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Need Connect

Need Management

Staff can manage Need Campaigns from the Platform. Staff are required to:

Staff can also (optionally):

  • Create and approve other staff members as Need Type Providers if your staff helps fulfill needs for the current campaign.
  • Review Unassigned, Aging, and Outstanding needs to ensure there are sufficient providers and provider engagement for the current level of needs. Supporting views are provided on the Needs page.
  • Assign needs to approved providers.
  • Determine, execute, and review post-completion need follow up (for example, a qualitative feedback survey).
Tip: Create a Custom View and Message Template, and then use an Item Notification.

Need Fields

  • Requester Contact: The contact who expressed a need for help.
  • Postal_Code: Collected in the Connect Form for the Connect Board.
  • Need_Type_ID: Identifies which Need Type a requester expressed they need help with.
  • Other_Need: Provides additional information if "Other" was selected in the Connect Form.
  • Provider_ID: The provider assigned to this need.
  • Date_Assigned: The date a provider was assigned.
  • Target_Date: A specific date on which this need should be addressed. This is for your internal use; Need Connect doesn't currently reference this field.
  • Complete: Indicates this need has been completed.
  • Notes: Additional information related to this need.
  • Need_GUID: A unique identifier assigned to this need.

Promoting Need Connect

You can promote Need Connect however you see fit. Here are some tips and ideas to get started:

  • Email the Connect Form link to existing, active volunteers first to seed a pool of providers ready to help.
  • Email the Connect Form link to all contacts over 65 years old to encourage them to make requests for help.
  • Email the Connect Form link to all active group leaders and members to accept both requests for help and offers to help for a smaller scale start.
  • Email the Connect Form link to all active contacts in your database to accept both requests for help and offers to help when you're ready to manage a larger scale.
  • Link the Connect Form on your website home page, need request page, disaster update page, or RSS Feed.
  • Promote "from the stage" during any streaming services or recorded messages to your community.
  • Share the Connect Form link with local partner organizations to extend this service of your church into your community.

Assign "Other" Type Needs

If you allow people to submit "Other" type needs, you must manually assign them to a provider because these needs do not display on the Connect Board.

  1. In MinistryPlatform, go to Needs Management > Needs.
  2. Open the Review Unassigned - Other view.
  3. Review the Other Notes to determine the following:
    1. Is this help that is appropriate? You can remove it or follow up.
    2. Is this actually an existing Need Type? You can change the Need Type.
    3. Is there a trend? You can add a new Need Type to accommodate it.
  4. Click Edit.
  5. Assign the need to the appropriate provider.
  6. Click Save.

The need displays for the provider on My Assignments with details and contact information. We recommend you send an email to notify the provider that you manually assigned them.

Manually Assign Needs

Optionally, approved providers can self-assign or claim needs from the Connect Board. However, to facilitate need management, especially for time-sensitive needs, you may also need to manually assign them.

Important: We recommend you send an email to notify the providers when they've received an assignment manually.
  1. In MinistryPlatform, go to Needs Management > Needs.
  2. Open the Review Unassigned - All view.
  3. Click Edit.
  4. Assign the need to the appropriate provider.
  5. Enter today's date as the Date Assigned.
  6. Click Save.

The need displays for the provider on My Assignments with details and contact information.

Notify Provider of Manual Assignment

We recommend you send an email to notify providers when you manually assign them.

  1. In MinistryPlatform, select the providers that you want to notify.
  2. From the Actions menu, select Message.
  3. Enter a compelling subject line.
  4. From the Insert menu, select the Provider Assignment email template.
  5. Copy and modify the template, removing the Need Connect generated tokens.
  6. Preview the email.
  7. Click Send.
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MinistryPlatform

Last updated: October 29, 2024

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