Overview: Your First Online Renewal
The renewal process in Civic Review is fundamentally different from what you may be used to. Ideally, Civic Review will use automated emails to handle renewals for you by automatically notifying applicants when it's time to renew.
However, your first renewal cycle will require a bit more manual preparation than subsequent years. This is primarily because:
You need to notify all applicants about the new online system.
You should expect a higher volume of information updates as applicants update and standardize their records while reviewing their information during renewals.
Step 1: Notifying Applicants of the New Online System
Normally, renewals are handled by a series of automated emails sent according to a timeline you configure in your Civic Review account. For the first year, however, we recommend a two-part approach to ensure a smooth transition:
Send Initial Physical Letters (Recommended)
Since many of your existing records may not have current email addresses, an initial physical letter to all applicants is the best way to kick off the process.
This letter should include the following key information:
The system is new: Clearly state that all renewals are now managed through a new online system.
Email Whitelisting: Instruct applicants to look for and expect emails coming from "civicreview.com". Here's an example of what the renewal notification email looks like:
Renewal Instructions: Provide essential account look-up information if applicants would like to start the renewal process manually.
Need a template? Contact us, and we can provide you with a sample renewal letter used successfully by other clients.
Activate Automated Renewal Emails
Once your physical letters have had time to arrive, you can then activate the automated renewal emails.
Contact us for assistance in "flipping the switch" to turn on the automation.
After activation, all applicants with an email address on file will begin to receive the series of automatic renewal emails prompting them to complete their renewal.
Step 2: Expect to See More Updated Applications
When applicants renew through the online portal, they'll have a chance to review and update information within their application. You have control to hide or exclude any fields that should show up on the initial information, but don't need updated during annual renewals. To learn how to exclude fields from a renewal, check out this help article: Excluding Fields from Renewals.
High Volume of Updates Expected
Initial Data Cleanup: Most clients choose to expose more fields during the first renewal to allow applicants to correct and update their often outdated or incomplete information.
Review: When applicants make changes, you will be prompted to review and approve the updated information before the renewal is finalized. Within the "Renewing" tab you can see which applicants have started their renewals and which are awaiting your review/approval. You'll also get an email notification.
Future Benefit: Be prepared for a much higher volume of changed records this first year. Subsequent renewals will be progressively easier as your data becomes cleaner.
Next Steps: Processing Renewals
Once you have sufficiently prepared your applicants for the switch to Civic Review and the requests begin to arrive, you'll need to know how to process them.
Read the following articles to learn how to manage incoming requests: