These three records confuse almost everyone at first, because they sound similar. The clearest way to understand them is to think about who each one is about — the way a ministry actually helps a family:
A family comes in and asks for help → that's the Request.
Your ministry meets that need for the family → that's Needs Met.
Each person in the family who was helped is counted → that's a Service Received.
Request = the family's ask → Needs Met = the need met for the family → Service Received = each person served.
1. The household asks — Request (Voucher, Referral)
A Request records what a client household needs: food, help with a utility bill, a bed for a child, transportation, and so on. It's the household's ask, before any help is given. Vouchers and Referrals are two other ways that ask gets handled (authorize goods/services, or send the family to a partner). Verifications are checks you do to support a request (income, residency) — they confirm eligibility; they aren't help themselves.
2. You meet the need — Needs Met
A Needs Met records that your ministry fulfilled the need. You add it right onto the Request, Voucher, or Referral it satisfies. A Needs Met captures:
The type of need met and the date.
A count of what was provided.
The adults and children served — you pick the household members this help reached.
Think of Needs Met as the household-level "we helped with this" record.
3. Each person is counted — Service Received
When you save a Needs Met and select the adults and children served, CoolFocus creates a Service Received for each person — automatically. A Service Received is the individual-level record (it even captures the person's age at the time). You'll see them on each client's Service Received tab and in the Service Received list.
Service Received is what answers "how many individuals did we serve?" — it feeds the Adults Served and Children Served numbers on the Affiliate Annual Report.
Maria comes in with her two children and asks for help with an overdue electric bill.
You create a Request for the household ("utility assistance").
You issue a Voucher to the utility partner, then add a Needs Met to it: type "Utilities," date today, and you select Maria and both children as served.
CoolFocus creates 3 Service Received records — one for Maria, one for each child.
Result: 1 Request, 1 Needs Met, 3 Service Received. You met one need for the household, and you served three individuals.
This is the question support hears most. Same event, two levels:
Needs Met = the need you met, once, for the household (with a count and type). Count these to see how many needs you met.
Service Received = one record per person helped. Count these to see how many individuals you served.
A family of five helped once = one Needs Met and five Service Received.
A person only shows up to be served if they're a Client and in the Household. If an adult or child isn't appearing in the "adults and children served" list, add them to the household and make sure they're marked as a client first.
Deceased or inactive people may still appear in older records — keep household membership current so your served counts stay accurate.
For "individuals served this year" reporting, count Service Received, not Needs Met — Needs Met counts needs, not people.
A Needs Met always hangs off a Request, Voucher, or Referral — create one of those first, then add the Needs Met to it.
