Stories Management

Stories in NeedBridge are outcome narratives that capture the impact of a fulfilled need. When a need is completed, case workers or volunteers can submit a story describing what happened -- who was helped, how the community responded, and what difference it made. These stories can be published on your organization's public page to share your impact with the community.

What Stories Are

A story is a brief narrative written after a need has been completed. Stories serve multiple purposes:

  • Impact reporting -- They provide tangible examples of your organization's work for board reports, grant applications, and donor communications.
  • Volunteer recognition -- They highlight the contributions of volunteers and show that their help made a real difference.
  • Community engagement -- Published stories on your public page help potential volunteers see the value of getting involved.

Stories are different from the outcome notes captured when marking a need complete. Outcome notes are internal records. Stories are crafted narratives intended for a broader audience.

How Stories Are Created

Stories can be submitted in two ways:

  • Case workers can write a story after marking a need as complete. They describe the outcome from the perspective of the people served.
  • Volunteers can submit a story about their experience fulfilling a need. They describe what they did and how it felt to help.

Both paths lead to the same review and approval workflow.

The Stories List

Navigate to Stories in the left-hand menu to see all stories in your organization. The list shows:

  • Story title
  • Associated need
  • Author (case worker or volunteer)
  • Submission date
  • Approval status (pending, approved, published, rejected)

Use the filters and search bar to find specific stories by title, author, or status.

Reviewing and Approving Stories

Stories go through an approval workflow before they can be published:

  1. Submitted -- A case worker or volunteer submits a story. It enters the pending review queue.
  2. Review -- A coordinator or admin reads the story, checking for quality, accuracy, and privacy compliance.
  3. Approved -- The story passes review and is ready to be published.
  4. Published -- The story is visible on your organization's public page.

To review a pending story:

  1. Open the story from the stories list.
  2. Read the narrative carefully.
  3. Check that no client identifying information (names, addresses, phone numbers) is included.
  4. Verify that the story accurately reflects what happened.
  5. Click Approve to advance it, or send it back with feedback for revision.

Publishing Stories to the Public Page

Once a story is approved, you can publish it to your organization's public-facing page. Published stories appear in the stories or impact section of your public page, where visitors, potential volunteers, and supporters can read them.

To publish an approved story, open it and click Publish. To unpublish a story, open it and change its status back to approved.

Editing Stories

You can edit a story at any stage before or after publishing. Common edits include:

  • Removing identifying details that were accidentally included
  • Improving clarity or grammar
  • Adding context that was missing from the original submission

Open the story, click Edit, make your changes, and save.

Impact Ratings

Stories may include an impact rating that reflects the significance of the outcome. This rating helps your organization categorize and prioritize stories for reporting and public display. Higher-rated stories can be featured more prominently on your public page.

Tips

  • Encourage case workers to submit stories regularly. The best stories are written soon after a need is completed, while the details are fresh.
  • Protect client privacy in stories. Even in narratives, never include real names or identifying details. Use general descriptions like "a single mother" or "a family of four."
  • Feature stories prominently. Published stories on your public page help attract new volunteers and demonstrate your organization's impact to donors and partners.
  • Use stories in reports. When writing grant applications or board updates, pull from your published stories to provide concrete examples of impact.