Donorfy is a UK-based CRM that Access acquired in November 2024. It has a large number of great features but isn't as customisable as Beacon.
Use this guide to help you transfer your data from Donorfy to Beacon.
Step one: Downloading your data from Donorfy
Beacon's pre-made Donorfy import templates have been created to work with the Donorfy list system file structure.
To create a list:
Hover over the "Add" button in the top left of the content area:
Select the data you would like to export from the list section:
Beacon supports importing all of these data types from Donorfy
Give your list a name. For example, if you've selected Constituents we recommend a name such as "All-Constituents-Donorfy".
To exactly match our Donorfy import templates (and speed up this transfer process), open the Columns area and "Select All":
💡 Tip: If you only want to import a portion of your data, apply a Filter before saving.
Next, click on the "Save List and Fetch the Results" button in the top right:
Once processed:
Double-check that any applied filters worked as expected.
Download the file by selecting the download icon on the left hand side:
Make sure everything is off and then click on "Prepare Download".
Note: Downloads can sometimes take a little while!
To view the progress of the download, click "Click here for status" at the top of the page, or retrieve your file in the Download section later once it's complete.
Congratulations, you've downloaded your first piece of Donorfy Data! 🎉
Next, repeat this process for all of the types of Donorfy data that you want to import into Beacon.
Step two: Add Donorfy Templates to Beacon
Beacon has Donorfy specific import templates to streamline your migration.
To install them:
Navigate to Import Data > Manage Templates in Beacon.
Click Install from library > Donorfy.
To save time, use the “Install all Donorfy templates” option — or select templates individually.
Once done, you’re ready to upload your CSV files to Beacon. 👏
Importing Constituents
Individuals (People)
In Beacon, "Individuals" are referred to as "People". Use the "All Constituent" list you downloaded with the "Donorfy - Individual Constituent" template in Beacon.
We have mapped the following fields in the template by default:
First, Middle and Last Name
All of their Emails
All of their Addresses
All of their Phone Numbers
Date of Birth
Organisation
Contact Consent
Title
Gender
Previous Database ID (Entity Number in Donorfy)
To use the template without making any changes, head to Import Data > Run import.
🏠 Note: Address formatting in Beacon follows Royal Mail's standards. Fields may be combined or reordered.
Address One: Building Number and Address One
Address Two: Address Two and Address Description
County: County and Region
Phone & Email order of preference:
We map 'Preferred' to 'primary', and for ordering secondary it is:
Personal
Work
Other
If there are other fields you would like to import, you can go into the template and map these over.
Note: This CSV should not be used for importing Tags or Activities (see details below)
Organisations
You can import Organisations using the same CSV as Individuals. The importer will skip 'Individuals' and 'Funds'.
We have mapped the following fields in the template by default:
Organisation Name
Description (to Notes)
All Emails
All Addresses
All Phone Numbers
Previous Database ID (Entity Number in Donorfy)
Phone and email preference ordering remains the same as for Individuals.
To use the template without making any changes, head to Import Data > Run import.
Importing Tags (for Constituents)
Note: Tags can be used for lots of different things in Donorfy.
This guide covers "Attribute" Tags only - e.g. “Hiker” or “Pizza-lover”.
Beacon does not have a direct 'Tags' system like Donorfy's. Follow the steps below to make sure you can import any useful data you hold in Tags.
Create custom fields for each Tag category
For each tag category you wish to store:
Open a Person record in Beacon.
Click the ⚙️ Customise icon (Admin access required).
Create a Dropdown field for each category (e.g. “Interests”).
Our guide article here has more information on adding drop-down options if needed.
When creating your drop-down field, ensure the values in your list are the same as in Donorfy:
i.e. "Baking" and not the exported value "Interests and Hobbies_Baking".
Note: Donorfy has an "Interests and Hobbies" field. Beacon's "Interests" field could be repurposed to store this data. Simply add and remove relevant values from Donorfy
Download "Constituent" Tags from Donorfy
Make sure you downloaded the "Constituent tag list" from Donorfy in step one of this article to import Tags.
Customise the import template
Next, you'll need to make some changes to your import templates before you can import your Tags.
Head to your Sidebar > Import data > Manage templates and choose the "Donorfy – Individual Constituent (Tags)" template you installed earlier:
Scroll to the far right of the spreadsheet to get to the Smart column we have created called "SmartInterestAndHobbies".
Click "Edit smart column" to see the formula that we have created.
=IF({{{Tag Category}}} = "Interests and hobbies", SUBSTITUTE({{{Tag}}},CONCATENATE({{{Tag Category}}}, "_"), ""), "")Copy this formula for each new "tag category", replacing the category name as needed.
Map each new smart column to the corresponding custom field you created in the previous step.
💡 For “Interests and Hobbies”, you could use Beacon’s built-in “Interests” field — or map to a new custom field accordingly.
Importing Campaigns
Donorfy campaigns are straightforward to import.
Steps:
Download from the Campaign List in Donorfy.
Use the 'Donorfy - Campaigns' template in Beacon.
💡 Tips:
You may want to edit your import template to map any drop-down options like 'Campaign Type' and 'Channels'.
Donorfy’s “Dates” field uses years, not specific dates. These will not import to date fields in Beacon.
Add a note like “Imported from Donorfy” to the Notes field if unused in Donorfy
Importing Subscriptions (Stripe)
Donorfy handles subscriptions differently to Beacon. In Beacon, we use Stripe’s native subscription model, which makes in easier to:
See your subscriptions in Stripe
Make more granular changes
To import Subscriptions into Beacon, take the following steps:
1. Download Subscription Data from Donorfy
Download the "Recurring Payment Instruction List" (see above)
2. Turn off all Subscriptions in Donorfy
Disable active subscriptions in Donorfy to prevent people being double charged.
3. Set up products in Stripe
If you haven't created a Product in Stripe already for your subscriptions, follow the steps given here now.
Make sure you set it to Flat-rate pricing and Recurring.
4. Convert Donorfy data to Stripe format
First, filter for:
RecurringPaymentInstruction_InstructionStatus
Active
RecurringPaymentInstruction_CollectionMethod
Stripe
Next, change the headers using the table below:
Donorfy Header (Original) | Stripe Header (New) | Example Data |
RecurringPaymentInstruction_CollectionRef1 | customer | cus_IFudp.... |
RecurringPaymentInstruction_Amount | adhoc_items.0.amount | 10 |
RecurringPaymentInstruction_PaymentFrequency | adhoc_items.0.interval | Month |
RecurringPaymentInstruction_Currency | adhoc_items.0.currency | USD |
Then add these new columns manually:
Column | Data | Fixed, Formula or Choice |
start_date | =(VALUE(DATE(RIGHT(GK2,4),MID(GK2,FIND("/",GK2)+1,FIND("/",GK2,FIND("/",GK2)+1)-FIND("/",GK2)-1)+1,LEFT(GK2,FIND("/",GK2)-1)))-25568-1)*(24*60*60) | Formula (This implies the Transactions_DateOfLastGift is in Column GK, gets the date, add a month, and converts to a timestamp)
You'll need to drag this for each row |
adhoc_items.0.quantity | 1 | Fixed |
metadata.source | donorfy | Fixed |
automatic_tax | FALSE | Fixed |
collection_method | charge_automatically | Fixed |
cancel_at_period_end | FALSE | Fixed |
items[0].price_data.product | The Stripe Product Key created above i.e. prod_RNwUdDnm01t... | Choice |
5. Upload to Stripe
Use Stripe's billing migration guidance here.
⚠️ Double-check only active subscriptions are included!
6. Upload data to Beacon
Now that you have created the Subscriptions in Stripe, you'll want to create the Subscription records in Beacon so that all future payments are attached to them.
Use this guide article to import Subscriptions from Stripe.
Frequently asked questions
Are more guides for Record Types coming?
Yes, we are actively working on improving this guide at the moment.
How can I import Tags from non-constituents?
You can use the Column "Active Tags", however, because this includes the Tag Category, and it isn't easy to consistently data clean this, we don't have a guide or import template for this at the moment. We recommend using either Excel's or Beacon's Smart Filters to help with this - Try using Beacon AI!
Why doesn't Beacon have a Tag system?
Tags, like Labels, have a bad reputation for becoming unwieldy as you add more and more to them. Instead, we allow you to create Custom Fields on all Record Types, so you can ensure you get the exact data models that you need for your particular Charities needs.
Can I upload my Donorfy files?
Unfortunately, there are only 2 ways to get your files from Donorfy:
Download them Manually (which can take a very long time depending on your records)
Pay Donorfy to do a pull for you (which costs money)
We will be adding a template and guide for Donorfy files in the future, but you can do this manually using the Zip file upload and their CSV with mapping over. You will need an import template per associated record type though.