Lesson 3.5 – Users, Roles and Permissions

Welcome to Lesson 3.5! A critical component of any financial or database system is security. In FastFund Online, access is strictly limited to authorized individuals. To protect your sensitive donor data and maintain proper segregation of duties, FastFund utilizes a robust, multi-layered permissions system.

Furthermore, every data entry action—whether adding a constituent, posting a donation, or deleting a record—is permanently tied to a specific user and tracked in the system’s Audit Log. Therefore, it is vital that every individual accessing FastFund has their own unique login credentials and appropriate access levels.

In this lesson, we will explore the three-step process for configuring system access: creating user groups, setting up users, and assigning permissions.

1. The Three-Step Security Process

Configuring security in FastFund is designed to be scalable, whether you have a two-person development office or a large, multi-departmental organization. Setting up access involves three distinct steps:

1. Set up User Groups and group rights: Defining role-based access based on job categories (e.g., “Gift Processing Team” or “Read-Only Volunteers”).
2. Set up Authorized Users: Creating the individual login profiles using their email addresses.
3. Assign Permissions: Linking the individual user to a User Group or assigning them specific, individual permissions.

2. Creating User Groups (Roles)

User Groups allow you to bundle multiple permissions together based on a job function. When a new employee joins a department, instead of manually assigning them twenty individual permissions, you simply assign them to the appropriate User Group.

Steps to Create a User Group:

1. Click the Gear Icon (Company Administration) in the top right corner of the Status Bar.
2. Under the USER MANAGEMENT section on the left-hand menu, click User Groups.
3. Click the New + icon.
4. Enter a Name for the group (e.g., “Development Directors”) and a brief Description.
5. Click the blue SAVE button.

[INSERT SCREENSHOT: Display the ‘User Groups’ setup screen, highlighting the Name and Description fields at the top, and the Available Permissions and Assigned Permissions boxes below.]

3. Assigning Permissions to a Group

Once you have saved the name of your new User Group, you must define exactly what that group is allowed to do. Below the group details, you will see two columns: Available Permissions (on the left) and Assigned Permissions (on the right).

Steps to Assign Permissions:

1. Locate the specific task in the Available Permissions box (e.g., Cash Receipts, Campaigns, Constituents).
2. Click the permission to highlight it.
3. Click the Right Pointing Arrow (>) icon in the center to move it to the Assigned Permissions box.
4. Tip for Speed: You can hold the CTRL key (or Command on a Mac) to select multiple permissions at once, or use the Double Right Pointing Arrow (>>) to instantly assign all available permissions to the group.

To remove a permission, simply highlight it in the Assigned box and click the Left Pointing Arrow (<).

4. Assigning Permissions to Individual Users

Once your User Groups are established, you can assign them to your actual staff members. FastFund gives you the flexibility to assign a user to a broad User Group, grant them Individual Permissions a la carte, or use a combination of both.

Steps to Configure a User’s Access:

1. Under the USER MANAGEMENT menu, click Users.
2. Open the specific user’s profile and click the Groups & Permissions tab.
3. To assign role-based access, select a group from the Available User Groups box and click the Right Pointing Arrow (>) to move it to the Assigned User Groups box.
4. If the user needs one extra permission outside of their normal group, locate it in the Available Permissions box and move it to the Assigned Permissions box.
5. Click SAVE to lock in the user’s security profile.

[INSERT SCREENSHOT: Show the ‘Groups & Permissions’ tab for an individual User, highlighting the four distinct boxes: Available User Groups, Assigned User Groups, Available Permissions, and Assigned Permissions.]