On the final screen for scheduling families, users print a bar-coded confirmation for the family to take with them and bring back the day of their appointment. This is the family’s reminder of where and when to return and what items/services they will receive. This will also help ensure an accurate record of what items/services are to be provided the day of the appointment.

On the date the family returns for their visit, volunteers at the distribution site scan the bar-coded sheet that was provided to the family, which will automatically pull up the family’s information and their scheduled visit(s). If the family forgot to bring or lost the bar coded sheet, the volunteer can search for them by name, SSN#, driver’s license, address, etc. using the Family Search box. Then they Check In the family next to appropriate appointment and confirm the items or services the family is to receive that day.

Yes. Volunteers cannot access your private, secure Shared Case Management Dashboard. However, Meet The Need has developed a separate interface for volunteers to book individuals and families to receive help in the future. First, to request logins for your volunteers, call Meet The Need at 813/527-0222 or email support@meettheneed.org. Then, pull up http://www.meettheneed.org/scheduler/ on the device they are using to schedule families, select the distribution site from the drop down list in the top right corner, and have them click Add New Family or type in the individual’s name or other identifying information in the text search box.

Before booking a family, each volunteer must search for the family requesting to be scheduled to see if they are already booked at another distribution site. This prevents double or triple booking families at various locations for the same drive. Searches may be done by any criteria provided by the family, including name, Social Security Number, Driver’s License, address, etc.   If the family does not appear in the search, the volunteer may add the new family and enter their details for that family, including household members.

Then the volunteer can search for available days and times available to book the families at locations where they are authorized to do so and indicate the types and quantity of items they should be given.

Meet The Need has built the first known collaborative Scheduling System for charity drives. It helps prevent double-booking of families for the same drive at different distribution sites because each organization’s Key Contact can see that family is already scheduled elsewhere.

As a Key Contact, you can book families to come back at a later date to receive items on particular dates as follows:

Create Schedule

• To create the overall schedule and parameters for scheduling families for the drive, click on Add/View Families, then select the Scheduled Visit Management tab
• Based on the number of volunteers and items available at each distribution site, the drive administrator can set up a calendar specifying for each site:
  • Dates available to give out items
  • Times available
  • How many families can be seen (checked in) each hour

Schedule Families

• Authorized leaders or volunteers from various schools, agencies, churches, etc. participating in the drive can book a family into an available time slot by:

1. For Administrators – For a new family, click Search Network/Add Family, run the search for that family in the system, fill out the details about the family, submit that form, and then click Schedule Future Visit. For a family already in your database, go to Add/View Families on your Dashboard and click the Details button to the right of the family’s name, then select the Visits tab and click on the Schedule Future Visit (Watch Instructional Video)
2. For Volunteers (who can’t access your Shared Case Management Dashboard) – Call 813/527-0222 or email support@meettheneed.org to request logins for your volunteers. Then, pull up http://www.meettheneed.org/scheduler/ on the device they are using to schedule families, select the distribution site from the drop down list in the top right corner, and have them click Add New Family or type in the individual’s name or other identifying information in the text search box. (Watch Instructional Video)

• Before booking a family, each volunteer must search for the family requesting to be scheduled to see if they are already booked at another distribution site. This prevents double or triple booking families at various locations. Searches may be done by any criteria provided by the family, including name, Social Security Number, Driver’s License, address, etc.   If the family does not appear in the search, the volunteer may add the new family and enter their details for that family, including household members.
• Then the volunteer can search for available days and times available to book the families at locations where they are authorized to do so and indicate the types and quantity of items they should be given.

Check in Families

• On the final screen for scheduling families, users print a bar-coded confirmation for the family to take with them and bring back the day of their appointment. This is the family’s reminder of where and when to return and what items/services they will receive. This will also help ensure an accurate record of what items/services are to be provided the day of the appointment.
• On the date the family returns for their visit, volunteers at the distribution site scan the bar-coded sheet that was provided to the family, which will automatically pull up the family’s information and their scheduled visit(s). If the family forgot to bring or lost the bar coded sheet, the volunteer can search for them by name, SSN#, driver’s license, address, etc. using the Family Search box. Then they Check In the family next to appropriate appointment and confirm the items the family is receiving that day.

If you cannot help the family today, you can communicate their needs (privately, securely and anonymously) to see if someone in your network can help. When you post a need: 1) It shows up on your website and Facebook page (if you have set up those buttons/links), 2) It will also appear on the web sites of local churches and businesses using Meet The Need (if they have the appropriate buttons and have not chosen to hide your needs), and 3) Emails go out to those interested in your organization showing them those needs. Those who want to help the family can sign up through any of those options.

To post a need:

• For a family you have not helped before, click Search Network/Add Family, run the search for that family in the system, fill out the details about the family, submit that form, which will then take you directly to the Search Offers & Post Needs
• For a family already on your account, go to the Details button to the right of the family’s name, select the Needs tab and click Add Need.

Before posting a need, Meet The Need requires that you first search the offers currently in the system. There is no reason to post a need if someone has already submitted an offer to provide those goods or services. You must select from all four of the drop down boxes down to the Subcategory level in order to Search Offers and/or Post Needs. In the event that the system locates an offer for that particular need, simply select Match with this Offer, which will send out e-mails to the individual who made the offer with contact information for the Key Contact of your organization and instructions for how to meet that need. If no offers are found or if the offer does not match well with the need you want to post, you may click the Post Need button to continue with posting the need. The Post Needs form will appear showing the Category and Subcategory information you entered in the Search Offers box, placing the need in the proper Subcategory. Then you may enter the need into the system by filling out information about that need.

You can show the needs of families or individuals on your web site and/or partner sites (or Facebook pages) and let people sign up to help. To learn more about showing needs, see the videos for the Creating Your Links and Creating Your Template.

Click the Details button to the right of the family’s name, then select the Visits tab.

Only the originating organization that entered the family has access to update the family’s record due to privacy standards. We recommend that you not duplicate the record, but contact Meet The Need to request that the originating organization update their records.

If you are the original organization that entered that family you have access to the family’s complete record. On the Add/View Families button on your web site, click Search our Families and use the drop down to select the search criteria. Once you locate the person, click the Details button to the right of that family’s name to see all contact, demographic, employment, household and other information you entered about the family.

If you originally entered the information about the family and their household members into the system, they will automatically be assigned to your organization and you will see their personal details, assistance history and need details. If another organization originally entered that person into the system, you can still perform all 3 primary functions for the family using the system – record visits, post needs, and schedule visits.

If your organization helped a family or individual today and want to record all information about the family and services and items you provided, first consider whether or not you have assisted them in the past.

• For an existing family in your database, on the Add/View Families button on your web site, click Search our Families and use the drop down to select the search criteria. Once you locate the person, click the Details button to the right of that family’s name, go to the Visits tab and click Add Current Visit. Fill out the information in the Wizard for entering the type of assistance you provided, quantity, referrals, faith decisions, reasons why they came in, and other details about the visit.
• For a new family, click Search Network/Add Family, run the search for that family in the system, fill out the details about the family on the form, then click Add Current Visit.

Yes, click the Add/View Families button on your Dashboard and then select the Family Report tab to see the number of items or services of each type you provided to individuals or families by gender, age, race, etc. within any time period.