Knowledge Base

How Pledges Work

During the campaign, a supporter on a student's public page can pledge to donate a set amount per practice minute. For example: $1 per minute, capped at $50. The pledge is recorded, but no payment is taken yet.

At campaign end, once practice totals are finalised, the system calculates how much each donor owes based on the student's confirmed minutes:

pledge rate × final practice minutes (subject to any cap)

A donor who pledged $1/minute capped at $50 for a student who practised 60 minutes owes $50 — the cap applies. A student who practised 35 minutes means the same donor owes $35.

Step 1: Finalise Practice Minutes

Before collection emails can go out, you need to confirm each student's final practice total. This step exists to give you control over what the final numbers are before any donor is contacted.

From the Practiceathon detail view, go to the Fundraising tab. For each enrolled student, you can review their practice total and confirm (finalise) it. Finalising a student's minutes locks their total, calculates the pledged amounts owed by each of their donors, and prepares the collection tokens used in the settlement links.

You can finalise students one at a time or in bulk. Once finalised, a student's minutes are locked for pledge calculation purposes.

Step 2: Send Pledge Collection Emails

Once practice minutes are finalised, you can send collection emails to the donors. From the Fundraising tab, use the Send pledge collection emails action. This queues emails to all donors who have an outstanding pledge — meaning their pledge is active and payment hasn't been received yet.

Each donor receives a personalised email that includes:

• the student's name and how many minutes they practised
• the calculated pledge amount due
• a secure link to the settlement page

The email is sent from Octavia using your school's configured email settings.

The Donor Settlement Page

When a donor clicks the link in their collection email, they land on a settlement page showing:

• the student's name and campaign
• the number of minutes the student practised
• the amount due based on their pledge rate
• options to pay the pledged amount, round up to a convenient total, or enter a higher custom amount

The donor completes payment through the same Stripe checkout used for direct donations. After payment, the pledge is marked as settled and the donor receives a receipt.

Tracking Pledge Collection Status

In the Fundraising tab, each pledge shows a status badge:

• Not sent — the collection email hasn't gone out yet (either minutes aren't finalised, or you haven't triggered the send)
• Email sent — the collection email has been sent, but payment hasn't been received yet
• Paid — the pledge has been settled and payment confirmed

This gives you a clear view of which donors still need to act before the campaign closes financially.

Sending Final Reminders

For donors who received a collection email but still haven't paid, you can send a final reminder. The reminder uses the same email format as the initial collection email and goes only to donors with outstanding (unsettled) pledges.

Use the Send final reminders action in the Fundraising tab. This re-queues collection emails for any pledge that was previously emailed but not yet paid.

The Fundraising Report

The Fundraising tab provides a breakdown of campaign income across four categories:

• Donate Now total — the sum of all confirmed immediate donations
• Pledge settlement total — the sum of all confirmed pledge payments
• Extra above pledge — the total amount donors voluntarily paid above their pledged minimum
• Outstanding uncollected pledges — the remaining amount owed by donors who have been emailed but haven't yet paid

These figures give you the complete financial picture of the campaign. If your school also needs detailed transaction-level data (dates, individual amounts, payout timing), that information is available in your Stripe dashboard.

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