# Declining an Application

When to decline. If after a full review your team determines that a candidate is not the right fit for CBM’s mentoring program, you decline the application. A declined record is retained permanently in the system — it isn’t deleted.

How to decline. To record a decline decision:

1. Open the CBM Member record from the dashlet or from the CBM Members list.
2. Select Edit.
3. Set Mentor Status to Declined.
4. Select an Application Decline Reason from the dropdown — this field is required when declining and becomes part of the permanent record.
5. Select Save.

Notifying the applicant. The system does not send an automatic notification when an application is declined. After saving, you are responsible for contacting the applicant directly to let them know the outcome. This is done outside the CRM — by email or phone — and the content and tone of that communication is at your team’s discretion.

The record after a decline. The Contact and CBM Member records remain in the system with Mentor Status = Declined. If a declined applicant attempts to reapply through the website form using the same email address, the system will detect the existing record and block the submission, alerting the Mentor Administrator to handle it manually.

[![image.png](https://docs.clevelandbusinessmentors.org/uploads/images/gallery/2026-06/scaled-1680-/1dWimage.png)](https://docs.clevelandbusinessmentors.org/uploads/images/gallery/2026-06/1dWimage.png)

[![image.png](https://docs.clevelandbusinessmentors.org/uploads/images/gallery/2026-06/scaled-1680-/lKMimage.png)](https://docs.clevelandbusinessmentors.org/uploads/images/gallery/2026-06/lKMimage.png)