As an Agency Manager, you have the power to create and share exciting opportunities with your community. But when it comes to posting, it’s important to know the difference between Volunteer Needs and Events—because they serve different purposes!

A Need is a volunteer opportunity where you’re actively looking for people to help. Volunteers sign up to contribute their time and later submit hours for the work they’ve done. Think of Needs as your call for action—whether it’s staffing a food pantry, mentoring youth, or assisting at a local shelter.

Want some more clarification about what is a Need vs an Event? Here is a list of common Needs that Agencies might post:

Notice that all of these ask for volunteers to actively participate!

An Event is something you share with the community that people can attend as guests or participants—but not as volunteers. Since no volunteer work is required, attendees do not submit hours for events. Events can include fundraisers, community celebrations, awareness campaigns, and more.

Want some more clarification about what is an Event vs a Need? Here is a list of common Events that Agencies might post:

Notice that all of these ask for folks to attend to celebrate or learn. They are not asking volunteers to complete a task!

While Needs and Events are different, they can complement each other! If you're hosting an event that requires volunteers, you can post a Need and link it in your Event description. This way, people who are interested in attending can also see how they can get involved as a volunteer.

By strategically linking Needs to Events, you can boost engagement and recruit more volunteers while keeping your community informed!

Want to boost your volunteer Needs when sharing information about your scheduled events? Just link the Needs in the description for that event! Here's where it appears to the volunteers:

You can post individual links like in the example or you can copy the List of Public Needs link from your Needs area and paste it into the event description. The List of Public Needs link takes the user to all of your public Needs.

To copy and share a list of your current Needs:

1. Go to My Agency > Needs.

2. Scroll to the bottom of the Manage Needs page until you see Needs Links.

3. Copy the List of Public Needs link.

4. Go to Events and click Edit for the event you want to update.

5. Click the Insert/Edit Link button in the text editor.

6. Paste the link in the URL field.

7. You may need to update the Text to display field.

8. Be sure to click Update Event if adding to an existing event. You can always add links when creating a new event too!

You can also just copy the share link for an individual Need as shown in the example. Inserting the individual links is the same process as inserting the List of Public Needs link.

When volunteers visit the profile page for your posted events, they'll be able to click on the links you've shared to view Needs associated with that event!

The steps are the same for inserting links in Need descriptions as they are for event descriptions. You can share links to your scheduled events in your Need descriptions. This can be added to existing Needs or when creating a new Need.

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