ApproveThis manages your Approval Donkey Integration approvals.

Why Combine These Two Approval Powerhouses?

Let's cut to the chase: approval processes suck when they involve chasing people through Slack, digging through email chains, or wondering if Janet from accounting even saw your request. That's where ApproveThis and Approval Donkey come in – not as rivals, but as a tag team that knocks out bottlenecks.

ApproveThis handles the human side of approvals – think multi-layer sign-offs, automatic escalations when someone's on vacation, and letting execs approve stuff directly from their inbox. Approval Donkey tracks and automates the paper trail. Together via Zapier, they turn "Where's that approval?!" into "It's already done."

What This Means for Your Bottom Line

A construction company we worked with used to lose 12 hours a week just following up on material purchase approvals. After connecting these two tools? Those follow-ups dropped to 20 minutes. That's not magic – it's what happens when you stop forcing people to jump between disconnected systems.

Real-World Use Cases (No Fluff Edition)

1. The Escalation Tango: Approval Donkey → ApproveThis

How it works: When an approval request hits a specific status in Approval Donkey (like "Pending Legal Review"), Zapier automatically creates a parallel approval chain in ApproveThis with stricter oversight.

Who needs this:

• Healthcare providers: Automatically escalate HIPAA-related document approvals from department leads to compliance officers
• Manufacturing: Flag orders exceeding $50K for instant executive review without manual routing

2. The Mirror System: ApproveThis → Approval Donkey

How it works: New requests in ApproveThis (like a marketing budget approval) auto-create tracked tasks in Approval Donkey for granular internal tracking.

Who needs this:

• Enterprise IT teams: Keep internal Jira tickets synced with vendor-facing approval timelines
• Law firms: Mirror client-approved case budgets into matter management systems

Setup That Doesn't Require an IT Degree

Connect ApproveThis and Approval Donkey in three steps:

1. Create a Zapier account (free tier works)
2. Choose your trigger – "New Request" in ApproveThis or "Status Updated" in Approval Donkey
3. Map critical fields (amounts, departments, due dates)

Pro tip: Start with one integration path (like escalating high-value requests) before connecting everything. Less cleanup if you need to adjust.

Department-Specific Wins

Finance Teams: Kill Spreadsheet Roulette

AP departments using ApproveThis' calculated fields (+ approval thresholds) with Approval Donkey's audit trails:

Example: Auto-approve invoices under $5K, flag duplicates via Approval Donkey's history checks, and require CFO sign-off only when exceptions hit. All without Excel macros.

HR: Onboarding That Doesn't Haunt You

New hire requests approved in ApproveThis can trigger:

- Equipment procurement tasks in Approval Donkey
- I-9 verification reminders
- Automatic delegation if HRBP is OOO

Operations: Prevent Warehouse Wars

Maintenance requests approved via ApproveThis' mobile interface update Approval Donkey's vendor management system – no more arguing about who approved that emergency HVAC repair.

Features You'll Actually Use

ApproveThis isn't just another approval queue. When connected to Approval Donkey:

Approval Thresholds That Do Something

Set hard limits where requests auto-escalate. Example: Contracts over $100K get legal team review and CFO approval – no manual triage needed.

Vacation Delegation That Works

Approval Donkey knows when approvers are out. ApproveThis automatically reroutes requests to delegates. No more "Sorry, I was on PTO" delays.

Email Approvals for External Teams

Contractors or clients can approve directly from Gmail without needing access to your Approval Donkey instance. License management made easy.

Common Questions (Answered Honestly)

"Doesn't This Create More Work?"

Only if you set it up wrong. The goal is to eliminate manual handoffs – if an integration feels redundant, kill that workflow.

"What About Security?"

Zapier uses OAuth and encryption. ApproveThis offers SAML/SSO. You control who can create or modify approval chains.

"Can We Start Small?"

Pick one pain point (expense reports stuck in legal review) for your pilot. Scale after you see results.

Bottom Line

If your company has more than 50 employees and at least three "approval horror stories" this quarter, connecting ApproveThis and Approval Donkey via Zapier isn't just smart – it's damage control.

Next steps:
- Book a 15-minute demo to see custom workflows
- Explore pre-built Zapier templates

No more CC'ing the entire company on approval emails. You're welcome.