BigSIS is called “big” for a reason! Not only is the system big because it is so powerful and can do so much for you and your organization but also because it takes some training to learn how to use all of its powerful tools. We recommend about 14 sessions in total to master the system if you have licensed all of the BigSIS modules (a little less if you have purchased smaller packages). Below is a list of the different training sessions with descriptions, what is covered, who should attend, prerequisites and practice tasks.
Each training lasts roughly 90 minutes, which gives us enough time to cover all the essential material without it feeling overwhelming. After each training, we send users on their way with some tasks to practice their new skills before the next training.
Please note that we give each client both a LIVE version of their site for entering real data and a TEST site for testing the system in a sandbox environment. Read the difference between the two sites, and how to log into them, here.
As well as a TESTING version, with data copied from the live site on demand. This site should be used for doing practice sessions and playing with data that you don’t want to be in your system long-term.
1. Overview 1 Training: Getting Started with BigSIS Help Guide (~25 minutes)
- Description: This help guide and training videos will help get you introduced to some BigSIS basics and should generally be the first (and required) training for all users who will be administrators in the system (see “Who should attend” below). This will give you an overview of the system and go over all the basics. You will also learn how to navigate BigSIS like a pro. We'll cover Admin vs. Portal Overview, User Interface Overview, Search and Bulk Actions, How to Add and Edit a Person and Student Record, and Roles.
- Who Should Review this training material: All users who plan on using the admin section of BigSIS review these training videos. This means all office staff and administrators as well as volunteers and other users who will be updating information in the admin side. Note: Faculty does not need to attend as they will only use the portal and no training is required for using the portal.
- Prerequisites: Initial data import (recommended).
- After the Training: After this session, each user should log in and review what they learned. Users should familiarize themselves with the system. They should also practice searching for and making edits to a person’s record. Practice working in the Live and Testing environments.
NOTE: If you have not received a signup link for your BigSIS site contact support@bigsis.com and we will help get you signed up. - 🎥 Training Recording: 🎥
2. Admin/Portal (~1.5 hours)
- Description: This training covers the advanced administrator tools in BigSIS and is designed specifically for the limited number of staff members who should have unrestricted access to everything, even the most secure areas. In this training, we demonstrate how to create users and assign permissions to them (e.g., granting access to some features but denying access to others). We also demonstrate how to set up notifications so that designated people can be alerted when specific actions happen such as when a donation is made. We'll cover Email Accounts, Permissions, Sending Signup Links, Alerts, Client Settings, Portal Setup.
- Who Should Attend: Attendance should be limited to users with the Advanced role or “super admins” (e.g., staff members and administrators who should have unrestricted access to everything, even the most secure areas). This usually includes a maximum of one or two people in your organization.
- Prerequisites: Overview 1
- After the Training: After this session, each user should log in and complete the following activities:
- Create email accounts and send emails from BigSIS.
- Create a record for a fake person (give them an email account you can check). Then send the fake person a signup invitation to create a mock user account for this person. Practice assigning different levels of permissions and logging into the BigSIS admin and portal to see how permission settings affect user accounts.
- Set up some alerts and assign yourself to the distribution list for that alert. Test this by performing the action that generates the alert and then checking your email to see if you received the notification.
- Send signup links to all users.
- Training Material:
3. Overview 2 (~1.5 hours)
- Description: This training will teach you how powerful and flexible BigSIS really is! You will learn how to store any piece of data you need in your records (in addition to the default data fields like names and addresses that we provide) by creating custom forms. Need to store unique information like locker numbers or peanut allergy information? No problem! You will also learn how to filter your records, giving you the power and flexibility to work with a specific set of records whenever you need to (e.g., emailing all 12th graders in AP Calculus or contacting the parents of students with peanut allergies). You will also learn how to run and print reports. We'll cover Custom Forms, Filters, and Reports.
- Who Should Attend: All users who plan to use the admin section of BigSIS should attend this meeting. This means all office staff and administrators as well as volunteers and other users who will be updating information in the admin. This should be the second training for most users and the third training for super admins. Note: Faculty does not need to attend as they will only use the portal and no training is required for using the portal.
- Prerequisites: Overview 1
- After the Training: After this session, each user should log in to the testing site and complete the following activities:
- Create or modify a custom form with different field types (e.g., checkboxes, decimal, etc.) and try adding that form system-wide (in client settings) and then try adding it to a single record. Expert tip: create and play with a custom form that uses a self-building list and a drop-down list.
- Create filters and then test them out in different tables like the people table and the enrollment table.
- Run some reports and print them to PDF or to your printer.
4. Registrar 1 (~1.5 hours)
- Description: Users learn how to create a student from a person (i.e., how to add student information to the record of a person in your database). Users will also learn how to view and edit data related to students such as admissions and enrollment information. Finally, users will also learn how to use our unique tools to save them lots of time when creating courses and registering students for those courses. We'll cover Admissions, Enrollments, Registration, Teachers, Course Templates, Curricula, and more.
- Who Should Attend: Users with the Registrar role and (optional, but recommended) users with the Advanced role or “super admins”.
- Prerequisites: Overview 1 & Overview 2.
- After the Training: Each user should log in and complete the following activities:
- Create curricula.
- Create all course templates and adding them to the curricula.
- Set up or clean up enrollment.
5. Registrar 2 (~1.5 hours)
- Description: Users learn how to set up all courses for a term by generating them from the curricula created as practice after the Registrar 1 training. Then we will learn how to quickly register all the students into their appropriate courses. This process makes setting up each term (i.e., semester) a breeze; we will teach you how to complete this in about 15 minutes for each term! Users will also learn how to easily re-enroll all the current students from one term into the subsequent term with a click of a button (e.g., how to enroll all students who were enrolled in the fall semester into the spring semester or into the following school year). We will cover Generating courses from Curricula, Auto-Registering all students, Re-enrollment, Portal view for teachers, Attendance, and Matrixes.
- Who Should Attend: Users with the Registrar role and (optional, but recommended) users with the Advanced role or “super admins.”
- Prerequisites: Overview 1 & 2, Registrar 1, Completed tasks from Registrar 1.
- After the Training: Each user should log in and complete the following activities:
- Create all the courses for the upcoming term following the steps we did to create a few of them.
- Register all the students into all their courses for the upcoming term.
6. Development 1 (~1.5 hours)
- Description: Users learn how to use the development portion of BigSIS. By the end of this session, users should be comfortable setting up campaigns, funds, and appeals as well as entering gifts and pledges. We will cover Campaigns, Funds, Appeals, Donor Profiles, Custom Form Fields, Donations, Payment methods, and more.
- Who Should Attend: Users with the Development role and (optional, but recommended) users with the Advanced role or “super admins”.
- Prerequisites:
- Overview 1 & 2
- Authorize.net info (if you want to run credit cards through BigSIS)
- Api Login
- Transaction Key
- After the Training: Each user should log in to the testing site and complete the following activities:
- Setup campaigns, funds, and appeals.
- Enter a gift.
- Enter a pledge.
- Enter a payment.
- 🎥 Training Recording: 🎥
7. Development 2 (~1 hour)
- Description: Users learn how to use the development portion of BigSIS. By the end of this session, users should be comfortable setting up campaigns, funds, appeals as well as entering gifts and pledges. We'll cover Donation Templates setup, Custom Form Fields, Thank yous, Filtering, Reports, and more.
- Who Should Attend: Users with the Development role and (optional, but recommended) users with the Advanced role or “super admins”.
- Prerequisites:
- Overview 1 & 2
- Development 1
- After the Training: Each user should log in to the testing site and complete the following activities:
- Create Donation Templates
- Set up Custom Forms
- Filter donations
- Run reports
- Exporting
- 🎥 Training Recording: 🎥
8. Development 3 (~1 hour)
- Description: Users learn how to use the development reports in BigSIS. We go over the reports to give you them the knowledge to start running reports and creating templates for reports then run regularly.
- Who Should Attend: Users with the Development role and (optional, but recommended) users with the Advanced role or “super admins”.
- Prerequisites:
- Overview 1 & 2
- Development 1 & 2
- After the Training: Each user should log in to the testing site and complete the following activities:
- Run Reports
- Create any needed Report Templates
- 🎥 Training Recording: 🎥
9. Leads 1: Inquiries (~1.5 hours)
- Description: Users learn how to enter “leads” (i.e., inquiries) and how inquiries flow through the built-in lead phases and workflow tasks. The phases take a lead from an initial inquiry all the way to enrollment. We will also cover how to set up the inquiry form to account for different program groups (e.g. lower school or early childhood).
- Who Should Attend: Users with the Admissions role and (optional, but recommended) users with the Advanced role or “super admins”.
- Prerequisites:
- Overview 1 & 2
- After the Training: Each user should log in to the testing site and complete the following activities:
- Complete the task spreadsheet and get it ready for import.
- We will work together to get your task spreadsheet imported before Leads 2. This will enable you to work on your practice inquiries before we import your task spreadsheet to your live site.
- Enter practice inquiries.
- Complete or cancel tasks.
- Moving leads through the lead phases and changing their statuses.
- Deciding what the custom fields should be for the inquiries and internal custom form fields.
- Deciding what thank you message you would like to provide.
- Complete the task spreadsheet and get it ready for import.
- 🎥 Training Recording: 🎥
10. Leads 2: Setup (~1.5 hours)
- Description: You will learn how to finalize the setup of leads for every program you offer (e.g., from kindergarten to 12th grade), including getting an online inquiry form ready that can be embedded into the school’s main website. Additionally, you will learn how to add “For Office Use Only” fields to inquiry forms and a “Thank You“ page (that can be customized differently for each program) that relays a message to users after they successfully submit an inquiry. We'll cover importing task templates to the live site, setting up enrollment configurations for all programs, setting up and customizing the online inquiry, and more.
- Who should attend: This training does not provide information on how to use the Leads system on a daily basis (that is covered by the Leads 1 training) so this Leads 2 training only requires one or two super admins who will be configuring the Leads module for everyone else to use.
- Prerequisites:
- Overview 1 & 2
- Leads 1
- Completed After the Training tasks from Leads 1
- After the Training: Each user should log in and test the following activities:
- Enter actual leads.
- Move those leads through the process.
- 🎥 Training Recording: 🎥
11. Leads 3: Applications (~1.5 hours)
- Description: Users will learn how to set up applications by using an application multi-page form. We will demonstrate and cover how the parts and pieces of an application MPF work, including how an application MPF ties to leads. You will also learn how to set up and release an application to parents/guardians in the portal.
- Who should attend: Users with the Inquiries role and (optional, but recommended) users with the Advanced role or “super admins”.
- Prerequisites:
- Overview 1 & 2
- Leads 1 & 2
- After the Training: Each user should log in and test the following:
- Create an application MPF (when applicable).
- Enter a new test inquiry and test application MPF.
- Attach an application MPF to existing lead and test.
- Use the submitted applications table to track your test applications.
- 🎥 Training Recording: 🎥
12. Leads 4: Contracts (~1.5 hours)
- Description: Users will learn how to set up contracts by using a contract multi-page form. We will demonstrate and cover how the parts and pieces of a contract MPF work, including how a contract MPF ties to leads. You will also learn how to set up and release a contract to parents/guardians in the portal.
- Who should attend: Users with the Inquiries role and (optional, but recommended) users with the Advanced role or “super admins”.
- Prerequisites:
- Overview 1 & 2
- Leads 1 & 2
- After the Training: Each user should log in and test the following:
- Create a contract MPF (when applicable).
- Enter a new test inquiry and test contract MPF.
- Attach a contract MPF to an existing lead and test.
- 🎥 Training Recording: 🎥
13. Calendars (~1 hour)
- Description: Users learn how to set up calendars and create events that can then be displayed on school websites as well as in the BigSIS portal.
- Who should attend: Users with the Calendar role and (optional, but recommended) users with the Advanced role or “super admins”.
- Prerequisites:
- Overview 1 & 2
- After the Training: Each user should log in and test the following:
- Create Calendars and Events. Try out adding events to multiple calendars and creating different recurrence rules for events.
- Create a Resource and a Resource type. Tie the Resource to an Event and all Occurrences.
14. Volunteers (~1.5 hours)
- Description: Users learn how to set up and use the volunteer module. We will cover, and demo, how to set up volunteer events, activities, and opportunities on the admin side of BigSIS. We will also review what a volunteer will see in the portal and how he/she will navigate the volunteer tools.
- Who should attend: Users with the Volunteer role and (optional, but recommended) users with the Advanced role or “super admins”.
- Prerequisites:
- Overview 1 & 2
- After the Training:
- Set up a new date and non-date specific activity with several time slots.
- Set up an event with several activity time slots.
- As users play with the features they learned during this session, they should take note of any questions that come up. We can review and answer these questions in a future training session.
15. BTS Forms and RFI Forms (~1.5 hours)
- Description: Users learn how to use RFI forms and health forms. This training will teach you how to create a complex form that you can send to parents in the portal for them to fill out. This is especially useful when you want to send back-to-school forms to parents prior to the beginning of the upcoming academic year so that they can update (or verify) the information you currently have stored for them (i.e., emergency contacts, household information, and health information) and their children.
- Who should attend: Attendance should be limited to users with the Advanced role or “super admins” (e.g., staff members and administrators who should have unrestricted access to everything, even the most secure areas). This usually includes a maximum of one or two people in your organization.
- Prerequisites:
- Overview 1 & 2
- After the Training: Play with the features you learned during this session, and take note of any questions that come up.
16. Parent/Teacher Portal Training
- Description: This training is designed for admins to learn all about how parents and teachers can use the portal. Parents and teachers access their own side of the portal so we will discuss how to use your portal setup function to decide what you want to show both parents and teachers. We will also discuss the approach for rolling out the portal to these two groups.
IMPORTANT: BigSIS does NOT train your teachers. We will train your school to be the expert but you are responsible for establishing training for your teaching staff.
- Parent Portal - we will discuss the myriad of information that you can make available to parents including their own children's health data, updating personal information, accessing student reports, accessing the school directory and more.
- Teacher Portal - we will discuss how teachers will access their current course lists of students, how to write reports, how to use the gradebook (when applicable), how to email parents and/or students and more.
- Who Should Attend: Users with the Registrar role and (optional, but recommended) users with the Advanced role or “super admins”.
- Prerequisites: Overview 1, Admin/Portal, Registrar 1 and 2.
- After the Training: After this session, each user should log in and review what we learned. Users should familiarize themselves with the parent and teacher portal options and take steps to start finalizing the setup for each. They should also plan for their approach to train their teachers about the portal and the approach they want to take with parents.
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