Overview
The Planned Giving subtab on the Giving tab displays documented planned gifts associated with a person or organization. Planned gifts are future or deferred commitments, such as bequests, charitable gift annuities, charitable remainder trusts, or other long-term giving intentions.
Use planned gifts when an institution needs to track an expected future gift that has been documented but has not yet been fully received.
Understanding planned gifts
A planned gift represents an expected future commitment. It is different from other giving records in several important ways:
| Record Type | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Gift | A completed transaction that has been received. |
| Pledge | A commitment to make one or more future payments, often with an installment schedule. |
| Planned Gift | A documented future or deferred commitment, often associated with estate, trust, or long-term gift planning. |
| Opportunity | A cultivation or proposal record that may later result in a gift, pledge, or planned gift. |
Planned gifts track expected value and fulfillment over time. They do not generate installment schedules like pledges.
How planned gifts appear on the Giving tab
Planned gifts appear on the Planned Giving subtab of the Giving tab on a person or organization record.
Each row represents one planned gift associated with the current record. Selecting a row opens the planned gift details.
The columns shown on the subtab can be customized by selecting Customize View at the bottom of the list.
Add a planned gift
Users with permission to update giving records can add planned gifts from the Planned Giving subtab.
To add a planned gift:
- Open the person or organization record.
- Select the Giving tab.
- Open the Planned Giving subtab.
- Select New Planned Gift.
- Complete the required fields.
- Add any optional details, soft credits, or tributes.
- Select Save.
Planned gifts can also be created through Batch Gift Entry or imported using the planned gift import destinations.
Planned gift fields
The exact fields available may vary based on institutional configuration (such as the use of custom fields), but standard planned gift records include the following:
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Amount | The expected or documented planned gift amount. |
| Fund | The fund designation associated with the planned gift. |
| Type | The type of planned gift. Available values are institution-configured using Prompts. |
| Status | The current status of the planned gift. Available values are institution-configured using Prompts. |
| Date | The date associated with the planned gift commitment or documentation. |
| Campaign | An optional campaign association. |
| Appeal | An optional appeal association. |
| Opportunity | An optional link to an opportunity or proposal. |
| Notes | Internal notes about the planned gift. |
| User | The Slate user associated with the planned gift entry. |
| Anonymous | Indicates that the planned gift should be treated as anonymous. |
| Revocable | Indicates whether the planned gift is revocable or irrevocable. |
| External ID | An optional identifier from another system. |
| Custom Fields | Any custom fields configured by the institution for planned gifts. |
Revocable and irrevocable planned gifts
Planned gifts can be marked as revocable or irrevocable.
A revocable planned gift may be changed or revoked by the donor. An irrevocable planned gift generally represents a commitment that cannot be changed in the same way, such as certain trust or annuity arrangements.
Institutions should use this field consistently so planned giving reports accurately distinguish between different types of commitments.
Statuses and write-offs
Planned gift statuses are configured by each institution. Statuses might represent stages such as documented, expected, realized, cancelled, or written off, depending on your business practices.
When a planned gift status is configured to support write-off tracking, additional write-off fields may appear. These fields allow staff to record that all or part of the expected planned gift amount is no longer anticipated.
Use write-off fields when the institution needs to preserve the original planned gift record while also documenting that the expected value has changed.
Fulfilling a planned gift
A planned gift can be fulfilled when actual gift payments are received.
When entering a gift, staff can use the Fulfilling option to connect the gift to an eligible planned gift. Slate then uses the linked received gifts to calculate fulfillment values for the planned gift.
These fulfillment values include:
| Value | Description |
|---|---|
| Amount | The expected planned gift amount. |
| Amount Received | The amount received through gifts linked to the planned gift. |
| Amount Unreceived | The remaining expected amount that has not yet been received. |
A planned gift may be partially or fully fulfilled over time, depending on how the institution receives and records the related gifts.
Soft credits and tributes
Planned gifts can include soft credits and tributes.
Use soft credits when related individuals or organizations should receive recognition for the planned gift in addition to the primary donor.
Use tributes when the planned gift is made in honor or memory of another person. If the tribute is linked to an existing Slate record, the gift will also appear on that record’s Honored By subtab.
Editing, deleting, and splitting planned gifts
Users with permission to change existing giving records can edit a planned gift after it has been saved. This includes being able to:
- Delete a planned gift.
- Split a planned gift.
- Update the planned gift status.
- Add or update soft credits.
- Add or update tribute information.
- Link the planned gift to an opportunity.
- Update notes, dates, fund, campaign, appeal, or other details.
When changing planned gift records, staff should follow institutional policies for auditability and reporting. In general, it is better to preserve the history of the original commitment and use statuses, write-offs, fulfillment, or notes to explain what changed.
Summary
The Planned Giving subtab helps institutions track documented future or deferred giving commitments. Planned gifts are separate from received gifts, pledges, recurring payments, and opportunities, but they can connect to each of those areas through fulfillment, fund designations, campaign and appeal tracking, soft credits, tributes, and opportunity relationships.
Use planned gifts to document the expected commitment, track its status, connect received gifts as fulfillment occurs, and report on both expected and realized planned giving activity.