Pledge payment reminders

John Cioni

I need to create pledge payment reminders and initially started creating a new letter but realized I'm missing some key fields like next payment date/amount.


Just looking for a little insight on how you manage your reminders and is it done through RE or externally? I like the idea of the reminder in the Mail function but not so much on the three per sheet. Creating a custom reminder is also an option.


Thanks!

-John

JoAnn Strommen

We created our own form.  Letter on top 2/3s. Perforated tear off reminder for bottom 1/3 with merge fields for: total pledge, total paid, pledge balance, pledge payment due and blank spot for amount enclosed.  Above these fields we also pull in the name of the fund that the pledge is for.  Below these fields we have address info placed to fit in our window envelopes on the left side and form of payment info on the right with options for check enclosed or to provide credit card info. 


We run all these through RE Mail just before end of month.  It includes any payments due for the upcoming month.  Works well for us.  Only thing I don't like is that RE records Run Date field as the reminder date instead of the actual generate/send date in reminder history.

John Cioni

Thanks JoAnn! Exactly what I'm looking for. Yeah I found the Run Date field as the reminder field odd. Do you have blank perfed letters or pre-printed? 

JoAnn Strommen

Top 2/3 is blank except logo and address, bottom 1/3 has logo and address again, "thank you...return this reminder with remittance...payment made, please disregard..."  and grid box with merge headings and blanks for the merge data already printed on the form.


Letter content and $ info for remittance slip is all part of merge.  Letter pulls statement that 'as of "xxx-date" our records show.'  'Please send payment by XXX-end of month date'

Christine Cooke 2

The Mail module.  There is  Pledge Reminders  you can format them however you want utilizing Word Wizard.  We have always had the top look like the beginning of a letter (so one to a page), with a reminder of what they have committed to and how much, and then the bottom third is what looks like a return coupon with their name, address, amount due and fund and due by date.  A return envelope is included when sent.

Faith Murray

Ditto to JoAnn. We use Mail -- Reminders, but then we Export rather than Merge, and then merge through Word separately for greater flexibility in document design. Ours is less like a letter and more like an invoice: top 2/3 shows donor name, amount pledged, total balance, next installment, due date, etc, which they can keep for their records. Bottom 1/3 is a tear-off (non-perf) reply device they send back to us. I have thought it might be nicer to re-design the top part to seem more like a letter and less like a bill though.


 

John Cioni

Christine Cooke:

The Mail module.  There is  Pledge Reminders  you can format them however you want utilizing Word Wizard.  We have always had the top look like the beginning of a letter (so one to a page), with a reminder of what they have committed to and how much, and then the bottom third is what looks like a return coupon with their name, address, amount due and fund and due by date.  A return envelope is included when sent.

Thanks Christine! This is pretty much what I've designed our reminders to look like. One question on the merge into Word. Were you able to find an amount due merge field? I wasn't able to find anything that would pull from the pledge payment schedule within RE.


Thanks!

Diane Marks

John, look under Fields to Include - Gifts - Total Due.  This should give you the pledge payment due along with any past due amount. 



 

JoAnn Strommen

In Mail as DIane posted, but to pull that field on Tab 1 you need to use Reminder Type: Create Custom Data File.  Using that option actually gives access to a lot more fields for personalization/details.

John Cioni

Thanks Diane and JoAnn!