The academic year may be over, but as Development Director, you are working feverishly—trying to collect those unfulfilled annual fund pledges to close out the year. You are also prepping for the next annual fund! Feels like a hamster wheel, right?
Pledge agreements are contracts, and are enforceable. According to an article in the Chronicle of Higher Education, colleges almost never take legal action on an unfulfilled pledge, but will work with the donor to find a solution. The same can be applied to private-independent schools.
We’ve got a couple of tips for you to help you collect unfulfilled pledges, courtesy of ISM Advancement Academy faculty members.
L.J. Mitchell, Development Director at Mary McDowell Friends School (NY), uses the following strategy.
“Phone calls and individual e-mails thanking a donor for his/her pledge and saying ‘payment on your pledge will increase parent participation from 60% to 65%’ can work. This lets the donor see that s/he can add to the success of the annual fund,” says L.J.
Michael Christopher, Assistant Headmaster—School Advancement at Lausanne Collegiate School (TN), suggests, “ First, send an e-mail reminder, then do a ‘calling post’ to unpaid pledge families. Third, call each unpaid individual donor to remind them of their commitment.”
Lausanne has reached a 99% paid pledge rate by sending out pledge reminders monthly (November, December, February, March, and May).
While you are working to collect, you should also be recruiting chairs and volunteers for your Annual Fund Cabinet for next year’s campaign. By mid-summer, your cabinet should be in place, and you can evaluate your efforts from last year. What worked? What didn’t? Write your plan and revise and adjust your techniques as necessary. Review and revise your appeal letters and any other paperwork (like pledge forms, call cards, and other materials).
In July, prep for your leadership solicitations, with the intention of an August push for pledges. Your leadership appeal—and commitment from your leaders—needs to happen before your main campaign can gain momentum. You should have your leadership pledges in hand when you begin your general annual fund drive when classes resume.
