How to capture verbal contribution commitments: invoice, contribution pending or pledge?

Question

If a constituent makes a verbal commitment (ie. at event or via phone campaign) to make a one-time donation (ie. pledge) and we want to track + invoice them to fulfill that pledge, what is the best way to process via online self-service?

It looks like Pledges are designed for this, however:

• They require an installment period. We only have a commitment for a one-time donation.

• We need to ensure the payment matches / fulfills the pledge. Is there a special link for a pledge fulfillment/payment online? If not, the system will consider the pledge unpaid and continue to send reminders.

Alternatively, we can create a contribution with payment pending (or create a Pledged status type)

• How do you send an email invoice and ensure that the payment matches the pending contribution?
• Is there a way to construct the URL so the payment marks the contribution as complete?

I'd be open to using webforms - This seems like a common use-case.

Answer 1

Unfortunately pledges do not work with online contribution forms the way you'd like without an extension. You can use the framework for partial payments that's available in github and seen at the CiviCon in Denver earlier this year

First you'll need to create the contribution(not a pledge) on the back end. You probably can use the same concept with a checksum email if you don't want to require a login.