Reports Overview
NeedBridge is an email-powered need-matching platform that connects people in need with volunteers through nonprofit organizations. The reporting section gives your team visibility into how needs are being created, claimed, and fulfilled across your organization. This guide introduces the reports available in NeedBridge and how to use them.
Accessing Reports
To view reports, navigate to Admin > Reports from the main admin panel. The reports section is available from the left-hand sidebar once you are logged in with the appropriate role.
Who Can Access Reports
Not everyone in your organization sees the same reporting data:
- Admins have full access to all reports across every area and category in the organization.
- Coordinators see area-scoped reports. A coordinator assigned to the "Downtown" and "Eastside" areas will only see data for needs and volunteers within those areas.
- Case workers do not have access to the reports section. They can view their own caseload from the dashboard.
Available Reports
NeedBridge provides several reports, each designed to answer different questions about your operations:
Needs Analytics
Shows the lifecycle of needs in your organization -- how many are created, in progress, claimed, and completed over a given time period. Use this to understand where bottlenecks occur and how quickly needs move through each stage.
Volunteer Engagement
Tracks volunteer activity including first-time versus repeat volunteers, engagement trends, and monthly participation patterns. Helpful for planning outreach and understanding your volunteer base.
Historical Trends
Provides long-term views of your data across months and quarters. Use this to identify seasonal patterns, track growth, and compare time periods to see whether operational changes are having an effect.
Performance Metrics
Covers team and area productivity including response times, completion rates, and case worker activity. Designed to support your team by identifying where additional resources or training may help.
Impact Measurement
Summarizes community impact: total needs fulfilled, people served, volunteer contributions, and collected success stories. This report is particularly useful when communicating results to stakeholders, donors, and board members.
Filtering Your Reports
All reports share a common set of filters at the top of the page:
Date Range
Select a start and end date to define the reporting period. You can choose preset ranges like "Last 30 days," "This quarter," or "Year to date," or set custom dates.
Area Filter
Narrow results to one or more service areas. Coordinators will only see areas they are assigned to.
Category Filter
Filter by need category (for example, "Food," "Housing," "Transportation") to focus on a specific type of assistance.
Combining Filters
Filters can be combined. For example, you can view all "Food" needs in the "Northside" area for the last quarter. The report updates automatically when filters change.
Exporting Data
Each report includes an Export option, typically found in the upper-right area of the report page. Exports are generated as CSV files that you can open in Excel, Google Sheets, or any spreadsheet application.
Exported files include the same filters you have applied on screen, so what you see is what you export. This is useful for:
- Sharing data with board members or funders who do not have NeedBridge access
- Creating custom charts or presentations outside of NeedBridge
- Archiving historical data for your records
Tips for Getting Started
- Start with the Needs Analytics report to get a baseline understanding of your organization's activity.
- Use date range comparisons (for example, this month versus last month) to spot changes early.
- If a report looks empty, check your filters -- you may have a narrow area or category selected.
- Coordinate with your admin if you believe you should have access to reports but do not see the option in the sidebar.