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Using the Portal


Click here to log in to the Portal

  1. What is the Portal?
  2. How does the Portal work?
  3. Portal User Guide
  4. Why use the Portal?
  5. Who can use the Portal?
  6. Getting started
  7. Need support?

What is the Portal?

The Portal enables your group to access member and contact data, coordinate your volunteers, share information about the services and activities you deliver, and promote what you offer on our website.

See Group Handbook A2: Requirements, support, tools and resources

How does the Portal work?

The Portal is essentially your view of our secure central database. It has three key functions:

Members and contacts:

Your group must use the members tab on the Portal to access data about our members and other contacts. This will ensure that we only use up to date information about people who have agreed to be contacted by us.

Each time you use the Portal to download personal data as an Excel spreadsheet or PDF, you will be asked to confirm the reason for the download. You must not use this downloaded data for any other purpose.

You will be prompted to protect the file with a password. You must not share this file password with anyone who is not in an authorised volunteer role.

  1. Find out more about Handling data
  2. Learn more in the Portal User Guide

Volunteers:

The volunteers tab enables you to view information held about your volunteer team. This information will be updated centrally. If you need to tell us about any changes to your team, contact the Volunteer Support Team and the Portal will be updated overnight.

  1. Learn about Volunteering with us

When a volunteer leaves

As part of our exit process, when a volunteer leaves you must contact our Volunteer Support Team to close their record on our central database. This will remove their personal data from the Portal.

  1. Learn what to do When a volunteer leaves

Services and activities:

Promoting your services and activities

The services and activities tab on the Portal is our record of all services, activities and events delivered by MS Society groups throughout the UK. The information you add to the Portal about your services and activities is automatically published on our website.

  1. Learn more in the Portal User Guide

Events risk management

Whenever you add a new event, the Portal identifies whether it requires an events risk assessment, or is covered by our simplified events risk guidance. You will be asked to confirm that the appropriate level of risk management has been completed.

  1. Learn about our Events risk management system

Portal User Guide

We’ve put together a step-by-step guide to help you use the Portal. Download it below.

  1. Portal User Guide

Why use the Portal?

Data protection

Under the GDPR, we are legally required to ensure that the personal data we hold about service users, members, volunteers and staff is accurate, stored securely and not kept longer than is necessary.

Member and local contact data must be downloaded from the Portal and not held locally other than for the time it takes to complete a mailing or other task. The next time you need data, simply download it from the Portal again.

A person can ask us at any time to change to their contact preferences. If a person does not appear on a current list you download from the Portal, you must not contact them for any reason.

  1. See our guidance on Handling data

Support for your Coordinating Team

Your Coordinating Team is responsible for ensuring all group volunteers complete ‘must do’ training and compliance tasks, if required by their role. The Portal includes a range of information about your volunteer team, such as training they have attended, previous roles held and the status of their disclosure checks.

  1. Find out more about your Coordinating Team’s responsibilities

Sharing knowledge

Quality information underpins all our work, from the publications we produce, to the events we deliver. The Portal is our central repository of information about local MS Society services. Whenever a person searches on our website, contacts the MS Helpline, or our Supporter Care Team, the information we provide will be what you have added to the Portal.

The Portal will also enable us to identify and analyse gaps in provision, drive local and national campaigning, and support funding bids.

Who can use the Portal?

All group volunteers can access services and activities on the Portal, but only certain roles can see and use personal data about our members, contacts and volunteers.

Volunteer roles with access to personal data are:

  1. Group Coordinator
  2. Finance Volunteer
  3. Administration Volunteer
  4. Communications Volunteer

You must complete our Data Protection for GDPR eLearning before accessing personal data on the Portal. We will send you a link to complete Data Protection for GDPR eLearning even if you have completed previous data protection training.

If you change roles

Your access to the Portal will always reflect your current volunteer role. For example, if you change from a role that is authorised to access personal data to a different role, you will no longer be able to access members or volunteers on the Portal. And if you stop volunteering with us, your Portal log in will be deleted.

  1. See details of our Group roles

Getting started

Log in to the Portal

You will need to sign in with your personal email address and a password of your choice. MS Society email can’t be used to log in to the Portal.

Before you log in for the first time, contact the Volunteer Support Team be sent a link to create your password.

IT requirements

To use the Portal, you need the following:

  • A computer with internet access
  • A personal email address
  • Microsoft Excel to download membership data on a spreadsheet
  • Adobe Acrobat Reader software to open downloaded membership label files (download this for free here)

Labels: Portal PDFs are configured to print on the popular A4 label size 63.5mm x 38.1mm (3x7); Avery - J8160, Q-Connect - KF26051.

Need support?

Contact the Volunteer Support Team with any Portal queries, or to complete Data Protection for GDPR eLearning and be sent a link to create your password.

  1. Get contact details for our Volunteer Support Team

Or sign up here for some informal training on using the Portal.

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