When you create a new event, Meet The Need automatically generates the link you will need to show the needs of that event and allow people to “shop” those needs and sign up to meet them. You can access your event link(s) by clicking on View Events & Reports on your Dashboard.   To the right of each event, click the Create Link button, copy the URL provided, and attach it to the event button on your website (telling people to sign up by clicking that button). You can also email the link to your database and event partners.

Do not reuse an old event from a prior year and attempt to update the information. Doing so will assign people who signed up for this year’s event to last year’s event. In other words, if you change the dates of shifts that took place last year to this year, commitments will be blended across the two years.

We recommend simply copying information from the old event that you need to create the new event. You can access your past events by selecting Inactive on the Status drop down on your View Events & Reports.

Yes, you can add a logo to your event that will show up on your search page with your event needs. The logo will also enable your event to be easily recognized on MTN pages appearing on other web site that show local needs and events. When create your event, you will see an Add Logo option to choose an image file to upload from your computer. Square images work best and images larger than 68×68 pixels will be scaled down.

You can create Categories for the types of needs you want to post (e.g. by location, by skills, by people groups being served, etc.) for both volunteer and/or goods needs. How you choose to set up subcategories depends on how your event is organized and how you foresee volunteers predominantly searching for your needs. See examples below.

• By Location: work site, site 2, site 3, etc.
• By Skills: parking, food, entertainment, etc.
• By People Groups: elderly, children, single parents, etc.

We recommend using the Event module (versus Volunteer/Resource Management system) if needs are for a specific, well defined time period and not expected to be ongoing. Also, the Event module works well if you would like to show search results by day and shift (for each day) with simple check boxes next to each time slot.

On your Dashboard, go to the Event module and click Create Event. Type in the name, description and upload a logo for your event (if applicable). Determine what categories of needs you will have for your event (e.g. projects, locations, job skills, or people groups) and enter those category names. After you have created your event you will be taken directly to your Event Summary page to post needs for the event (under each category you created). On that same page, you can edit the event and get your link (to show needs and take signups for your event). An event Dashboard is also set up for you when you create the event to see commitments and reports for your event, which you can access by clicking on the name of the event on the Event Summary page or by selecting the event from the Select Other Organization drop down next to the Dashboard icon on the top right of your Dashboard.

Click here to read MTN Quick Start Guide for Events

Our Event Management system allows you to…

• create your own event from your Meet The Need Dashboard
• create customized categories of goods and services needed for the event
• post volunteer/goods needs into those categories you created
• track volunteers and goods conveniently with comprehensive reports
• enable users to search and adopt needs quickly and easily

See MTN’s User Instructions for Event Module.