❖ Heads up! This article is intended for Agency Managers. If you're a Site Manager, please click here.
As an Agency Manager, you can create and share exciting volunteer Needs and events with your community! Needs are not the same thing as an event. So, what's the difference?
- Volunteer Needs are the opportunities you post for your Agency when you're looking for volunteers to help out.
- Volunteers submit hours for Needs that they've contributed their time to.
- An event is a posting you share with your community for volunteers and non-volunteers to attend as guests or participants—not to volunteer.
- Volunteers don't submit hours for events since these are just postings where you invite people to attend—not volunteer.
They can be closely related since you can link your Needs in the description fields of events. In other words, you can boost your volunteer Needs when sharing information about your scheduled events! Here we cover:
Linking Needs in event descriptions
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.
How to link Needs in an event description
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.
✏️ Quick tip: You can also insert a link to a piece of text you've already typed into the Description field! You just have to highlight the text you want to add the link to and click the Insert/Edit Link.
8. Be sure to click Update Event if adding to an existing event.
- You can always add links when creating a new event too!
- Click here for more information about creating events as an agency manager.
ⓘ So you know: 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.
The volunteer perspective
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! 
Sharing event links in Need descriptions
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.
- Click here for more information about creating Needs as an agency manager.
ⓘ So you know: You must copy the share link from the front end of the site for events. 
Examples of Needs
Want some more clarification about what is a Need vs an Event? Here is a list of common Needs that Agencies might post:
- Plant in the community garden
- Maintain a local hiking trail
- Play with shelter puppies
- Pack backpacks with food
- Table at a nonprofit fair
Notice that all of these ask for volunteers to actively participate!
Examples of Events
Want some more clarification about what is an Event vs a Need? Here is a list of common Events that Agencies might post:
- Community block party—come celebrate with us!
- Join us for our annual gala
- Want to learn about invasive plants? Come to our workshop!
Notice that all of these ask for folks to attend to celebrate or learn. They are not asking volunteers to complete a task!