Describe how your church or charity reviews requests for help. Makeform creates a benevolence request form for the applicant's situation, amount needed, deadline, household, and payment route.
Route requests to email, Slack, Google Sheets, and Zapier.
Sample prompts for the builder
Choose a starting point, tailor the wording, and send it to the builder. Each example is an intake structure, not a decision.
Audience
Members requesting short-term financial help
Format
Private intake with need-specific follow-up
Prompt size
317 chars
Example form structure
Private intake with need-specific follow-up
Your name and contact details
What kind of assistance do you need?
Amount requested and date needed
Please describe the situation
Bill or supporting document
Suggested routing tags
Urgent review
Housing and utilities
Follow-up needed
Ask for the bill due date and intended payee so reviewers can identify urgency and prepare the next step.
Step 1
Request
situation, amount, deadline, and payee
Step 2
Triage
urgency and completeness checked
Step 3
Review
authorized team considers the request
Step 4
Follow up
applicant receives the next step
A kinder intake process
One thoughtful intake captures what reviewers need while letting the person explain the circumstances once.
Amount, deadline, provider, and payee sit beside the applicant's story, exposing missing details before review.
Conditional logic shows only the follow-up questions relevant to rent, utilities, food, or transportation.
Route urgent submissions to a reviewer and organize the rest by need type.
Adapt the intake
Start with the closest workflow, then apply your organization's categories, instructions, and reviewer routes.
Member relationship, household context, requested amount, payee information, and committee-ready follow-up details.
A staff-assisted path for people who need help completing the intake or have already discussed the situation with a pastor.
Service area, referral source, need category, deadlines, and other resources already contacted in one organized record.
Urgency flags, provider details, supporting documents, and a clear review status for time-sensitive requests.
Build the workflow
Generate the form, apply your policy, and test it before sharing.
Name eligible needs, service area, required details, reviewers, and next steps.
Use plain language, explain sensitive questions, and remove fields your team will not use.
Show lease, shutoff, or repair fields only when the selected need requires them.
Test urgent and routine submissions, notifications, and the applicant confirmation.
Intake options
Gather practical details once, keep the narrative attached, and make review consistent.
Field guide
Collect only what reviewers need, explain sensitive fields, and align the form with your written policy.
Contact and household
Collect contact, location, and household context. Explain why church relationship or service area matters.
Situation and need
Pair a routing category with space for context. Ask what changed and what would address the immediate need.
Amount and timing
Separate the total bill from the requested amount and pair both with a date so urgency is explicit.
Payee and documents
Identify the landlord, utility, repair shop, or other payee. Explain which bill or estimate is useful.
Prior and other support
If policy considers prior or pledged help, ask neutrally and provide a relevant timeframe.
Consent and next steps
Explain review and follow-up, and state that submission begins review without promising assistance.
Related tools
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Open toolFAQ
Answers for church and nonprofit teams designing an assistance intake.
It is an intake a church or charity uses when someone asks for assistance. It keeps the situation, amount, deadline, payee, household context, and documents together for review.
Include contact, church relationship, household size, need, situation, amount, deadline, payee, other help, and follow-up preference. Use conditional fields for each need.
Explain sensitive questions, use neutral language, and collect only useful information. Make nonessential uploads optional, state next steps, and offer staff assistance.
Yes. Ask for a due or shutoff date, then notify the designated reviewer when it meets your urgent-review rule. Test the route and backup coverage.
Relevant uploads can clarify the amount, deadline, and payee. Say what is useful and optional; do not request unrelated details.
Say submission starts review. Explain follow-up without promising funding, timing, or an outcome, and align decision language with your policy.
Yes. Makeform supports unlimited free forms and responses, so you can generate, edit, publish, and collect requests without a form or response cap. The paid tier removes the Makeform badge.
Yes. A staff-assisted version can record the applicant, referrer, need, and follow-up preference. Keep reviewer-only fields in a labeled staff section.
Replace scattered requests with one caring intake.
