Many new Golden users may have existing data sets from other systems that they want to import or migrate into Golden. Although there are some situations in which this data is incompatible with Golden (or extraneous), we encourage new Golden users to get started by importing their past data sets.
Golden has 2 options for Data Migration:
Self-Serve Imports
Available to: all Golden users
Before you import any data, we highly recommend creating your volunteer Opportunities first.
With "Self-Serve" data uploads, you can:
Items to keep in mind:
- If you upload new volunteers, Golden will automatically send them an email prompting them to set up their password. This is extremely helpful in getting them access to the right Opportunities.
- You'll notice that you can't upload mailing addresses, phone numbers or other information yourself. We recommend asking for this info in the "Extras" section of Opportunity Creation. This guarantees you get up to date info from your volunteers.
Enterprise Imports / Migrations (additional charges may apply)
Available to: contact support@goldenvolunteer.com for a price quote. Please include an example and description of the data you're interested in migrating to Golden.
Before you import any data, we highly recommend creating your volunteer Opportunities first.
With Enterprise Imports / Migrations, you can:
- Receive a 1-hour consulting session with the Golden engineering team
- Access dataset formatting services if needed
- Perform test uploads
- Upload existing volunteer Opportunities
- Migrate current Opportunity registrations from your existing system into Golden
- Ex. if you have volunteers signed up for activities next month, you can move those sign-ups into Golden, and they'll get reminders emails from Golden etc.
- Upload participant (i.e. volunteer) contact records and profiles
- Upload participant data with custom data points (not Golden-native data points)
- Add participants to "Groups"
- Migrate past volunteer hours and credentials
- Upload lists of partner organizations (both corporate and non-profit)
Items to keep in mind:
- Golden will provide templates for you to match your datasets to or Golden can provide dataset formatting as a service.
What Data Can Golden Import
Golden can only import data that matches fields already in Golden, unless custom data fields have been scoped as part of an Enterprise migration.
Certain data fields are required for all imports. Missing "key data" may result in specific records not being imported. These include:
- For Participants:
- First name
- Last name
- Email address (placeholders can be used if necessary)
- For past hours:
- Opportunity Name
- Opportunity Date
- Start Time
- Hours performed OR End time
- For partner organizations (either corporate or non-profit):
- Partner Name
- Preferred: partner contact email
- For Opportunities:
- Full content matching the templates provided to you.
Note: Golden uses email addresses as the unique identifier. Please highlight cases in which participants may share email addresses so that Golden can work accordingly.
Before Migrating your Data...
- Check for inaccuracies. Golden is not responsible for inaccurate data that you provide.
- Check for duplicate participant records. This can cause inadvertent problems.
- Double check that you actually need the data! For instance...
- Golden does not recommend importing volunteers UNLESS those volunteers need access to Private Opportunities (aka you're adding them to specific Groups).
Questions? Need data templates? Don't hesitate to contact support@goldenvolunteer.com.