If your organization is planning a peer-to-peer fundraiser such as a walk-a-thon, you may be looking for the best way to collect donations or pledges. Remember paper pledge forms? Countless successful peer-to-peer campaigns have used them to secure funds. While peer-to-peer websites have certainly made a strong place for themselves in peer-to-peer fundraising, there’s no reason that this tried-and-true method cannot be used in conjunction with your website. Let’s explore how pledge forms can help your organization succeed with a peer-to-peer campaign.
What is a Pledge Form?
A pledge form for donations, put simply, is a pre-formatted form used to record a donor’s pledge or donation to the fundraiser. Pledge forms simplify the donation process by providing the donor’s information to the fundraiser’s organizers.
The information included within the pledge form includes a donor’s name, address, and any other contact information, along with the amount they have pledged to donate. Other things to include within the pledge form sheet are information on how the donated money is to be used, along with the terms and conditions for donations. Usually, the names of the donors are kept confidential, but that tends to vary with the type of fundraiser you are running and the activities you will be planning within that fundraiser.
Pledge forms are used for all types of peer to peer and crowdfunding events, such as walk-a-thons, dance marathons, bowl-a-thons, bike-a-thons, and spin-a-thons.
How to Use a Pledge Form
Using a pledge form for donations is simple. Be sure to create the pledge form template and have it ready before your campaign starts. Pledge forms are a great way to keep your donations organized, which is why so many people still use them today.
It’s best to start planning your fundraising campaign early, including how you will use your pledge forms. The earlier you begin distributing them, the more people you will reach and the more likely you will be to exceed your fundraising goals.
Pledge forms are most effectively used when distributed to community members through multiple channels. They are a handy way to secure donations at a fundraising event, but can also be distributed on your peer-to-peer website. Encourage donors and participants to take multiple pledge forms to share at their workplace, place of worship, or any other community groups they may be a part of.
Still not convinced? Here are some benefits of pledge forms that prove they can drive your fundraiser’s success.
Why Pledge Forms Work
Simplicity
Fundraisers are difficult to organize, that much is true. There are plenty of details that can get lost. Losing that information can really mess up what would otherwise be a solid program.
That is what makes pledge forms so easy to use. It’s a great way to keep all the details of each person in one place, so nothing ever gets lost. All the information is aggregated where nothing can be lost, provided the people in charge of them keep them safe. You have all the information at a glance and can easily calculate donations in order to allocate them to the right place, and contact donors for more information on their donations.
Portability
Another great thing about pledge forms is that they’re portable. It’s easy to bring them around to places where you know you can campaign for your cause. This can be churches, schools, workplaces, and other venues you know hold people passionate about your organization and the values it stands for, plus the actual cause you are fighting for.
That portability will help your fundraiser reach more people than it could have ordinarily, and is a great means to getting your local community involved in your causes. It’s a means to spread your name around and get others within the neighborhood talking about the fundraiser and your organization.
Ease of Creation
While it may look difficult to get a pledge form together, it can actually be pretty easy to get one together. It just takes some knowledge of how to create your own forms, which can be done through word processors like Microsoft Word or Google Docs, or through graphic design platforms. You can input the details that you need your donors to give you and customize it to your heart’s content.
However, sometimes that can be too difficult if you’re not familiar with the programs, or there may just not be enough time to put one together. In cases like this, it would be best to look into pre-made templates for pledge forms. While that sounds like it might be difficult to find, we’ve actually prepared some pledge form templates for you. Keep reading to see more!
Pledge Form Templates
Here we have laid out pledge forms that you can easily customize for your fundraiser. We’ve made these especially to help with your pledge form needs, be it for single-donor options or for those with multiple donors. You can find and download them here.
Pledge form template for individual donors
Pledge form template for multiple donors
Using Pledge Forms with DoJiggy’s Crowdfunding Software
Pledge forms are a great tool for an effective peer-to-peer fundraising campaign, but that doesn’t mean they are the only tool you need. The most successful campaigns take advantage of peer-to-peer crowdfunding software to register participants and collect donations with ease while also keeping their information secure.
DoJiggy’s peer-to-peer crowdfunding software comes with a full suite of features that will help your fundraiser succeed, such as the ability for participants to design their own personal fundraising pages to send to potential supporters on social media. This goes great with our pre-made pledge form templates, which donors can print out from the campaign’s page.
In Conclusion
We hope that we’ve won you over to using pledge forms in your fundraising campaigns. Whether you’ve used them previously or are completely new to them, their convenience can really help skyrocket your campaign to success. Be sure to use our pledge form templates in conjunction with our software to get your organization the money it needs to boost your cause to the place it should be — right on top.
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