Needs Management

NeedBridge is an email-powered need-matching platform for nonprofits -- foster care agencies, churches, disaster relief organizations, and community groups. A "need" is the central object in NeedBridge: it represents a specific request for help posted by a case worker on behalf of someone the organization serves. This guide covers everything about creating, managing, and tracking needs from start to finish.

What Is a Need?

A need is a request that your organization posts so volunteers can see it and respond. Examples include:

  • A foster family that needs diapers and wipes for a newborn
  • A single mom who needs a ride to a medical appointment on Thursday
  • A family displaced by a house fire that needs beds, blankets, and kitchen supplies
  • A church food pantry looking for 10 volunteers to help sort donations this Saturday

When a case worker posts a need, volunteers in the matching service area receive an email notification. A volunteer clicks a link in the email to claim the need -- no login or account required. The case worker then coordinates with the volunteer, and the organization tracks the outcome.

Need Components

Every need includes the following fields. Some are required; others are optional but recommended.

Title

The title is the first thing volunteers see in their email and on the public needs page. Keep it short, specific, and action-oriented.

  • Good: "Family of 4 needs groceries this week"
  • Good: "Ride needed to doctor appointment Thursday 3/15"
  • Avoid: "Help needed" (too vague)
  • Avoid: "Groceries, diapers, formula, clothes, shoes, bedding, and kitchen supplies for family" (too long)

Description

The description provides additional detail about the need. This is where you explain the context, quantities, timing, and any special instructions. See the "Privacy Guidelines for Descriptions" section below for important information about protecting the people you serve.

Category

Categories classify the type of need -- for example, Groceries, Transportation, Clothing, or Housing. Your organization defines its own categories in Settings. Volunteers can filter needs by category, and your reports break down data by category.

Area

The area is the geographic service region the need is associated with. Volunteers subscribe to specific areas, and they only receive notifications for needs in those areas. Examples of areas include cities, counties, zip codes, or neighborhoods.

Urgency Level

Every need has an urgency level that affects how it appears to volunteers and how notifications behave. See the "Urgency Levels" section below for full details.

Images

You can attach one or more images to a need. Images help volunteers understand what is needed -- for example, a photo of the specific car seat model a family needs, or a photo showing the condition of donated furniture. Images appear on the need detail page and in some email notifications.

Links

You can add external links to a need. This is useful for linking to a product page, a registry, a sign-up form, or any other external resource that volunteers might need.

Due Date

An optional date by which the need should be fulfilled. Due dates appear on the need card and trigger reminder emails as the date approaches. Use due dates for time-sensitive needs like appointments, events, or seasonal requests.

Need Type

Each need has a type that describes the nature of the request:

  • Physical Item -- A tangible item like groceries, clothing, furniture, or supplies
  • Financial Assistance -- A monetary need such as help with a bill, gift card, or fund
  • People Needed -- A request for volunteer labor, like help moving, sorting donations, or staffing an event

The need type helps volunteers quickly identify whether they can help and helps your organization categorize its impact in reports.

Quantity

For needs that involve countable items or a specific number of volunteers, you can set a quantity. This enables partial claims, where multiple volunteers can each claim a portion of the total need. For example, if a family needs 10 bags of groceries, three different volunteers could claim 4, 3, and 3 respectively.

The Need Lifecycle

Every need moves through a series of statuses from creation to completion. Understanding this lifecycle helps case workers manage their workload and helps coordinators monitor organizational performance.

Standard Lifecycle

Created --> Open --> Claimed --> Completed
  1. Open -- The need has been posted and is visible to volunteers. Notifications have been (or will be) sent based on volunteer subscription preferences.
  2. Claimed -- A volunteer (or multiple volunteers for multi-claim needs) has indicated they can help. The case worker has been notified and can now coordinate with the volunteer.
  3. Completed -- The need has been fulfilled. The case worker has marked it complete and optionally recorded the outcome.

Additional Statuses

  • Cancelled -- The case worker or an admin has cancelled the need. This might happen if the family no longer needs the item, the situation changed, or the need was posted in error. Cancelled needs are removed from volunteer-facing pages and stop generating notifications.
  • Expired -- The need passed its due date without being fulfilled. Expired needs can be reposted if still relevant.
  • Denied -- If your organization has the need approval workflow enabled, a coordinator or admin has rejected the need before it was published.
  • Pending Claim -- A transitional state used when a claim is being processed.

Status Transitions

Open Claimed Volunteer (via email or website) Volunteer clicks "I can help" Open Cancelled Case worker, coordinator, admin Need is no longer relevant Open Expired System (automatic) Due date passes without fulfillment Claimed Completed Case worker, coordinator, admin Need has been fulfilled Claimed Open Case worker, coordinator, admin Volunteer unclaims or cannot fulfill Claimed Cancelled Case worker, coordinator, admin Need is no longer relevant

Creating a Need Step by Step

Follow these steps to post a new need:

  1. Navigate to the Needs section. From your admin dashboard, go to the Needs page and click the button to create a new need.
  2. Enter the title. Write a clear, specific title that tells volunteers exactly what is needed.
  3. Write the description. Provide enough detail for a volunteer to understand the need and decide if they can help. Follow the privacy guidelines below.
  4. Select a category. Choose the category that best fits this need.
  5. Select an area. Choose the service area where this need is located. This determines which volunteers receive the notification.
  6. Set the urgency level. Choose Critical, High, Medium, or Low based on the guidance below.
  7. Choose the need type. Select Physical Item, Financial Assistance, or People Needed.
  8. Set the quantity (optional). If multiple items or volunteers are needed, enter the total quantity.
  9. Add images (optional). Upload any photos that help illustrate the need.
  10. Add links (optional). Include URLs to product pages, registries, or sign-up forms.
  11. Set a due date (optional). If the need is time-sensitive, add a due date.
  12. Review and publish. Check all the details, then publish the need. If your organization has the approval workflow enabled, the need will go to a coordinator for review before it becomes visible to volunteers.

Urgency Levels

Urgency levels tell volunteers how time-sensitive a need is and directly affect how notifications are delivered.

Critical

Use Critical for emergencies and situations that require an immediate response.

Examples:

  • A family was just evicted and needs emergency shelter tonight
  • A foster placement is happening in the next few hours and the family needs a car seat and diapers immediately
  • A disaster has damaged a family's home and they need immediate supplies

Notification impact: Critical needs are emailed to ALL subscribed volunteers in the matching area, regardless of their notification frequency setting. A volunteer who normally receives a weekly digest will get an immediate email for a critical need. Use this level sparingly -- overusing Critical reduces its effectiveness.

High

Use High for urgent needs that should be fulfilled within a day or two.

Examples:

  • A family's refrigerator broke and they need groceries that will not spoil
  • A child starting school on Monday needs a backpack and supplies by Friday
  • A single parent needs a ride to a job interview tomorrow

Notification impact: High-urgency needs are delivered on the normal notification schedule but are displayed prominently with visual indicators in emails and on the website.

Medium

Use Medium for needs that are important but not time-critical. This is the most common urgency level.

Examples:

  • A family could use help with winter clothing before the season starts
  • A foster family needs a dresser for a child's room
  • An organization needs volunteers for an event in two weeks

Notification impact: Standard notification delivery based on each volunteer's frequency preference.

Low

Use Low for needs that are nice to have or have a flexible timeline.

Examples:

  • A family would appreciate some toys for the kids
  • A community center is collecting books for a summer reading program
  • An organization is looking for occasional volunteer tutors

Notification impact: Standard notification delivery. Low-urgency needs may be grouped with other needs in digest emails.

Privacy Guidelines for Descriptions

The people your organization serves deserve to have their dignity and privacy protected. Follow these guidelines when writing need descriptions:

  • Never include full names. Use first names only, or use descriptions like "a family of 4" or "a single mom with two kids."
  • Never include addresses. If location matters, describe it generally: "family in the North County area."
  • Never include personal identifiers. Do not share Social Security numbers, case numbers, dates of birth, or any other identifying information.
  • Focus on the need, not the circumstances. Volunteers need to know what is needed, not the full backstory. "Family of 4 needs groceries this week" is better than a detailed explanation of why the family cannot afford groceries.
  • Do not include sensitive medical, legal, or financial details. Keep descriptions focused on what the volunteer can provide.
  • Get permission before posting any details about a family's situation, even anonymized details.

Editing Published Needs

Case workers can edit a need after it has been published. Common reasons to edit include:

  • Updating the description with new details (for example, specific sizes or quantities)
  • Changing the due date
  • Adjusting the urgency level if the situation changes
  • Adding images or links

When you edit a published need, volunteers who have already been notified will not automatically receive a new notification about the changes. If the changes are significant, consider adding a note in the description or reaching out to volunteers who have already claimed the need.

Certain fields cannot be changed after a need has been claimed, depending on your organization's configuration. For example, you may not be able to change the area once a volunteer in that area has claimed the need.

Duplicate Handling

Before posting a new need, check whether a similar need already exists. Posting duplicate needs for the same family or situation splits volunteer attention and makes tracking harder.

Tips for avoiding duplicates:

  • Search existing needs by title, description, or category before creating a new one.
  • Filter by area to see what is already posted in the relevant service region.
  • Coordinate with your team. If multiple case workers serve the same families, establish a process for who posts needs.
  • Use the quantity field instead of posting multiple separate needs for the same item. If a family needs 5 bags of groceries, post one need with a quantity of 5 rather than 5 separate needs.

Need Approval Workflow

Some organizations enable a need approval workflow to ensure needs are reviewed before they become visible to volunteers. When this workflow is enabled:

  1. A case worker creates a need as usual.
  2. Instead of being published immediately, the need enters a Pending Approval status.
  3. A coordinator or admin reviews the need. They can approve, reject, or request changes.
  4. If approved, the need moves to Open and notifications are sent to volunteers.
  5. If rejected (denied), the need moves to Denied and the case worker is notified.

The approval workflow is useful for organizations that want to:

  • Ensure privacy guidelines are followed before a need goes public
  • Maintain consistent formatting and categorization
  • Prevent duplicate or inappropriate needs from reaching volunteers
  • Let coordinators review needs before they go to the volunteer community

If your organization does not use the approval workflow, needs move directly to Open when published.

Filtering and Sorting Needs

The needs list in the admin panel provides several ways to find the needs you are looking for:

Filters

  • Status -- Filter by Open, Claimed, Completed, Cancelled, Expired, or all statuses
  • Urgency -- Filter by Critical, High, Medium, or Low
  • Category -- Filter by any of your organization's categories
  • Area -- Filter by service area (coordinators default to seeing their assigned areas)
  • Case Worker -- Filter by the case worker who posted the need
  • Date range -- Filter by creation date, due date, or completion date

Sorting

  • Newest first -- See the most recently created needs at the top (default)
  • Oldest first -- See the oldest needs at the top, useful for finding stale needs
  • Urgency -- Sort by urgency level to focus on the most critical needs first
  • Due date -- Sort by upcoming due dates to prioritize time-sensitive needs

Saved Views

Coordinators and admins often use specific filter combinations regularly. Bookmark or note the filter settings you use most often so you can quickly return to them.

Best Practices

Titles

  • Start with who needs help: "Family of 3 needs..." or "Single dad needs..."
  • Include the specific item or service: "...winter coats (sizes 4T, 6, and 8)"
  • Add timing if relevant: "...by Friday 3/15"
  • Keep it under 80 characters so it displays well in email subject lines

Descriptions

  • Lead with the most important information
  • List specific items, sizes, quantities, and any preferences
  • Include logistics: delivery vs. pickup, available times, any access instructions
  • Note what is NOT needed if that helps avoid confusion
  • End with any special instructions for the volunteer

General Tips

  • Post needs as early as possible to give volunteers time to respond
  • Use the correct urgency level -- save Critical for genuine emergencies
  • Update or cancel needs promptly when circumstances change
  • Check back on claimed needs to make sure the volunteer and family connected
  • Record outcomes when needs are completed to help your organization measure its impact