Automating an Event Approval Workflow in Monday.com for Church Communications Teams
Managing multiple event requests in a fast-paced church communications department can be overwhelming, especially when different stakeholders — such as church elders — need to review and approve each request. Fortunately, Monday.com combined with strategic automations can completely streamline this workflow.
In this tutorial, we’ll walk through a real-world implementation of a multi-step approval process inside Monday.com, perfect for communication teams working in a church or similar setting. This workflow ensures that elders get notified, requests are tracked with due dates, and approvals can auto-advance if action isn’t taken in time.
Let’s dive into how to set this up step-by-step.
Step 1: Start with a Form Submission
To kick off the process, begin by creating a custom form in Monday.com. This form is where ministry leaders or other church members can submit requests for event promotions or graphic designs. Each form submission generates a task in your designated Monday.com board.
🔗 Tip: If you want help creating your form, make sure to check out our other videos linked below on setting up a Church Communications Request Form in Monday.com.
For example, a form might include:
- Event Title
- Team (e.g., Gather, Serve, Worship)
- Date and Time
- Description
- Design needs (e.g., flyer, social post)
Step 2: Structure Your Monday.com Board
To manage incoming tasks, you’ll want a clear structure. Here’s a recommended column layout:
- Elder (People Column): Assigned person responsible for initial approval based on team.
- Elder Approval (Status Column): Tracks whether the task is approved, pending, or denied.
- Event Details: (Various columns for title, date, description, etc.)
- Date Submitted (Date Column): The date the request was submitted.
- Elder Approval Deadline (Date Column): The date by which the elder must approve the task.
Step 3: Automate Initial Task Configuration
Once a form creates an item in your board, a series of automations take over to assign, notify, and set due dates.
✅ Automation 1: Assign Elders Based on Team
Create an automation:
When an item is created AND Team is "Gather" → Assign John Doe to the "Elder" column.
- Use the conditional to match the “Team” drop-down.
- Assign the appropriate elder based on the selected team.
✅ Automation 2: Notify Elder of Assignment
Add another automation:
When an item is created AND Team is "Gather" → Notify person in "Elder" column with a custom message.
Example notification:
“You have a new event to approve: [Item Name]. Please review and approve within 4 days.”
Step 4: Set Submission and Approval Dates Automatically
Since tracking deadlines is crucial, let’s automate the date columns:
✅ Automation 3: Set Submission Date
When an item is created → Set "Date Submitted" to today.
✅ Automation 4: Set Approval Deadline
When an item is created → Set "Elder Approval Deadline" to today → Then push date by 4 days.
This ensures that every request gets a deadline exactly four days after submission.
Step 5: Add a Reminder Before Deadline
To remind elders before the deadline passes:
✅ Automation 5: Reminder 1 Day Before
When "Elder Approval Deadline" is 1 day away AND "Elder Approval" is not "Approved" → Notify person in "Elder" column.
Example message:
“Reminder: You have one day left to approve [Item Name]. Please take action.”
Step 6: Auto-Approve Requests After Deadline Passes
If the elder doesn’t respond in time, the system can automatically move the request forward.
✅ Automation 6: Auto-Approval On Deadline
When "Elder Approval Deadline" arrives AND "Elder Approval" is not "Approved" → Change "Elder Approval" to "Approved" AND notify "Elder" with a message.
Example message:
“You missed the approval window for [Item Name]. It has been automatically approved. Please contact the Communications Director if this was in error.”
Step 7: Notify Communications Director
Now that the elder approval is in place (manually or automatically), the task moves to the Communications Director for action.
✅ Automation 7: Notify Communications Director
When "Elder Approval" changes to "Approved" → Notify Communications Director.
Example message:
“[Item Name] has been approved. You may begin work on this request.”
Step 8: Final Status Update
Once approved, you might want to change the main project status to “Ready” or “Approved” to reflect its current phase in the workflow. This can be manual or automated depending on your preference.
Why This Workflow Works
- ✓ Reduces manual follow-ups with elders
- ✓ Keeps all tasks on track with deadlines
- ✓ Automates bottlenecks in your approval process
- ✓ Notifies key players only when needed
- ✓ Ideal for churches or any team with approval chains
Optional Improvements & Integrations
- 🔄 Use Make.com or Zapier to push notifications outside Monday.com (e.g., to Slack or Email).
- 📈 Add reporting dashboards to see how many requests are pending, approved, or expired.
- 🧠 Integrate with AI for natural language responses inside notifications.
- 🔧 Use conditional automations for escalations if approvals are denied or delayed repeatedly.
Conclusion
Creating an automated approval workflow in Monday.com is a powerful way to manage event requests efficiently in a church communications department. By using automations effectively, you ensure no request gets lost, elders are kept in the loop, and your team can focus on delivering excellent design and promotional materials without unnecessary delays.
Stay tuned for advanced tutorials on integrating Monday.com with external tools like Make.com and using even more detailed approval ladder systems.
Feel free to copy and adapt this workflow for your own team’s needs.
