If you already use groups/lists in your system and want to learn more, why not come to our bitesize training session next Tuesday afternoon? It will cover creating groups/lists based on activity records, for example your work or referral records, in a number of ways. Have you ever wanted a list of everyone who attended a particular workstream in the last year, or all women in a postcode area who were referred to you in 2019? We can show you how.
We will also look at creating data views based on your activity records, so that you can find the details of what people have attended, or the outcome scores of everyone who attended your advice sessions, for example.
You can see the full outline here.
If you’d like to take your reporting to the next level, get in touch. The training will take place from 2 – 4 p.m. on Tuesday 14th July, and places cost £40 + VAT per person, including a half-hour individual follow-up session for each attendee.
We’ve recently added a new notification which appears as a pink box at the bottom of your screen when a record is being saved. This is a small enhancement designed to show you what’s going on—and it’s more informative than the whirring wheel! It will tell you when your record is saving, and once saving is complete you may also see a confirmation of the new ID number.
Eagle-eyed system administrators out there may have spotted a new option the main system admin menu: Manage group and data view templates (although you may well call ‘groups’ ‘lists’).
This lets you save a group / data-view pairing as a template so you can quickly view the results. Templates will be listed in the main menu under groups (or lists) > view. Clicking on them there will immediately open up the group and data view.
So if you’ve got some groups and views that you use regularly in combination, setting up some templates will save you a few clicks.
When you’re working from home, communication becomes even more important than usual.
On Wednesday 24th June at 10 a.m. we will be hosting an open Zoom session where we’ll talk about communications in Lamplight, including using the Communications Module. We’ll be looking at sending emails and letters, using groups and starting a communication from the work record. We’ll also be explaining the new Word templates that let you set up your letter or document combining Microsoft Word formatting with Lamplight merge fields.
This session will take around 45 minutes, and is recommended for system admins.
If you’d like to come, send us an email and we’ll let you know the meeting details nearer the time.
If you couldn’t make it to our last video chat on remote working, database operators and security, why not take a look?
The Charity Commission and Fraud Advisory Panel have come together to offer advice on common ways charities could be affected by fraud during Covid-19. They’ve produced a free webinar on what to watch out for and how to stay safe. It covers common email frauds, risks associated with staff and volunteers, basic financial controls, and how to report fraud.
If you’re thinking about security, don’t forget to sign up to our Zoom web chat next Wednesday, 20th May, at 10 a.m. We’ll be looking at some Lamplight system admin decisions, like adding new database operators and system admins, locking accounts, two factor authentication, log in policies to restrict access to certain times or IP addresses, time outs and more.
Just drop us a line if you’re interested, and we’ll send you the details.
In the past few weeks many people have started to work from home for the first time. Chances are you’ve been getting systems up and running from new locations, working out the best way to do things that seemed simple in the office. You might have staff accessing Lamplight from many different places, which could have implications for your data.
On the 20th May at 10 a.m. we’re having a video chat about what you can do to help keep your system secure even when you have remote workers. This will be a Zoom chat for up to 45 minutes, where we’ll cover things like lockouts, two factor authentication, adding new database operators, log in policies, time outs and more.
If you’d like to join in, send us an email and we’ll let you know the meeting details nearer the time. If there’s something on this topic that we’re not covering but that you would like to know more about, please tell us that too and we’ll do our best to include it.
We’ve switched on our accounts system (Xero) today. Your invoices and accounts email will look slightly different, but the amounts shouldn’t. If you pay be direct debit or standing order these payments should still go through as normal.
If you do have any queries about your account please get in touch with Sue at accounts@lamplightdb.co.uk.
We’ve decided to make the communications module available for free to any customer that needs to add it to their system, for at least the next 3 months. We hope this will be helpful if you are changing the way you work and need to stay in touch with your service users and supporters in different ways. We’ve done a short introductory video to help you get it set up.
Other changes we’ve made:
You can add modules to your system via the system admin menu > Customise Lamplight > Add or remove modules.
(Update: 2/4/20): The various Lottery funders have announced funding. The Heritage fund has funding for existing or recent grantees. Sport England is doing the same, and also has a fund for activities to help people stay active. The Community Fund has a Covid-19 page with updates on what they are doing.
Still nothing sector specific from Government, but some hints that something’s coming.
Civil Society has a longer list of funders, including these and other sources (added 27/03)
We’ve seen a few sources of funding for charities affected by Coronavirus and/or working with people directly affected (updated 23/3):
Martin Lewis / Money Saving Expert – £5k – £20k for poverty relief. Deadline 25th March, funding to be released quickly.
Watch the National Emergencies Trust – currently raising funds, to be distributed through Community Foundations. Again this is to support work supporting people directly affected (guidelines on their site).
The Mayor of London and City Bridge Trust have launched an emergency fund to support charities directly affected – sign up on their site for updates next week. The Steve Morgan Foundation is offering funding for charities in Liverpool, Cheshire and North Wales. Local Waitrose stores have access to £1m emergency funding for local groups. The Oxfordshire Community Foundation has some local funding available from the Indigo Trust.
NCVO are lobbying for additional support for the sector and they have also made their KnowledgeBase resources available for free. Also worth watching for volunteering support.
Updated 17/3/2020
In the light of yesterday’s advice from Government we will (from 17/3) not be carrying out on-site visits except in exceptional circumstances.
Working remotely.
We have been using video conferencing effectively with customers – we’re liking zoom.us and Amazon Chime, and we still use Google Hangouts. You don’t need to install any software at your end – it works in the Chrome web browser pretty well. There is extra functionality if you do install the software, though, and Zoom offer a free usage plan.
We are closing our offices this week and are working from home, so you’ll still be able to get in touch as normal if you need to.
Open Training
We have cancelled the planned open training day in London and are providing alternative training for participants that had booked on it. We will review future dates nearer the date in light of the situation at the time.
Official guidance
The Government guidance for businesses and employers is at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-to-employers-and-businesses-about-covid-19/guidance-for-employers-and-businesses-on-covid-19 Guidance for charities from NCVO is available at https://www.ncvo.org.uk/practical-support/information/coronavirus
Review
We will review this policy at least every few days as the situation develops and update it as necessary.