ApproveThis manages your NationBuilder approvals.

When Approval Management Meets Community Building

Let's cut through the noise: approvals suck. They bottleneck campaigns, delay donor responses, and turn volunteer onboarding into a game of email tag. That's why pairing ApproveThis with NationBuilder isn't just smart - it's survival mode for any team juggling compliance and community growth.

NationBuilder organizes your people. ApproveThis organizes your decisions. Connect them through Zapier, and you've got a system where every donor form submission, volunteer signup, or campaign spend request automatically kicks off the right approval chain. No spreadsheets. No "did you see my Slack?" No missed opportunities.

Why This Combo Works for Mid-Sized Teams

Companies between 50-5k employees hit the same wall: processes that worked at 50 people collapse under 500. Manual approvals create version control nightmares when reviewing donor lists or campaign budgets. ApproveThis brings structure without bureaucracy:

• Email approvals let board members sign off on major donations without logging into yet another system
• Threshold rules auto-approve small volunteer expenses but flag $500+ requests to finance

Meanwhile, NationBuilder keeps your community data clean. The integration means every approved request updates supporter profiles automatically - no more CSV exports at midnight.

Real-World Use Cases (No Fluff)

1. Donation Approvals That Don't Slow Down Fundraising

The problem: Major donors expect immediate receipts, but your finance team requires board approval for gifts over $10k. Manual handoffs cause delays.

The fix: Zapier triggers an ApproveThis workflow whenever NationBuilder records a donation over threshold. The board gets an email with donor history and project impact data. One-click approval pushes receipt automation in NationBuilder.

Who uses this: Nonprofits during year-end campaigns, political action committees processing large contributions.

2. Turning Approval Requests Into Actionable Community Data

The problem: Volunteer coordinators waste hours copying info from signup forms into NationBuilder. Legal needs liability waivers approved before adding to events.

The fix: New ApproveThis requests (like volunteer applications) auto-create NationBuilder profiles after approval. Fields map directly - no rekeying. Rejected requests get flagged for follow-up.

Who uses this: Advocacy groups managing petition signers, universities tracking alumni engagement.

3. Guarding Against Tagging Mistakes in Critical Campaigns

The problem: An intern tags a major donor as "volunteer" in NationBuilder. Marketing blasts them with irrelevant emails. Donor gets pissed.

The fix: Any new tags on high-value contacts require ApproveThis sign-off. The development director reviews context before allowing category changes.

Who uses this: Political campaigns segmenting voters, membership orgs tracking premium tiers.

Setup That Doesn't Require an IT Degree

Three steps even your least techy board member could follow:

1. Connect NationBuilder and ApproveThis to Zapier (takes 2 minutes per app)
2. Pick your trigger: "New donation in NationBuilder" or "New approval request in ApproveThis"
3. Map fields between systems - Zapier suggests common pairings automatically

Pro tip: Use ApproveThis' calculated fields to auto-flag donations exceeding limits or requests from high-priority regions.

Department-Specific Wins

Finance Teams

Stop chasing signatures for expense reports. Approval thresholds auto-route:

• Under $500 → Auto-approved with receipt audit trail
• $500-$5k → Department head approval via email
• $5k+ → CFO + legal review with custom approval chain

Operations Teams

Volunteer coordinators get notified in Slack when background checks clear (via ApproveThis) while NationBuilder auto-adds them to shift schedules. No more spreadsheet juggling.

Compliance Teams

Every change to donor tiers or campaign tags in NationBuilder requires documented approval. Built-in audit trails prove due diligence during reviews.

Killer Features You'll Actually Use

Beyond basic approvals, this combo handles edge cases:

Vacation Delegation: Board member on safari? ApproveThis automatically reassigns donation approvals to their VP without dropping requests.

Approval Groups: Require consensus from 3/5 campaign managers before updating major donor tags in NationBuilder.

Real-Time Dashboards: See pending volunteer approvals mapped against event dates. Red = urgent, green = on track.

The Bottom Line for Decision Makers

If you're using NationBuilder, you're scaling something important - a movement, a campaign, a community. ApproveThis via Zapier removes the approval roadblocks slowing that growth:

For execs: Fewer compliance fires. Faster donor responses. Clear audit trails.

For staff: No more data entry drudgery. Fewer "urgent" approval chase emails.

For IT: No custom code. Maintenance-free integration through Zapier.

Ready to Stop Losing Requests in Email Chains?

ApproveThis isn't another app your team will ignore. It's the approval layer that makes NationBuilder work harder for you. Start with a 15-minute demo and we'll show you:

1. How to automate your top 3 approval headaches
2. Real cost savings from faster decision cycles
3. Setup that takes under an hour (seriously)

Get Started Free or Book a Demo

FAQ

Q: Do approvers need NationBuilder access?
A: Nope. They approve via email without logging in. Saves license costs.

Q: What if Zapier goes down?
A: ApproveThis queues requests and syncs when back online. No data loss.

Q: Can we customize approval reasons?
A: Yes. Add dropdowns like "Over budget" or "Needs legal review" to denial responses.