Email and Notifications

NeedBridge is an email-powered need-matching platform for nonprofits -- foster care agencies, churches, disaster relief organizations, and community groups. Email is the primary communication channel in NeedBridge. Volunteers receive need notifications, claim confirmations, and digests by email. Case workers receive claim alerts and daily summaries by email. This guide covers every email type, when it is sent, how notification preferences work, and how to configure email branding.

Email Types

NeedBridge sends several types of emails to different audiences. Here is a comprehensive list.

Volunteer Emails

Welcome email When a volunteer signs up or is imported The new volunteer Need notification (immediate) Within minutes of a new need being posted Immediate-frequency volunteers in the matching area Daily digest 8:00 AM Eastern, every day Daily-frequency volunteers who have new or aging needs in their areas Weekly digest 11:00 AM Eastern, Sundays Weekly-frequency volunteers who have open needs in their areas Claim confirmation When a volunteer submits a claim The volunteer who claimed Completion/due reminders 8:00 AM Eastern, daily Volunteers with uncompleted claims or needs approaching their due date Open needs reminder 10:00 AM Eastern, daily Immediate-frequency volunteers (for unclaimed needs 7+ days old or approaching due date) Appreciation/thank-you When a claim is marked complete The volunteer who fulfilled the need Status update When a need they claimed changes status The volunteer who claimed it Need cancelled When a need they claimed is cancelled The volunteer who claimed it Unsubscribe confirmation When a volunteer unsubscribes The volunteer Resubscribe invitation When the organization sends a re-engagement campaign Previously unsubscribed volunteers

Case Worker Emails

Daily digest 7:00 AM Eastern, every day All active case workers Claim notification When a volunteer claims one of their needs The case worker who posted the need Need completed When one of their needs is marked complete The case worker

Team Emails

Invitation email When an admin invites a new team member The invitee Approval notification When a pending registration is approved The newly approved user Welcome email After a new team member completes registration The new team member

Volunteer Notification Frequency

Volunteers choose their notification frequency when they sign up. This controls how and when they receive need notifications.

Immediate

  • When needs are sent: Within minutes of a new need being posted (the system processes immediate notifications every 15 minutes)
  • What they receive: Individual emails for each new need in their subscribed areas
  • Additional emails: Open needs reminder at 10:00 AM Eastern for unclaimed needs that are 7+ days old or approaching their due date. This reminder is exclusive to immediate subscribers because daily and weekly subscribers already receive aging needs in their digests.
  • Best for: Volunteers who want to be first to respond and do not mind receiving multiple emails per day

Daily

  • When the digest is sent: 8:00 AM Eastern, every day
  • What they receive: A single consolidated email containing all new needs from the past 24 hours in their subscribed areas, plus any aging needs (7+ days old) or needs approaching their due date
  • Additional emails: Completion and due date reminders if they have active claims
  • What they do NOT receive: Separate open needs reminders (those needs are included in the daily digest)
  • Best for: Volunteers who want to stay informed but prefer one email per day

Weekly

  • When the digest is sent: 11:00 AM Eastern, Sundays
  • What they receive: A single email containing new needs from the past 7 days plus all open needs in their subscribed areas (regardless of when they were posted), organized by area
  • Additional emails: Completion and due date reminders if they have active claims (sent daily at 8:00 AM Eastern, not just on Sundays)
  • What they do NOT receive: Separate open needs reminders or daily digests
  • Best for: Volunteers who prefer minimal email and check in once a week

Critical Need Override

When a case worker posts a need with Critical urgency, NeedBridge overrides the normal notification frequency. Critical needs are emailed to ALL subscribed volunteers in the matching area immediately, regardless of whether the volunteer is set to Daily or Weekly frequency.

This ensures that genuine emergencies reach the widest audience as fast as possible. Because of this override:

  • Use Critical urgency sparingly and only for true emergencies
  • If Critical is overused, volunteers may start ignoring urgent notifications or unsubscribe
  • Daily and weekly subscribers will still see the critical need in their next digest as well, but the immediate notification ensures they do not have to wait

Case Worker Daily Digest

Every active case worker receives a daily digest at 7:00 AM Eastern. This email contains:

  • All open needs the case worker is responsible for
  • Status updates on any needs that were claimed or completed since the last digest
  • A summary of what needs attention

The case worker digest is sent once per day, regardless of how many needs the case worker has. It is designed as a daily briefing to start the workday.

Digest Timing Summary

Case worker daily digest 7:00 AM Eastern Every day All active case workers Volunteer daily digest 8:00 AM Eastern Every day Daily-frequency volunteers Open needs reminder 10:00 AM Eastern Every day Immediate-frequency volunteers Volunteer weekly digest 11:00 AM Eastern Sundays only Weekly-frequency volunteers Immediate notifications Every 15 minutes Every day Immediate-frequency volunteers

All times are in Eastern Time (ET). During daylight saving time, this means Eastern Daylight Time (EDT, UTC-4). During standard time, this means Eastern Standard Time (EST, UTC-5).

Imported Volunteer Defaults

When volunteers are added to NeedBridge through bulk import or integrations, they receive default notification frequency settings:

  • CSV import: Volunteers imported via CSV file default to Daily frequency unless a different frequency is specified in the CSV.
  • Zapier integration: Volunteers added through Zapier default to Weekly frequency.

These defaults can be changed after import, either by the volunteer (through their preference link) or by an admin in the volunteer directory.

Email Branding

NeedBridge emails can be customized to match your organization's visual identity. All branding settings are configured in the admin panel under Settings.

Customizable Elements

  • Logo -- Your organization's logo appears at the top of every email. Upload a high-resolution image (PNG or JPG recommended) that looks good at a width of approximately 200 pixels.
  • Primary color -- Used for buttons, links, and headers in emails. Choose a color that matches your organization's brand and provides good contrast against white backgrounds.
  • Secondary color -- Used for secondary elements and accents.
  • Accent color -- Used for highlights and emphasis.
  • Email banner -- An optional banner image that appears at the top of email notifications. This can be used for seasonal branding, campaign headers, or general visual identity.

Preview

The Settings page includes a preview of how your branded emails will look. Review the preview after making changes to ensure your logo, colors, and banner work well together.

Branding Tips

  • Keep your logo file size small to ensure fast email loading
  • Test your color choices against both light and dark email backgrounds
  • Make sure your primary color has sufficient contrast for button text to be readable
  • Update your email banner seasonally or for campaigns if you want to keep communications fresh

Reply-To Configuration

You can configure the reply-to address for emails sent by NeedBridge. When a volunteer or team member replies to a NeedBridge email, the reply goes to this address.

Common configurations:

  • Organization's general email -- Replies go to your organization's main contact inbox
  • A dedicated support email -- Replies go to a monitored support address
  • The case worker's email -- For claim notifications, replies can go directly to the case worker who posted the need (where supported)

Configure the reply-to address in Settings to make sure replies reach someone who can act on them.

Unsubscribe Management

Every NeedBridge email sent to volunteers includes an unsubscribe link at the bottom. This is required by email regulations and is important for maintaining a healthy email list.

What Happens When a Volunteer Unsubscribes

  • They immediately stop receiving all NeedBridge notification emails
  • Their volunteer record is preserved (not deleted)
  • Their past claims and history remain intact
  • They receive a confirmation email acknowledging their unsubscribe
  • They can resubscribe at any time through the signup page or a resubscribe link

Managing Unsubscribes in the Admin Panel

Admins can view unsubscribed volunteers in the volunteer directory by filtering by subscription status. From here, admins can:

  • See when the volunteer unsubscribed
  • Manually resubscribe a volunteer (only if the volunteer has explicitly requested it -- do not resubscribe people without their consent)
  • Send resubscribe invitations to formerly active volunteers

Resubscribe Invitations

Organizations can send resubscribe invitations to volunteers who have unsubscribed. These emails include a link that the volunteer can click to re-activate their subscription. Use this sparingly and respectfully -- frequent resubscribe emails to people who have opted out will damage trust.

Email Tracking

NeedBridge tracks email engagement to help you understand how your communications are performing.

Tracked Metrics

  • Sent -- The email was sent from the NeedBridge email system
  • Delivered -- The email was accepted by the recipient's email server
  • Opened -- The recipient opened the email (tracked via a small image pixel; not 100% accurate due to email client privacy settings)
  • Clicked -- The recipient clicked a link in the email (such as "I can help" or a need detail link)
  • Bounced -- The email could not be delivered (invalid address, full mailbox, etc.)
  • Failed -- The email failed to send for technical reasons

Using Email Tracking Data

  • Monitor your bounce rate. A high bounce rate may indicate outdated email addresses in your volunteer list. Clean up invalid addresses periodically.
  • Track open and click rates to understand which need titles and descriptions generate the most engagement.
  • Watch for delivery failures that might indicate email configuration issues.

Troubleshooting Email Delivery

If volunteers or team members report not receiving NeedBridge emails, check the following:

Common Issues

  1. Check the spam/junk folder. NeedBridge emails sometimes land in spam, especially for new recipients. Ask the volunteer to check their spam folder and mark NeedBridge emails as "not spam."

  2. Verify the email address. Make sure the email address in the volunteer's record is correct. Even a small typo will prevent delivery.

  3. Check subscription status. The volunteer may have unsubscribed. Check their status in the volunteer directory.

  4. Check the frequency setting. A volunteer set to Weekly frequency will not receive individual need notifications during the week. Confirm their frequency matches their expectations.

  5. Check area subscriptions. Volunteers only receive notifications for needs in their subscribed areas. If a need is posted in an area the volunteer is not subscribed to, they will not see it.

  6. Check for bounces. In the admin panel or email tracking data, look for bounced emails to the volunteer's address. Bounces may indicate the email address is invalid, the mailbox is full, or the recipient's email server is rejecting messages.

  7. Email provider blocking. Some corporate or government email providers block bulk email senders. If a volunteer uses a restrictive email provider, they may need to allowlist the NeedBridge sending domain.

Recommended Actions

  • Ask volunteers to add your NeedBridge sending email address to their contacts or address book
  • Provide clear instructions during volunteer signup about what emails to expect and when
  • If delivery issues persist for a specific email domain, contact NeedBridge support for assistance with email deliverability