Category Content: External

How can the church or company control the needs that show up on its web site?

Control, External

The organization has two options for how to hide or show particular needs:

  1. A company may want to show all needs of local charities and families within a certain radius, but screen out a couple organizations. Or it may want to connect with one food bank but not another one. The Key Contact can search local organizations that are part of the MTN network and simply click a button to hide the needs of any organization from its web site.
  2. A church may only want to show the internal needs of its members, for internal volunteers, for its own events, or for an upcoming mission trip.   Or the church may want to highlight the needs of certain local charity partners. Depending on what needs it wants to show, MTN will provide customized links to attach to “buttons” on their web site showing only those particular needs.

How does MTN help charities communicate their needs to churches and companies?

Communication/Connections, External

Churches and companies join MTN because it provides them value by saving them time and money while increasing their impact in the community.   For example, churches cannot easily communicate needs of local charities to members from the pulpit and the bulletin. MTN alleviates that administrative burden so churches and companies who are involved in the community want and need MTN.  If they do not specifically decide to “hide” the needs of a charity, those needs will show up on its web site.  Some organizations limit what local charity needs will be visible on their web site, but most do not.  For most, their objective is simply to provide people with a “window” to the outside world (of local needs).  Often times, a church or company that begins by limiting what needs are seen through their web site eventually starts to open the “window” wider once they see all the needs in the area and hear the testimonies.

 

Can church members or company employees get connected to specific internal or local charitable organizations that they have a heart for serving (i.e. youth, homeless) to be notified when they post new needs?

Communication/Connections, External

When your members/employees go through your web site to access their Account, they can select and “join” specific internal or local organizations, and will receive an email every time that charity posts a new need.  Also, whenever anyone signs up to meet a need of an organization on your web site, they will be given the option of “joining” that organization. Once approved by that organization, they will receive an email every time they post a need, with a link to see those needs. The link in that e-mail will automatically direct them to their church’s or company’s web site (or to the charity’s web site if the church or company does not have a template set up on its MTN account) to see those new needs. Only one e-mail will be sent out to each member/employee, regardless of how many needs an organization posts in one day.

How can I inform my church members/attenders or company employees that they can now find opportunities to serve in the community on our web site?

Communication/Connections, External

Getting people accustomed to the idea of searching on their church’s or company’s web site for opportunities to serve the community definitely represents culture change, but a very important one.  To assist you in communicating and encouraging your members/employees to find needs through MTN on your web site, there are several tools available for you on www.MeetTheNeed.org.  When you log in as a Key Contact, click the HELP button.

When a person registers under the name of our church, company or charity, can we validate their association with our organization?

Association with Organization, External

As soon as someone registers under the name of your organization, you will see them show up as a “Pending Member” on your organization’s Dashboard.  If they are in your database, you can automatically confirm their affiliation with your organization by changing the status of that “Pending Member” from Pending to Approved. Charities typically approve most “Pending Members” because those individuals have expressed an interest in getting email updates when they post new needs.