was a hardship arrangement)

What's on a pledge detail page​

Open any pledge to see:

  • Total commitment
  • Amount paid to date
  • Balance remaining
  • Installment schedule with status per installment (paid, due, overdue)
  • Activity history (payments, communications, status changes)

Paying an installment​

When an installment is due:

  • From the pledge detail at /my-pledges/:pledgeId, click Pay Now
  • Choose a saved payment method or enter a new one
  • Confirm

The payment processes immediately. You'll receive a receipt for that installment, and the pledge balance updates.

The affiliate may send a payment link for a specific installment. The link goes to /pledges/pay/:pledgeId and lets you pay without logging in. This is useful when:

  • You don't have an Ayuna account
  • A spouse or family member is paying on your behalf
  • You're on a phone and the email link is the easiest path

What if you can't pay an installment​

If the timing doesn't work:

  • Reach out to the affiliate's development office
  • They can renegotiate (extend the schedule, reduce the per-installment amount, or sometimes adjust the total)
  • A direct conversation is much better than just letting the installment go past due

If something happened that means you can no longer fulfill the pledge:

  • Contact the affiliate
  • They may write off the remaining balance — meaning you're released from the commitment with no penalty
  • Capture the conversation so both sides have a record

Auto-charging​

Pledges in Ayuna are not auto-charged by default. Each installment requires action — by you online, or by affiliate staff recording a payment received.

If you'd prefer an auto-paying setup, ask the development office about pairing your pledge with a recurring gift that automatically pays toward it each month.

Receipts and tax statements​

Each installment payment generates its own receipt. Year-end annual statements consolidate them into a single document for tax filing.

Pledges themselves are not deductible — only the actual payments you make are. So you can deduct what you've paid in a given tax year, regardless of when the pledge was originally made.

Editing your pledge​

If pledge details need to change:

  • Most edits are conversation-driven (extend schedule, change designation, etc.)
  • Reach out to the affiliate's development office
  • They'll update the pledge in their system; you'll see the update reflected on your pledge detail

When the pledge is complete​

When you've paid the full pledge total:

  • Status changes to Completed
  • The remaining balance shows as zero
  • You should receive a thank-you specifically recognizing pledge fulfillment (separate from the per-payment receipts)

This is a meaningful moment for the affiliate — they often follow up with personal thanks beyond the automatic acknowledgment.