It can be awkward to follow up with a donor who has made a pledge to your church plant but has fallen behind. If you don’t have a plan.

Donor Followup Plan

1. Decide how long is long enough to wait before you follow up with them. Probably that’s after they’ve missed their second scheduled donation in a row.
2. Work with whoever is keeping your books to create a system or report that will alert you when a donor hits that threshold.
3. Draft a letter, in advance, to be either mail-merged or handwritten to each donor who hits your delinquency report.
4. Consider adding a phone call into the mix a week to 10 days after the reminder letter. At that point, you’ll either be able to thank them for catching up or find out if something has happened that needs attention. More on that below.

A Delinquent Donor Letter

Assume the best (that they just got too busy) and communicate clearly several avenues for them to send in their gift. Be kind but unwavering in your call for them to fulfill their commitment. Don’t apologize for following up; you have important work that needs to be done and you need their help to do it.

Here is a sample delinquent donor letter we crafted at Stadia to get you started.

Pastor Them

Sometimes donors just forget. Sometimes they have a beef with you, like they didn’t get a thank you note or year-end giving statement. Maybe they’ve fallen on hard times and won’t be able to continue their commitment and were ashamed to tell you.

Whatever the reason, if a donor who made a pledge to your church plant has missed a couple three donations in a row, there is almost certainly an opportunity for you to minister to them and be Good News.