FundSvcs Community

A philanthropic giving page has three choices when making a gift.  

1) Give Now - immediate gift by credit card of full amount stated by donor

2) Make My Gift in Installments - dollar amount set by donor divided into equal payments on a monthly basis, say $500 gift made in equal monthly installments of $100 until $500 is reached.  Choice of how many payments made by donor (i.e., over a year's time).

3) Make a Recurring Gift - States the first payment will be charged today for the full amount that the donor specified.  Then it gives choices for Frequency of Gift (current date, 1st of the month, 15th of the month).  The next payment date stated on page (i.e., next month on the same date as today). Acknowledgement of the terms of the payment schedule indicated by the donor checking a box. Indication of how many days prior notice of billing will be sent (i.e., 7 days in advance of payment), and a box is provided for the donor's email address for notifications/reminders.  Choices for frequency are either monthly or quarterly, indicated by a drop down selection.

The intent of the second choice is to create a pledge - a certain amount paid over a certain amount of time.  Spelled out and dates and amounts selected by donor.

The intent of the third choice is to create a gift in perpetuity; being called a "recurring gift."  A gift of the same amount, on the date of the month specified by the donor, until the donor's credit card expires/is replaced; or until the donor stops the payments.

There is nothing on the "Make a Recurring Gift" giving page stating that the donor is making a gift in perpetuity. The email reminder for the subsequent billing states the amount and billing date, along with a link to "update credit card" or some of the email reminder emails indicate a phone number/email to call to cancel.

1) Can the perpetual gift be logged as a pledge?  The end date is uncertain and so is the amount.  But many institutions do have monthly support initiatives. How do they handle it?
2) Should there be a statement of the gift in perpetuity so that donors understand it will continue unless they stop it?
3) Some institutions call the gift in perpetuity a "monthly sustaining" gift (like PBS stations) or "monthly gift".   They generally (as I've been looking online) have a statement in FAQs somewhere that gives people the information about who to call to change billing information/stop the payments.  Is this the best to handle donor questions?
4) What language could be added to clarify for the donors that they are signing up in perpetuity?

The issue is that some people have made "recurring gifts" in perpetuity (3rd choice) when they actually intended to set up a pledge (second choice) for a specific amount over a specific time period. The recurring payments then needed to be inactivated.

Thanks for some guidance on "perpetual" gifts.

Cynthia Hupper