Frequently Asked Questions
1. General Information about Lamplight
We work with charities, CICs, non-profits and small businesses that have a charitable purpose. For example, we work with a range of National Mind and Home-Start organisations, as well as independent counsellors. Our specialty is small to medium organisations who want a personalised system at a reasonable cost.
Yes, Lamplight is customised to your charity’s requirements. We use a fixed baseline structure to keep costs low, but within that there is plenty of room to reflect your own forms and processes.
Your Lamplight Implementer will set up the system for you initially, making sure that all the data you need goes in in the right places, and can produce the reports and other outputs you need.
After that, you have full control over all settings in your system and can make changes at any time. You can add tabs and fields, add new services, turn things on or off, change the order of drop-downs, create new report templates…
If you’re worried about this, we do offer an Account Manager service to help.
A ‘Project’ in Lamplight is a separate section of your database. It has its own settings and data, and someone with access to one project may not have access to others. They are useful if you have some highly sensitive services (e.g. counselling) and others that are not so. They can also be useful if you have multiple sites and need to keep things separate. Client data can be shared between projects.
In most cases, if you run several services but there are no special security concerns, all your projects can sit in one Lamplight ‘project’ as Work Areas. Most of our customers have a single project.
Most customers only need one Lamplight ‘project’.
You can have an unlimited number of services or provisions in your system (we call them “Work Areas”) but if you need to keep some of your work separate from the rest and control who can access that separated area, you’ll need an additional Lamplight Project.
For example, an organisation that does advocacy and counselling has one project for all their advocacy work which the majority of their team can access and see all their client data and records. Their counselling, however, is confidential, and only the counsellors and their manager should be able to see that data. They will need two Lamplight Projects and will control who can access each one. The advocates will never be able to access the counselling notes, even if they can see the client’s profile in their main system.
Other organisations use different Lamplight Projects for different regions or sometimes for more than one organisation to share the same system without sharing data.
Each Lamplight Project is another version of the system, so the costs for hosting will increase with each Project you add.
To find out more and discuss how many projects are right for your service, please get in touch with us and we’ll be happy to give you a quote.
A module is an add-on feature that expands the options available to you beyond the Core system. Lamplight is modular so you can control the running costs of your system, and you can add and remove modules from within your own system, so you don’t have to ask permission to make changes.
Each module costs £5+VAT per month, no matter how many users you have.
Take a look at all our available modules here.
You can have as many user accounts as you want. We do not charge a per user cost for Lamplight.
We don’t want to incentivise you to share logins / passwords, so that’s not how we charge. (Sharing passwords is best avoided from a security perspective).
Our hosting agreement does include a fair usage clause but it’s generous enough that we’ve not yet (20 years and counting) had to enforce it.
This will vary based on your needs. The core system does a lot – unlimited profiles and custom fields, activity records, outcomes, and detailed reporting.
You can identify the ones that work for you best to start with, but you can always try new ones for a month for free, and if you find any module isn’t working you can turn it off whenever you need to.
Have a chat with us and we can help you identify which you might need based on your requirements.
Lamplight strives to be inclusive and open to all communities. With this in mind, we have obtained Queerify accreditation and staff have regular training on inclusion and diversity.
We are proud to support the work of our customers that support different communities – refugees and asylum seekers; global majority communities; women; faith groups; LGBTQIA+ groups; and so many more.
From it’s very earliest days the Lamplight system has supported detailed demographic recording and reporting, to help our customers make sure they are meeting the needs of their communities. For example, preferred pronouns are built in, and although standard demographic categories are available, you can use the identifiers that suit you.
Lamplight is designed with accessibility in mind. Dyslexia-friendly fonts are available, dark mode can be enabled, and it has been tested with popular screen-reading software such as NVDA.
We are working towards compliance with WCAG2.2 in the Lamplight product. Screen readers, compliant keyboard navigation, support for zoom up to 400%, colour contrast and sizing are just some of the things we’re thinking about.
If you have any questions about specific accessibility requirements, we’re really happy to talk – please get in touch.
Systems take an average of 5 months to set up, which includes the complete customisation of your system, in-depth sessions with your assigned implementer, and then training for your team.
It’s a collaborative process, which means we can work to your pace. If you can go quicker, we can support you.
Implementation will require some work from your side to let us know how you work, your processes and requirements, and this is supported through a Workbook which your Implementer will guide you through.
Your project team will need to spend a few hours per week during the implementation phase to keep the project on track. This is an average – it will depend a lot on how much preparation work you’ve done already.
2. Pricing & Costs
Very roughly, between £20 and £40 / month for each regular user of the system. But it depends. After the first couple of years it goes down.
Our experience is that customers save several days every month once they’ve fully implemented Lamplight. But even if each team member saved only 10 minutes per day by having everything all in one place – you’ll be saving money.
To get an accurate figure, it’s best to talk to us. Tell us about your organisation and requirements, and we’ll identify the right package and modules for you, and send you a tailored proposal for your Senior Management or Board. Call us or book a time to talk to us. We offer a range of different packages for different size of organisation and complexity of requirements – take a look at our pricing page.
Lamplight is an investment in your future.
Yes, if your data is held in spreadsheets, Google Sheets, another CRM, or a database, you can transfer it into Lamplight. You can either handle the transfer yourself for free (this applies only to basic data like client and contact details) or opt for a paid data migration for more complex data (such as session notes or outcomes). Data migration services are available at £58+VAT per hour.
You’ll have full control to make changes to your system whenever you want – including adding new services, fields and users.
Your Lamplight Implementer will set up the system for you initially, making sure that all the data you need goes in in the right places, and can produce the reports and other outputs you need.
After that, you have full control over all settings in your system and can make changes at any time. You can add tabs and fields, add new services, turn things on or off, change the order of drop-downs, create new report templates…
If you’re worried about having to do this yourself, we do offer an Account Manager service to help.
If reporting is just not for you, we can offer a report support service, which gives you access to a dedicated member of our team who will run your reports for you on the timeframe you agree.
If you’d like one person to support you, we can offer an account manager service. This gives you one named person (with a backup when they are away) to give you tailored and ongoing support with your system.
For the best choice in setup, we look at your team size (we don’t include volunteers – just how many people you’d like us to train) and how many modules you want to start off with to give you the functionality you require. Visit our pricing page for more information on available packages.
If you’d like to talk to someone about it in more detail, call us or book a demo.
Whichever package you choose, you will be allocated to one of our Implementers who will support your entire process, customise your system and train you and your team in how to use it.
3. Customisation & Data Management
Yes, we can customise in any configuration of profiles, including for animals, buildings, beds or extended family details.
Charities use a wide range of outcome measures with Lamplight, including WEMWBS, Triangle Outcome Stars, Core outcomes, PHQ6, GAD7 and more. Charities also use fully customised outcome measures, which can be tailored to the requirements of your service users.
If you use a framework and want to check, please talk to us and we can check if we already do it (we probably do) – and if not, we can usually add it.
Yes, you can log referrals from individuals, referrers and partner organisations. You can also track the referrals you make to external partners.
Yes, you can connect Lamplight to your website using easy copy-and-paste widgets with the Publishing module. We provide widgets for online referrals, online bookings and a directory. If you need something more complex and have a web developer, they can use the API key provided for other functions.
Yes, using our Publishing module you can connect your Lamplight system to your website. Your potential clients can refer themselves to you by completing a simple web form, which will then be sent straight through to your Lamplight system. You’ll receive a notification in your Lamplight diary.
Absolutely! You can use the reporting function to report on attendance, outcome changes, referrals and cases whenever you like. If you find yourself running the same report frequently (maybe for a new funder or trustee request) you can also create your own report templates to save time and make sure the reports are the same whenever you run them.
4. Communication & Outreach
Yes, and you’ll have a few choices. Our Email module lets you send individual or group emails to clients using Lamplight managed email. Our Communication module lets you link to Mailchimp to send out mass emails or newsletters and update Lamplight with new subscribers.
Yes, the Communication module will let you link to Mailchimp to send out bulk emails to supporters or service users.
Yes, our Communication module enables you to send SMS messages directly from the system. The text messaging function is facilitated by 24x, a third-party service provider. You can purchase credits as needed from 24x, then use templates and mail merge to quickly send bulk, personalised text messages from Lamplight’s system.
5. Security & Compliance
Yes, Lamplight is a secure database. Your data will be stored on AWS servers, with all the data being stored in the UK on encrypted storage. Full daily backups in highly secure data centres with multiple power sources and internet connections mean Lamplight is available whenever or wherever you need it. Our automated monitoring systems add additional servers whenever they are needed.
We have ISO27001 accreditation, which means that our Information Security Management System has been independently audited to check it complies with the Internationally recognized ISO standard.
Our whole team receives regular training on different aspects of information security.
You can (and should) enable 2 Factor Authentication on your accounts and use other security features in the system to make sure your data stays safe.
Yes, we are GDPR compliant and support you to be. You can archive profiles, permanently delete data, restrict processing, export data for subject access requests and restrict access to data, all as part of the Core system.
Yes, nightly, to encrypted storage. You can also create and download your own backups whenever you want.
Yes, the audit module keeps a full write-only log of access and actions taken in your system, who made them, and when. System admins can view and search logs at any time and download as needed.
6. Implementation, Training & Support
You will also receive support from your implementer when you first start using your system, to make sure the launch goes as smoothly as possible, and you can feel confident that help is just an email away.
Longer term, Lamplight has a built-in Help system with a comprehensive help guide and free training videos. We also offer regular free webinars on different aspects of the system.
You can ask us a question in the Help system at any time, and one of our team will respond. We’ll often jump on a Zoom call with you as that’s often the quickest way to get to the bottom of issues. Setup packages include at least 3 hours of this personal support time, and you can top up whenever you want to.
Training is included with each of our setup packages.
We also offer paid training, including one-to-one sessions, group training on Zoom, Bitesize sessions on set topics.
A full manual and training videos are included in your system, and we also offer free webinars.
Training is delivered over Zoom. We offer a wide variety of training options, including team sessions in your own system, Bitesize sessions on a set topic, one to one tutorials and reporting sessions. We also offer free webinars every week.
You can request in-person training if you would prefer it, which has an additional cost to cover your trainer’s expenses.
You will need to dedicate a few hours a week through the implementation period. Our implementation process has to go into a lot of detail to make sure that you’re able to store everything you need to; that the system supports your working practices; and that you can generate the reporting you need. We’ll also talk about information security and governance.
Customers find that this reflection to be really helpful and often realise that they can simplify and streamline what they do. But you and other key colleagues will need to make the time to work with your Implementer and then review the system when it’s built.
If you’d like one person to support you, we can offer an account manager service. This gives you one named person (with a backup when they are away) to give you tailored and ongoing support with your system.
Have you got a question that isn’t answered here? Contact us.
