At the last General Meeting, Chair Ian Lloyd informed the membership that we had migrated our membership database across to the Beacon system.

Here, Ian Holah, our new Beacon Administrator, describes how the decision was made and what Beacon offers us in the future:

A steering committee was established to review available solutions for membership management. After a comprehensive three-month evaluation of market offerings, Beacon was selected as the preferred system.

Beacon is an online management platform developed and supported by u3a members specifically for u3as. It offers a comprehensive and secure solution for managing members, groups, finances and email communications efficiently and effectively.

Nearly 650 u3as currently utilise Beacon. Groups are central to the u3a experience, and Beacon equips group leaders with tools for membership administration, calendars, group financial records and streamlined communication with members.

There are a number of benefits of Beacon:

• Beacon significantly reduces administrative workload for membership and group management by eliminating duplication, enabling online payments and providing integrated functionality for increased accuracy and reduced effort.
• It facilitates the sending of personalised emails to individuals and groups.
• All information is securely stored in a single, regularly backed-up location.
• Data processing complies fully with GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation).
• Beacon is configured for multi-user access, allowing committee members and Group leaders individualised permissions.

What we’ve done to date:

• All membership records have been migrated from the previous system into Beacon.
• Existing groups have been set up within Beacon; member additions will be completed over the coming weeks. Group leaders have also been registered, with a training scheduled for early next year. Venue details, including contacts and costs, have been entered into the system.

What we’re planning for the future:

• New members will be able to join us online.
• Group leaders will be able to manage their groups on Beacon.
• A finance module will be integrated in the upcoming year.
• Members will have direct access to Beacon so they can update their personal information, such as address changes.

The Committee believes that Beacon is a major step forward in modernising our u3a for the digital age. It’s certainly going to keep us busy!