Emergency Assistance Form

Emergency Assistance Application Template — Ready-to-Use Benevolence Fund Form

Every congregation eventually gets the knock on the door or the late-night call: someone in the community needs help with a bill, rent, or groceries before it becomes a crisis. This template gives you a simple, ready-to-use intake form for your church's benevolence or emergency assistance fund, so you have something professional and consistent to hand a family in need — instead of scrambling to write one from scratch under pressure.

The form walks through what most benevolence committees need to make a fair, documented decision: applicant contact information, the amount and reason for the request, household size, prior assistance history, and space for any additional context — plus a reminder to collect supporting documentation (bills, rent notices, grocery estimates) before funds are released.

Your church name, address, and email are clearly highlighted at the top, so you can drop in your congregation's information and start using it right away.

What's Included:

• Emergency Assistance Application, in the original Apple Pages format
• Word version (exported from Pages) for congregations without Pages access
• PDF version showing exactly how the formatting is intended to look, for reference
• Highlighted fields marking where your church's name, address, and email go

A note on formatting: Because the Word file is exported from Pages, you may notice small formatting shifts — spacing or alignment — when you open it. Use the included PDF as your visual reference for how the document is meant to look, and adjust the Word version as needed.

Important: This template is a starting point, not legal or financial advice. Congregations should review their own benevolence policies — including what personal information to collect and how it's stored — before adopting any intake form.

Ideal For: Deacon boards, benevolence committees, and newly chartered congregations setting up their first emergency assistance process.