How PledgePair works
From pledge to matched moment, and everything in between.
The short version
One person pledges a donation. Someone else agrees to match it. Both of them give directly to the nonprofit, and PledgePair makes them a card showing what they did together. Then they challenge someone else, and it keeps going.
If you're creating a pledge
Three steps from idea to matched
Create your pledge
Pick a nonprofit and name an amount you're genuinely willing to give. You can search any U.S. nonprofit, or start from the popular ones we list.
Add a short message saying why this cause matters to you — pledges with a personal note get matched more often than ones without. A deadline is optional, but it gives people a reason to act now instead of later.
Share your link
Your pledge gets its own public page with a link you can post anywhere. Share it broadly if you like — but the thing that actually works is sending it to one specific person who you know cares about this cause.
A pledge nobody sees never becomes a match. This step is the whole game.
Give when someone matches
The moment someone pairs with you, we email you a private link to fulfill your side. You donate directly to the nonprofit — through Every.org if you want it verified automatically, or any other way if you prefer.
Then your matched moment card is ready, with both names, the combined total, and whatever achievement badges you earned along the way.
If someone sent you a pledge
Three steps to take the match
Tell us who's pairing
Your name, your email, and the amount you'll give. You can match the exact amount or give a different one — matching to the dollar earns a badge, but it's not required.
Donate to the charity
We send you to the nonprofit's page on Every.org, where you give directly to them. PledgePair never handles the money — your card details go to Every.org's processor, never to us.
Every.org has a $10 minimum, and they'll ask for an optional tip of their own. That tip is theirs, not ours, and it's how they stay free for nonprofits.
Confirm your match
You come back to PledgePair automatically. If Every.org has already confirmed your donation, you go straight to the celebration. If not, you can self-confirm and the page will say so honestly.
Verified vs. self-confirmed
Every donation on PledgePair is labeled one of two ways, and we never blur the difference.
The donation went through Every.org and they confirmed it to us directly. We didn't take anyone's word for it.
Someone told us they donated another way. We have no way to check, so we say exactly that rather than implying more certainty than we have.
Achievements and leaderboards
Every completed pair earns badges based on what actually happened — how fast the match came, whether the amounts matched exactly, whether it landed right before a deadline. Some badges are listed publicly. Others stay secret until someone finds them.
Badges also feed the leaderboards, which rank by how many times people have earned each one — not by who gave the most money. Giving more shouldn't buy a higher rank.
Where the money goes
Straight to the nonprofit. PledgePair never receives, holds, or processes charitable donations, and never issues tax receipts — your receipt comes from the nonprofit or from Every.org.
PledgePair is free. It's supported by optional tips, merchandise, and advertising, all of which go to Appleseed Media LLC and none of which are charitable donations or tax-deductible. More about that here.