Getting started - To do's for new customers

In this article:

There are a few simple things you can do to get the most out of your new LGL account. Here are our top suggestions for what to do first when preparing to use your LGL account.

Personalize your account

Just for fun, upload your logo, select your site colors, or choose your preferred navigation style. Go to the Settings tab > Subscription Settings > Look & feel.

In Settings > Subscription Settings > General, you can set your preferences for the following items (click on any linked item below to learn more on that topic):

Set your time zone

From any page in your LGL account, click the My profile link in the upper right of your screen.

Then select the Edit general info button and set your time zone.

Note that the default value is East Coast. Setting the correct time zone is helpful because it will put the correct time stamp on activities you perform in LGL.

Create customized categories

Create customized categories to track constituent and gift attributes that are specific to your organization. There are many different types of menu options that you can customize in LGL. To get started, visit the Settings > Menu Items page. New categories can be added and values for each category can be added, re-ordered or de-activated. For a complete review of managing categories, visit our Knowledge Base article, Customizing the Constituent, Gift, and other menus.

Add your own constituent record

From the Home screen in your account, click the +Add Constituent button and choose the Add Individual option. Select the Full Form (versus the Short Form) option and enter as much of your data as you can. It isn't necessary to complete every field, by any means. But add at least your name and contact information and any categories (like Groups) that pertain to you.

Doing this will give you a great introduction to the data fields that are available in a constituent record.

Upload your constituent and gift data

Upload our sample/test data to begin testing out LGL right away. This brief video shows you how:

Or, upload your own constituent and gift data in bulk using the Flex Importer tool, which allows you to import your historical data into your database. Check this list of fields that can be imported into LGL, as well as this how-to article on using the Flex Importer.

Here are some common kinds of files you can import using the Flex Importer:

• Constituent contact information from an existing donor database or other data source 

• Constituent and gift information from your online payment processor; for example, PayPal, Google Checkout, or another online donation provider 

• Constituent and gift information from QuickBooks (transaction, client, and account information) 

• Event participation and giving information from an event management product like EventBrite 

• Volunteering information from any source

Set up letter templates

Letter templates are used in gift acknowledgments, appeal letters, or even invitations.

LGL allows for as many different types of templates as you need for acknowledgment letters, appeal letters, envelopes, and labels. Note that it is best to set up a template for each type of letter that you can then later associate with a gift or list of constituents for a mailing. To get started, go to Mailings > Templates. Then follow these instructions to build a letter, label, or envelope template.

The next step will be to write your letter (using either our built-in PDF editor or uploading a Word doc) and saving the template. See our Knowledge Base article on creating a new mailing for more details.

Invite your team members (staff, board, volunteers)

Invite your staff, board, and volunteers to become team members and engage them in working with your constituents.

Take advantage of LGL’s ability to allow all of your team to have access to your database. Remember to assign roles to your users based on their function within your organization. Check out our complete description of team members’ roles and permissions.

Adding a team member is easy: Go to Home > Team Members, and then click on the Add a New Team Member button:

Complete the signup page, assign the appropriate role, and click Save:

Send an invitation for the new team member to log in, and click Save:

Update your preferences for receiving LGL news and/or product updates

All Little Green Light users are automatically signed up to receive our News and Product Update articles upon new team member registration. However, you can update your subscription preferences at any time from your My profile page: