Fundraising
Nonprofit Donor Management
Nonprofit Management
Pledge Reminder Letter: Templates and When to Send Them
Last updated: October 8, 2026 · Independent guide · We do not sell rankings or coverage.
A pledge reminder letter tells a donor that an installment on their pledge is coming due or is past due, states the amount and the remaining balance, and makes paying easy. Most nonprofits need three versions: a courtesy reminder about 30 days before each due date, an overdue reminder after a missed payment, and a final notice that asks the donor to pay, reschedule or release the pledge. Below are all three letters, a reminder calendar and notes on how donor CRMs generate them.
This page covers the donor communication only. For pledge schedules, write-offs and the receivable in your ledger, see our pledge management software guide.
How to use this template
Agree the reminder calendar with your development director and finance team, including who signs each stage and when a pledge goes to a gift officer instead of a form letter. Then load the three letters into your donor CRM or word processor as merge templates. Square brackets mark merge fields. Keep the pledge details block identical in every letter.
The pledge reminder template
Part 1: Reminder calendar
Timings combine published practice from Blackbaud, Omatic Software and two universities, cited below.
| Stage | When to send | Channel and signer | Next step if no payment |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Courtesy reminder | 30 days before the installment is due (allow extra days for mail) | Letter with reply envelope, or email with payment link; signed by the gift officer or development director | Move to stage 2 after the due date |
| 2. Overdue reminder | At month end after the missed due date, roughly 30 days late | Letter and email; same signer as stage 1 | Gift officer calls at about 60 days late to offer a new schedule |
| 3. Final notice | About 90 days late, after the phone call | Letter signed by the development director or executive director | Refer to finance for a write-off decision under your policy |
| Pause | When a donor reports temporary hardship | Personal note from the gift officer | Suspend reminders for an agreed number of months, then resume at stage 1 |
| Stop | Pledge paid, donor releases it in writing or by phone, or it is written off | Thank-you letter or written confirmation of the change | Close the pledge in the CRM |
Part 2: Pledge details block (use in every letter)
| Field | Merge field or value |
|---|---|
| Pledge supporting | [Campaign or fund name] |
| Total pledge and date made | [$ total], pledged [date] |
| Paid to date | [$ paid], last payment [date] |
| This installment | [$ amount due], due [due date] |
| Remaining balance after this payment | [$ balance] |
| Future installments | [$ amount] on [date]; [$ amount] on [date] |
| How to pay | Online at [payment link]; check payable to [legal name] in the enclosed envelope; stock or wire transfer through [contact] |
Part 3: Letter templates
Letter A: Courtesy reminder (upcoming payment)
[Date]
Dear [Preferred salutation],
Thank you again for your pledge to [campaign or fund]. Because of your commitment, [one specific result since the last payment, such as “42 students began the new tutoring program this fall”].
As a courtesy, here is a note that your next installment of [$ amount due] is due on [due date]. Your pledge details are below.
[Pledge details block]
If you have already sent this payment, please accept our thanks and disregard this note. If you would like to change your schedule or payment method, contact me directly at [phone] or [email].
This letter is a reminder, not a tax receipt. We will send a written acknowledgment for each payment you make.
With gratitude,
[Name], [Title]
Letter B: Overdue reminder
[Date]
Dear [Preferred salutation],
Thank you for your support of [campaign or fund]. According to our records, the installment of [$ amount due] that was scheduled for [due date] has not yet been received.
[Pledge details block]
If your payment is already on its way, please disregard this letter. If your circumstances have changed, I would be glad to agree a new schedule with you at [phone] or [email]. You can also pay online at [payment link].
This letter is a reminder, not a tax receipt.
Thank you for standing with us,
[Name], [Title]
Letter C: Final notice
[Date]
Dear [Preferred salutation],
We are grateful for your pledge of [$ total] to [campaign or fund] and for the [$ paid] you have already given. We have written and called about the installment of [$ amount past due] that was due on [due date], and I am writing now to ask how you would like us to proceed.
[Pledge details block]
Please let us know by [response date, about 30 days out] which of these you prefer:
- Make the past-due payment now, online at [payment link] or with the enclosed envelope.
- Set a new payment schedule with [gift officer name].
- Reduce or close the remaining pledge. We will confirm any change in writing.
Whatever you decide, thank you for everything you have already made possible.
Sincerely,
[Name], [Executive Director or Development Director]
Walking through each part of the template
The reminder calendar
Blackbaud’s published best practice is to send the reminder 30 days before an installment is due, send another friendly reminder at the end of the month if nothing arrives, and contact the donor to suggest a new schedule if there is still no response a month later (Blackbaud Help, last modified October 7, 2026). Omatic Software, which sells CRM integration tools, says 30 days in advance is typically enough, notes that some organizations add a soft reminder at 90 or 60 days before the due date, and suggests quarterly follow-ups for donors whose payments are still overdue (Omatic Software, April 30, 2025).
Case Western Reserve University runs the calendar as a monthly batch on the 15th for pledges due the following month and past-due schedules, and routes non-Annual Fund pledges over $10,000 to the unit’s chief development officer instead of mailing them (Case Western Reserve University, no date shown). Lewis & Clark College stops reminders when the donor pays or says the pledge will not be paid (Lewis & Clark College, no date shown). DonorPerfect notes that small, short-term pledges may need only one or two reminders (DonorPerfect, August 14, 2024).
The pledge details block
Omatic lists the total pledged, amount due, next due date, amount paid with prior payment dates, future installment dates and the program supported as the information a reminder should contain (Omatic Software, April 30, 2025).
Check that your system can actually produce the schedule. In a Blackbaud Community thread, a Raiser’s Edge NXT user reported that the built-in reminder offers the pledge amount, amount paid, balance and amount due but not the complete installment schedule, and suggested putting the schedule in the original thank-you letter instead (Blackbaud Community, no date shown).
The letters
Open with thanks and a specific result, then state the facts. Blackbaud advises short, personal reminders using the donor’s preferred greeting, with online payment instructions and a postage-paid envelope (Blackbaud Help, October 7, 2026). The “disregard if already sent” line covers a check and letter crossing in the mail.
The final notice asks for a decision instead of making a demand. Blackbaud recommends offering to suspend the schedule for a few months during temporary hardship and considering a write-off when a donor cannot fulfill the pledge (Blackbaud Help, October 7, 2026). Leave out legal or collection language; enforcing a pledge is a decision for leadership and counsel.
The tax lines
A reminder is not an acknowledgment. For each contribution of $250 or more, the donor needs a written acknowledgment showing your organization’s name, the cash amount and whether you provided goods or services (IRS, last reviewed June 28, 2026). Separate payments under $250 are not aggregated, and one annual summary can acknowledge several payments (IRS Publication 1771, Rev. 11-2023).
Some donors pay pledges from a donor-advised fund. Under IRS Notice 2017-73, that is acceptable if the fund sponsor makes no reference to the pledge, the donor receives no other more-than-incidental benefit and claims no deduction for the distribution (Ropes & Gray, December 5, 2017). The notice remains in effect after the 2023 proposed regulations (Ropes & Gray, November 20, 2023). Do not ask the sponsor to cite the pledge.
Common mistakes
- Reminding donors who just paid. Run the list after the latest gift batch is posted.
- One letter per pledge for donors with several pledges. Blackbaud CRM generates a separate reminder for each pledge, so a donor with Annual Fund and Scholarship Fund pledges receives two (Blackbaud CRM Help, last modified August 19, 2026). Decide whether to combine them before the run.
- Losing the reminder history. Raiser’s Edge NXT users report that reminders produced by query and mail merge are not recorded in reminder history, and some track them with a “pledge reminder sent” gift attribute instead (Blackbaud Community, no date shown).
- Form letters to major donors. Route large pledges to the gift officer for a personal call.
- Reminding forever. Set a written point at which finance reviews the pledge. Lewis & Clark writes off unpaid restricted pledges three years old or older unless an updated schedule arrives within 60 days (Lewis & Clark College, no date shown).
When to move from a spreadsheet to software
A spreadsheet and mail merge work for a few dozen pledges. Once you lose track of which installments were reminded or need overdue lists by gift officer, a donor CRM that holds the installment schedule is the safer source. Our donor management software guide compares the wider feature set.
Little Green Light sends reminders through its mail merge: you search for open installments due in a relative period such as next month, merge into a Word or LGL letter template, and clone last month’s mailing to repeat it (Little Green Light, July 5, 2024). Pricing starts at $45 per month for up to 2,500 records (Little Green Light pricing, no date shown).
Givebutter has a per-pledge “Send automatic reminders” toggle that emails the donor and your admins 2 days before a fulfillment date, marks pledges with an overdue installment as “Off schedule,” and lets you email a secure payment link (Givebutter Help, no date shown). Online pledge payments carry a 3% platform fee (Givebutter, no date shown).
Raiser’s Edge NXT includes pledges in reminders only when the pledge’s send-reminders option is set and it meets the date and fund filters (Blackbaud Community, no date shown). A newer Pledge Installment Follow-Up prompt drafts a message from the installment details and creates a follow-up action (Blackbaud Help, last modified October 7, 2026). If you are weighing a move away from Blackbaud, see our Raiser’s Edge NXT alternatives guide.
DonorSnap creates reminder emails from the pledge setup screen for the donor, an organization contact or a third party (DonorSnap, last modified March 10, 2020). DonorPerfect offers a monthly pledge reminders report (DonorPerfect, August 14, 2024), and eTapestry uses a saved query on the pledge arrears field (Blackbaud eTapestry Help, last modified June 25, 2026).
How we researched this
We read the pages ranking for “pledge reminder letter”: Omatic’s guide, Blackbaud and Little Green Light help pages, a template download and university procedures. None combined a full set of staged letters with a reminder calendar, tax wording and the donor-advised fund rule. Omatic, Blackbaud, DonorPerfect, Givebutter, DonorSnap and Little Green Light sell the products discussed, and we did not test the products hands-on.
Related guides
- Capital Campaign Software: Gift Charts, Pledges, Progress
- Year-End Giving Statement: Requirements and Template
- Recurring Donation Software for Nonprofits (2026 Guide)
Frequently asked questions
How far in advance should I send a pledge reminder?
About 30 days before each installment is due, which is the practice Blackbaud and Omatic both publish. Allow a few extra days for mailed letters.
What should a pledge reminder letter include?
Include the fund, total pledge, amount paid, the installment due and its date, the remaining balance and future dates. Add payment options, a contact for schedule changes and a line of thanks.
How many reminders should I send before writing off a pledge?
The calendar above uses a courtesy reminder, an overdue reminder about 30 days late, a personal call and a final notice about 90 days late. After that, refer the pledge to finance under your written policy instead of sending more letters.
Is a pledge reminder a tax receipt?
No. Each payment of $250 or more needs its own written acknowledgment from your organization, though one annual summary can cover several payments. Say clearly in the reminder that it is not a receipt.
Can my donor CRM send pledge reminders automatically?
Some can. Givebutter sends automatic emails 2 days before a due date, while Little Green Light, Raiser’s Edge NXT and eTapestry generate reminders from a search or query you run on a schedule.
Sources
- Blackbaud Help, Pledge Reminder Best Practices (last modified October 7, 2026)
- Omatic Software, Pledge Reminder Letters: A Complete Guide for Nonprofits (April 30, 2025)
- Case Western Reserve University Advancement Services, Pledge Reminders (no date shown)
- Lewis & Clark College, Pledge Reminder Procedure (no date shown)
- DonorPerfect, Pledge Reminders (August 14, 2024)
- Blackbaud Community, Pledge Reminder: Need Schedule Included (no date shown)
- Blackbaud Community, Marking an installment as reminded (no date shown)
- Blackbaud CRM Help, Pledge Reminders (last modified August 19, 2026)
- Blackbaud Help, Pledge Installment Follow-Up (last modified October 7, 2026)
- Blackbaud eTapestry Help, Pledge reminders (last modified June 25, 2026)
- Little Green Light, Sending pledge reminders (July 5, 2024)
- Little Green Light pricing (no date shown)
- Givebutter Help, How to manage pledges (no date shown)
- Givebutter, Pledges (no date shown)
- DonorSnap, Pledge Tracking (last modified March 10, 2020)
- IRS, Charitable Contributions: Written Acknowledgments (last reviewed June 28, 2026)
- IRS Publication 1771, Charitable Contributions: Substantiation and Disclosure Requirements (Rev. 11-2023)
- Ropes & Gray, IRS Notice Provides Guidance on Use of Donor Advised Funds for Pledges and Charity Events (December 5, 2017)
- Ropes & Gray, IRS Releases First Installment of Long-Awaited Donor Advised Fund Regulations (November 20, 2023)
Sherman Hsieh
Independent analysis of enterprise software — ERP, CRM and more
