⛪️ Church-Vetted Requests: Getting Started & How it Works

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Estimated read time: 7 minutes

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Overview

This article breaks down how a Church can enable Church-Vetted Requests, submit requests to their own Response Teams, and manage the process from submission to close. Let's get started!

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Intended audience

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Included in this article

• What are Church-Vetted Requests?
• Enabling Church-Vetted Requests
• Entering a request
• Approving and escalating a request
• Managing responses & closing a request

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What are Church-Vetted Requests?

Many churches already have awareness of families in crisis. Meeting CarePortal requests inevitably reveals more opportunities to serve. Church-Vetted Requests is a feature designed to equip response teams to step up to go deeper.

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Enabling Church-Vetted Requests

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A few things to keep in mind

• When building your Response Team, remember that responder types and their individual profiles don't affect how Church-Vetted Requests work — so don't worry about getting that detail perfect before you get started.
   
• As you choose your Church-Vetted Requests Leader, look for someone who's a good storyteller — someone who can recognize meaningful stories and advocate for families — and who's strongly connected to your community to where they know what opportunities will move people to respond. 
   
• If your Church has a CarePortal Fund and an active CarePortal Card, responders can give financially into the Fund, and your Church Leaders can direct those donations toward your Church-Vetted Requests.

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Entering a request

Church Leaders and Team Leaders can submit requests from their CarePortal Dashboard under Church-Vetted Requests in Request Management.

• If submitted by a Church-Vetted Requests Leader, no approval is needed — the request goes directly to all Responders on all Response Teams at your Church.
• If submitted by a Pastor, Primary Point Person, or other Church Leader, the Church-Vetted Requests Leader is notified to review, edit, decline, or approve before all Responders are alerted.
• If submitted by a Team Leader, the Church-Vetted Requests Leader is notified to review and approve before the request goes to that team's Responders. The Team Leader can also request escalation to all Response Teams at the Church if more help is needed.

Step-by-step instructions

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Approving and escalating a request

The Church-Vetted Requests Leader is the only person who can approve a request — it won't go out to your Response Team until they do.

• If submitted by a Church-Vetted Requests Leader, no approval is needed — the request goes directly to all Responders on all Response Teams at your Church.
• If submitted by a Pastor, Primary Point Person, or other Church Leader, the Church-Vetted Requests Leader is notified to review, edit, decline, or approve before all Responders are alerted.
• If submitted by a Team Leader, the Church-Vetted Requests Leader is notified to review and approve before the request goes to that team's Responders. If more help is needed, the Team Leader can request escalation to all Response Teams at the Church — or the Church-Vetted Requests Leader can escalate on their own without waiting for the Team Leader to request it (see below!).

Once a request is submitted, the Church-Vetted Requests Leader receives an email to review it. From there, they can select Approve, Decline, or Edit as needed. Before approving, review the request carefully for any confidential information. 

Once approved, CarePortal sends the request to your Church's Response Teams on your behalf.

To escalate a team request to all Response Teams:

1. From Church-Vetted Requests, find the request and select View.
2. Select Escalate and confirm.

If initiated by a Team Leader, the Church-Vetted Requests Leader will be asked to approve the escalation. If they initiate it themselves, they can approve it immediately.

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Managing responses & closing a request

When someone from your Response Team responds to a request, two emails go out at the same time:

1. The responder receives a confirmation and thank-you email letting them know who the Church-Vetted Requests Leader is and what to expect next.
2. The Church-Vetted Requests Leader receives an email with the responder's contact information and message. Their next step is to connect with the responder and ensure the need gets met.

To close the request, select the button in the response email — or go to your CarePortal Dashboard, find the request, and close it from there.

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Best Practice: Becoming a Connecting Church with an active CarePortal Card also gives your Responders the ability to contribute financially — directly in the process of responding to the request itself, rather than through a general Fund donation.

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Related articles

• ⛪️ Church Responder Types: Resource vs. Relational Responders
• ⛪️ Adding, Building, & Managing Your Church's Response Teams