Pledge Trust & Safety
Powering generosity while protecting your funds
We take your pledge to support meaningful causes very seriously
We take extensive precautions to ensure that your funds can only go to the nonprofits they are intended to support. Doing good should never come at the risk of your financial integrity, and we value being a trusted partner in your efforts to create a more vibrant future.
Our platform is built from the ground up to process & deliver customer-directed donations, and is 100% managed by
We have a 501(c)(3) donor-advised fund, which enables a safe & compliant way to donate to all valid US 501(c)(3) public
By design, Pledge donation beneficiaries can only be verified 501(c)3 nonprofit organizations in good standing with the
Pledgeling Foundation is registered as a charity in the states where such registration is required, as well as being
Our clients always tell us that "we're not just a vendor, or a platform" - we're truly a "partner" that helps them
Donations to nonprofits are processed via Pledgeling Foundation, a 501(c)(3) donor-advised fund, and regranted on a monthly basis directly to each nonprofit recipient that is in good standing with the IRS. We ensure that any data regarding donors, payments, or private information necessary for making or processing donations is protected by industry-standard SSL technology. Data is encrypted both in transit and at rest.
Crowdfunding donations for other types of recipients follow an anti-fraud process with “red flag” and “yellow flag” procedures whereby we first prohibit certain types of fundraisers that are clearly scams or illegal, or reserve the right to cancel a suspicious crowdfund.
We review personal fundraisers for potential fraudulent activity or other indications that the funds will not be used as represented. Our Acceptable Use Policy states the details and restrictions for user services and we reserve the right to suspend users for violation or take legal action when necessary.
Donations through our various fundraisers and partnership integrations are totaled up at the end of each month and disbursed either electronically or via paper check to the intended organization based on their public charity records. Nonprofits have the option to request to receive their funds sooner in their dedicated dashboards.
Donations are processed through a 501(c)(3) donor-advised fund, Pledgeling Foundation, which issues an instant tax receipt to the donor via email. This ensures that donor expectations and needs are addressed immediately and Pledge follows all requirements for tax-related compliance.
Donors can personally validate that their donations have been received by the nonprofit of their choice by directly contacting the nonprofit and asking whether funds were received from Pledgeling Foundation. Per our disbursement processes, nonprofits typically receive donations around the 10th of every month for any donations made in the month prior, and they can also log into our online portal to see donations and payout information anytime. More details here.
Pledge continually updates our database of organizations. We check eligibility via several ways, including receiving periodic uploads from the IRS database, supplementing that with other data sources, and our own support team’s review and enrichment of the records. We are continually adding, deleting and optimizing our database of nonprofits based on IRS data, Guidestar, and third party data feeds. If the IRS revokes an organization's exempt status, we flag it as unavailable to receive new donations (we retain it in the database because revocations can be reversed).
Pledgeling Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with a regranting program that efficiently distributes tens of thousands of donations each month from individual donors and businesses to their favorite causes. Donations come through media platforms, services like Evite, Shopify merchants, integrated employer donation programs and many other brands and nonprofits. This allows donors to send funds to most US charities, as opposed to alternatives constrained by limited NPO choices. It also creates the ability to issue donation tax receipts immediately. More details here.
Our systems are integrated with the Pledgeling Foundation, a 501(c)(3) donor-advised fund, enabling donors to make donations in a safe and compliant way to all valid US 501c3 public nonprofits that are approved to be a part of the program.
Yes. Charitable donations to 501c3 nonprofit organizations are processed through a 501(c)(3) donor advised fund, Pledgeling Foundation, which issues an instant tax receipt via email to the donor as soon as the donation is processed.
Donors can personally validate that their donations have been received by the nonprofit of their choice by directly contacting the nonprofit and asking whether funds were received from Pledgeling Foundation. Per our disbursement processes, nonprofits typically receive donations around the 10th of every month for any donations made in the month prior. More details here.
You must be a US 501(c)(3) public charity in good standing with the IRS, or have a fiscal sponsor. Virtually all US 501(c)(3) organizations, and many international ones, are already in our database. If you can't find an organization, please check alternate names or acronyms. To submit a new nonprofit, or be listed after being reinstated, please see more details and contact us with the appropriate documentation.
Our trust and safety team reviews crowdfunds and suspends those that appear to be scams or illegal. We reserve the right to cancel anything suspicious. We also review and prohibit crowdfunding for political campaigns, investment activity, raffles or gambling, legal defense of violent crimes, or anything related to illegal substances or weapons. To see what is and is not allowed, see our crowdfund-specific Terms of Service and our Acceptable Use Policy.
Due to laws and regulations governing charitable contributions and our inability to recover funds already sent to recipient nonprofits, many donations to nonprofits are "irrevocable gifts" and so are non-refundable. However, if a donation error was made on your part and you contact us right away, we will be happy to resolve the issue. More details on these circumstances here.
