“Data!data!data!" he cried impatiently. "I can't make bricks without clay.”
Arthur Conan Doyle - Sherlock Holmes
Wherever you are in your journey as an organisation, chances are that you will have some existing data relating to your fundraising, the services you deliver, or more generally your charity operations. In pursuit of efficient and informed work, we should bring this data into Beacon.
There are a couple of ways to get historical data into Beacon:
You can manually enter it: I can hear you screaming 😉 Obviously you can enter it manually, but you don't have the time for that. Don't worry, this isn't your only option!
You can import it: (much better!) Importing is essentially a nice easy way to get all of your records into Beacon in bulk. So let's focus on this.
Why data migration first?
Choosing the right place to start with moving to a new database is often one of the hardest decisions to make. We all know that Beacon isn't a 'one size fits all' CRM, so it's likely that we're going to need to make some changes to suit our needs at some point, so why aren't we customising the database first?
Often, the best place to start on your Beacon journey is with analysing the data and processes that you already have in place. You can then use this as your guideline for customising your Beacon account. Think:
First: I need to see what data I have and how that fits in the structure Beacon gives me 'out of the box'
Then: I'll understand where I need to customise Beacon to fit any extra things Beacon doesn't yet have a place to store.
Steps to migrating your data
Here’s a quick overview of the steps we'll follow to import your data into Beacon.
Collecting data from all storage locations
We'll start by gathering all your existing data from various sources, ensuring nothing important is left behind. This step is crucial to have a complete view of your data before moving forward.Deciding what data to migrate
Not all data needs to make the move. We'll help you with some considerations for determining which information is essential and which can be left behind. This will prevent your brand new CRM from being cluttered with unnecessary or outdated data.Moving data into Beacon standard templates
To ensure your data fits with your Beacon account, we'll show you how to transfer it into standard import templates. This step guarantees consistency in your data and compatibility Beacon's preconfigured import templates, making the actual import process much smoother.Cleaning your data
We'll then walk through some easy ways to clean your data so that your information is accurate, complete, and ready for use. It's always best to start with data in the best possible condition!Importing your data
Finally, we'll look at the steps we need to take to import your newly cleaned data into Beacon.
We will walk through each of these steps with a simple practical example to show the full migration process from start to finish.
Let’s dive in and walk through each of these steps together, starting with collecting your data from all the places it’s currently stored.
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Introduction to migration (You are here!)