Pledges and Promises to Give

A pledge is a donor's promise to give money in the future — the year-end appeal card that says "I'll give $5,000," or a capital-campaign commitment paid over three years. NP Ledger's Pledges page is where you record those promises, watch what's still owed, and keep the receivable accurate as payments arrive.

You reach it from Pledges in the sidebar, under Supporters.

Record a pledge when a donor has made an unconditional promise — nothing has to happen first for the gift to be owed. A signed pledge card or a written multi-year commitment is the usual trigger.

Hold off if the promise is conditional — it depends on a future, uncertain event, like "I'll match every dollar you raise by June." You can still record it and check the conditional box, and NP Ledger keeps it out of your receivable totals until the condition is met. This follows the nonprofit accounting standard (ASC 958), which says conditional promises aren't recognized until the barrier is cleared.

1. Open Pledges in the sidebar and select New Pledge.
2. Choose the donor. Pick the supporter making the promise. Add them under Supporters first if they're new.
3. Enter the pledge date and amount — the day the donor made the promise, and the full amount promised.
4. Set the net asset class. Choose with donor restrictions if the donor limited how the gift may be used (a specific program, building, or year), or without donor restrictions for a general gift.
5. Pick the fund the pledge belongs to, and a project if you track that level of detail.
6. Save. The pledge appears in your list with its full amount outstanding.

That's the whole flow for a simple, single-year pledge.

A promise you'll collect over several years is worth a little less than its face value today — a dollar arriving in five years isn't the same as a dollar in hand. Accounting standards ask you to record long-dated pledges at their present value (their worth in today's dollars).

NP Ledger does that math for you. On a multi-year pledge, fill in two extra fields:

• Expected fulfillment date — when you expect the pledge paid in full.
• Discount rate — an annual rate as a decimal, for example 0.05 for 5%.

With both filled in, NP Ledger records the pledge at present value automatically and shows the discount on the pledge's detail page. Leave both blank for anything due within a year — short pledges are carried at face value.

If you later edit the amount, the date, or the rate, NP Ledger re-measures the present value on save, so the figure always matches the current terms.

The Pledges list shows each promise, its status, and the amount still owed. As payments come in, open a pledge and update Amount received so far — the outstanding balance falls to match, and it drops out of your receivable total once it's fully paid.

At the bottom of the list, the Pledges receivable — time bands table groups your outstanding unconditional pledges into due-within-a-year, one-to-five-years, and over-five-years buckets, with present value alongside gross. This is the disclosure your auditor and your Form 990 look for, prepared without a spreadsheet.

• Conditional stays separate. A conditional pledge never inflates your outstanding total or the time-band table — it waits there until you clear the condition, then uncheck the box.
• Status is yours to set. Mark a pledge fulfilled when it's fully paid or written off if the donor won't complete it, so your list reflects reality.
• Only owners and admins can delete a pledge. Anyone on the team can record and update one.