Sum all that do NOT contain returning #Value Error

I'm trying to figure out what is causing a #VALUE error in an exclusionary SUMIFS. I want to sum only amounts in which the memo does not contain "Against Pledge."

I started with:

=SUMIFS(DonAmt,DonMemo,"<>"&"Against Pledge*")

(I've deleted the criteria of the SUMIFS that did not have a problem for brevity & clarity.)

DonAmt and DonMemo are named ranges whose data looks something like the below. (I can't upload the file. It is all confidential names & numbers.)

DonAmt DonMemo
$125.00 Against Pledge 795264
$700.00 Against Pledge
$100.00 Against Pledge
$100.00 in memory of RS
$36.00
$500.00 in memory of RS
$50.00 Matching
$50.00 in memory of RS

There ARE blank lines in the ranges.

I have also tried a couple of SUMPRODUCT variations with the same result:

=SUMPRODUCT(--(ISERROR(SEARCH("Against Pledge*",DonMemo))),DonAmt)

=SUMPRODUCT(--NOT(ISNUMBER(SEARCH("Against Pledge*",DonMemo))),DonAmt)

The inverse function:

=SUMIF(DonMemo,"Against Pledge*",DonAmt)

works perfectly.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Sample attached. The below notations are filled into cells 62H:62L, adjacent to the problem cell which is highlighted yellow.

After some further testing, as a SUMIF statement, my original clause works:

=SUMIF(DonMemo,"<>"&"Against Pledge*",DonAmt)

However when I place it into a SUMIFS, it returns #VALUE:

=SUMIFS(DonAmt,DonDate,">"&DATE(2015,9,14),DonMemo,"<>"&"Against Pledge*")

The other condition of the SUMIFS works with other conditions.

Thanks. I'm just surprised the unequal range didn't cause a problem in the single condition SUMIF.