Estimated read time: 3 minutes
Overview
Finding the items or services a family needs isn't always simple — especially with limited resources. This article covers helpful tips for sourcing what you need and answers a few common questions about the process.
Let's get started!
Intended audience
Included in this article
Helpful tips
1. Check with your Response Team Leader, Primary Point Person, or Network Leader
In areas where a CarePortal network has been operating for some time, there may already be partnerships you don't know about yet. Reach out to your Church's Primary Point Person or local Network Leader and ask — or invite them in to explore how you might work together to develop a new one that could lead to more kids and families being served by the Church.
2. Consider your Church members or those you might know already
Churches are full of people with all kinds of gifts. It's very possible your Church already has members who own businesses and could empower your teams to do more. Additional resources can also come from inviting others through social media or direct outreach. You might be surprised by how many people want to help if they simply knew about the need!
3. Local business partnerships
Since CarePortal requests represent vetted, real-time opportunities to serve families and kids in crisis, they can often lead to formal partnerships between responding Churches and local businesses, where commonly requested items or services become available at reduced or no cost to the Church. As you recognize what items or services are requested most often, work with your Church leadership to ask around and see if there's a new partnership your Church could develop!
4. Share your current connections
If you already have a partnership with a local business or know of a great local place to shop that helps you meet CarePortal requests more easily, share that tip with your Network Leader so they can recommend it to others!
Frequently asked questions
1. How are the estimated values of items determined?
The value of items can be adjusted by the Agency Worker who enters each request. Items and services are added from a catalog of commonly requested items, most of which start with an estimated value based on market research done by a committee of CarePortal Network Leaders and users. Sources most often considered by this committee are Walmart, Amazon, Wayfair, and Target.
2. Is it okay to give gently used items, or should they always be new?
This question is usually best answered by the Agency Worker who entered the request on behalf of the family. In many cases, they'll indicate in the request description when an item needs to be new, but it's always a good idea to check. Your local Network Leader may also have specific policies around giving used items to families. Just make sure any used items are in excellent working condition. All items provided should seek to honor the family that receives them.
3. If a Funded item will cost more than estimated, can more funds be collected through the CarePortal platform?
CarePortal allows certain users to offer money through the platform to equip a specially-trained local Church to meet the needs of the family. The amount that can be contributed is limited to the estimated value of each item on the request. If that estimated value isn't enough to cover the request, the Church has a few different options:
- Cover the remainder from another source, outside the CarePortal platform
- Add a Church-Vetted Request to explain the situation and include the additional amount or remaining items needed so anyone can offer additional Funding through CarePortal
- Connect with their local Network Leader to add another item to the same request, which would also allow others to respond and offer additional Funding
If you have additional questions or need more help, reach out to your local Network Leader or contact us at training@careportal.org.
Comments
0 comments
Please sign in to leave a comment.