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

⏱

Estimated read time: 7 minutes

---

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!

Based on the article — CVR submission, management, Church Settings, Dashboard, Response Teams:

---

Intended audience

---

Included in this article

• Training video
• Prerequisites to using Church-Vetted Requests
• Submitting a request
• Approving a request
• Escalating a team request to all teams
• Responses & closing a request

---

Training video

If you're a visual learner, the animated video below walks you through much of the content in this article — with some bonus material too!

💡

Quick Tip: As CarePortal continually improves, you may notice some differences between the animations in our training videos and your live Dashboard. Our team is re-animating and re-recording as quickly as we can! Email [e-mail] if you have questions in the meantime.

---

Prerequisites to using Church-Vetted Requests

1. Add members to your Response Team

Since Church-Vetted Requests notify your Response Teams about the opportunities you enter, it's important to build your team with individuals from your Church who'll receive a notification when a new request is approved. There are several tools built into the platform to help you build and develop your teams — your local Network Leader can help too!

💡

Quick Tip: Responder types don't affect how responses to Church-Vetted Requests work.

2. Designate your Church-Vetted Requests Leader(s)

Before Church-Vetted Requests can be turned on, your Church's Primary Point Person will need to assign the Church-Vetted Requests Leader role to at least one person. From the Dashboard, select Settings, then add or edit a Church Leader to assign the role.

As you consider who your Church-Vetted Requests Leader(s) should be, here are a few qualities to look for:

• Good storyteller — someone who can recognize meaningful stories and advocate for families; has an eye for high-impact opportunities that move others to respond
• Community-connected — in tune with the needs of the Church and aware of local partnerships and ministries

3. Enable the Church-Vetted Requests setting

After enabling your settings, be sure to select Save.

🌟

Best Practice: If your Church enables a CarePortal Fund and has an active CarePortal Card, responders can give financially into the Fund — and your Church Leaders can direct those donations toward your Church-Vetted Requests.

---

Submitting 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

1. Select Church-Vetted Requests from the left sidebar under Request Management (only appears when the setting is enabled from the Church Settings page).
    
2. Select + Submit Request at the top of the page. 
    
3. Select the urgency level, enter the family's zip code, indicate how many people (children and adults) will be served, and choose the purpose statement that best fits the request.
    
4. Fill out the story and description of the request. Advocate clearly and compellingly for the family — and anticipate questions a potential responder might have. 
   ⚠️ Never include confidential information like the family's name, address, or contact details, as this will be publicly visible once the request is approved.
    
5. Fill out the specific need(s). Many options will auto-calculate an estimated cost; others let you enter a custom amount. Check out our Financial Requests: Important Tips & Best Practices HCA to learn more about how to calculate this!
    
6. Check the box at the bottom confirming you have the family's permission to enter the request, then select Submit.

---

Approving 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.

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.

Here's an example of what that notification email looks like:

---

Escalating a team request to all teams

When a Church Leader submits a request, all Response Teams are notified automatically. When a Team Leader submits, the Church-Vetted Requests Leader approves it first — and it goes only to that team's Responders.

If more help is needed, the Team Leader can request the Church-Vetted Requests Leader to escalate the request to all Response Teams at the Church. Church-Vetted Requests Leaders can also escalate on their own without waiting for the Team Leader to request it.

To escalate a request:

1. From Church-Vetted Requests, find the request and select View.
2. Select Escalate and confirm.
3. The Church-Vetted Requests Leader will be asked to approve the escalation. If a Church-Vetted Requests Leader initiates this themselves, they can approve it immediately.

---

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.

🌟

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.

---

Related articles

• ⛪️ Should My Church Use Church-Vetted Requests?