ApproveThis manages your Raisely approvals.

When Fundraising Meets Red Tape

Let's be real - nonprofits have better things to do than play email tag about whether they can accept a $5k donation from a local business. But when your donation platform (Raisely) and your approval processes live in different universes, that's exactly what happens. Cue the spreadsheet trackers, Slack pings, and that one board member who still faxes their responses.

ApproveThis plugs directly into Raisely via Zapier, turning "We'll get back to you" into "Approved - next." We're talking automated workflows that handle donor vetting, campaign budget sign-offs, and volunteer approvals without making your team jump between six tools.

Why This Combo Works Like a Glow Stick at a Charity Gala

Raisely handles the money moves. ApproveThis handles the decision-making bureaucracy. Together, they solve three big headaches for 50-5,000 person organizations:

1. No More "Who Approved This?"

That donor database update? The surprise $10k donation? Every action in Raisely can now require explicit sign-off before anything goes live. ApproveThis logs who said yes/no, when, and why - directly tied to the Raisely record.

2. External Approvers Without the License Headache

Board members don't need Raisely logins to approve major campaign budgets. ApproveThis sends them email/Slack approvals they can action in one click. Their "yes" auto-updates Raisely. Their "no" triggers a notification to your team. No guest logins. No per-seat fees.

3. Escape Conditional Approval Hell

Raisely tracks donations - ApproveThis handles the "if this, then who?" rules. Example: Donations under $1k auto-approve. Over $1k? Route to the finance director. Over $50k? Escalate to the board via sequential approvals. All while syncing back to the donor's Raisely profile.

Real-World Scenarios That Won't Make You Want to Hug a Printer

Use Case 1: The High-Velocity Donation Problem

What breaks: Your viral campaign gets 500+ small donations overnight. Finance needs to verify none are fraudulent before depositing. Cue manual cross-checking hell.

The fix: Zapier triggers an ApproveThis workflow for every new Raisely donation over $500. Approvers get batched requests with fraud risk scores. They mass-approve/reject right in email. Approved donations auto-update Raisely with "Cleared" status. Rejected ones trigger a refund workflow.

Who uses this: Political campaigns during peak fundraising, disaster relief orgs receiving surge donations.

Use Case 2: The Board Member Time Sink

What breaks: Every new major donor proposal requires 3 board approvals. Emails get buried. Decisions take weeks. Donors walk.

The fix: New Raisely donor profiles over $25k lifetime value trigger a parallel approval workflow. Board members get a single email with donor history and conflict checks. First two "yes" votes approve. After 72hrs, auto-escalate to ED. All interactions log to Raisely as notes.

Who uses this: Universities securing legacy gifts, arts orgs courting corporate sponsors.

Use Case 3: The Volunteer Clusterf*ck

What breaks: 300 people sign up to volunteer via your Raisely campaign page. Now 5 different department heads need to approve based on role. Spreadsheet chaos ensues.

The fix: New Raisely sign-ups trigger role-specific approvals. Event volunteers go to programs team. Pro-bono lawyers go to legal. Each dept approves their subset. Approved volunteers get auto-added to Raisely groups for targeted comms.

Who uses this: Health nonprofits managing medical vs. general volunteers, advocacy groups with state-specific roles.

Setting This Up Without an IT Degree

If you can make toast, you can connect Raisely to ApproveThis:

1. Grab your ApproveThis API key (we'll show you where)
2. In Zapier, choose your Raisely trigger - new donation, sign-up, etc.
3. Map the key data points to ApproveThis (donation amount → approval threshold)
4. Set approval rules: Who needs to approve based on amount/type/role?
5. Connect approvals back to Raisely - update records, add notes, trigger next actions

Total setup time: 23 minutes (we timed it). Maintenance: Zero. Your ops team will send you cookies.

Teams That Stop Hating Their Lives

Development Directors

Finally prove compliance for major gifts without spreadsheet archaeology. Every donor approval is auditable with timestamps and comments synced to Raisely.

Finance Teams

Set auto-approval thresholds so you only review donations that actually need scrutiny. Integrate with your accounting software in the same Zap.

Campaign Managers

Launch time-sensitive fundraisers knowing approvers can't bottleneck you. Set escalation rules so if Karen in legal doesn't approve by noon, it routes to her deputy.

Why This Isn't Just Another Zap

Most Raisely integrations just move data. Ours moves decisions. ApproveThis adds three layers most tools ignore:

1. Conditional Routing That Doesn't Require a Flowchart

Example: If donation is under $1k → auto-approve. $1k-$10k → finance team. Over $10k → CFO + legal. All handled in one workflow.

2. Real-Time Calculated Fields

Auto-calculate donor lifetime value during approval requests by pulling Raisely history. Approvers see "This donor gave $25k over 3 years" right in their approval screen.

3. Vacation Policies That Actually Work

When approvers are OOO, delegates get auto-assigned. No more "Waiting on Jim's reply" when Jim is snorkeling in Bali.

No, Really - Your Approvers Don't Need Another Login

External board members? Partner agencies? Volunteers? They approve via:

• Email (one-click approve/deny)
• Slack
• MS Teams
• SMS (yes, text message approvals)

Their actions still log in Raisely with full audit trails. No guest accounts. No "Can you reset my password?" calls at 9pm.

How This Pays for Itself (Math Edition)

Typical org processes 500 approvals/month:

⏱️ 15 minutes/day chasing approvals = 91hrs/year @ $30/hr = $2,730
💸 1 major donor lost/month due to slow approvals = $60k/year
🚨 1 compliance slip-up = $50k avg. penalty

ApproveThis costs less than your office coffee budget. The math mathses.

Start Closing Loops Instead of Chasing Them

ApproveThis isn't another tool - it's your Raisely safety net. We handle the bureaucratic sludge so your team can get back to changing the world.

Get your free account and connect it to Raisely in under 30 minutes. Or book a 12-minute demo where we'll show you how to automate donor approvals, volunteer onboarding, and campaign budget sign-offs.

P.S. If you mention this article, we'll throw in a free "Death to Spreadsheets" t-shirt. Limited stock. Act now before Karen from legal claims them all.