Migrate from Contact Beacon to Zoho CRM

Beacon Contacts map directly to Zoho CRM Contacts. We resolve the Account lookup (Zoho's organization-centric model) by checking if the Contact has an associated organization name in Beacon; if yes, we pre-create the Zoho Account before importing the Contact and attach it via the Account Name lookup. Individual donors without an organization map to standalone Contacts. All standard fields (First Name, Last Name, Email, Phone, Address) map to Zoho's equivalent Contact fields, and custom properties migrate to Zoho custom fields created during schema discovery.

Beacon Donations have no direct Zoho CRM standard equivalent; we create a custom Donations module in Zoho with fields for Amount, Donation Date, Campaign (linked via Zoho lookup), Gift Aid Flag, Payment Method, and Donor (linked to the Zoho Contact). The Gift Aid boolean from Beacon maps to a custom picklist field Gift Aid Status with values Yes-Claimed, Yes-Not Yet Claimed, and No, and we flag any declaration records requiring post-migration re-certification per HMRC guidance.

Beacon Campaigns map to Zoho CRM Campaigns. Campaign Name, Status, Start Date, End Date, Budget, and Description migrate as standard Zoho Campaign fields. Donations linked to the Campaign attach via the Campaign lookup in the custom Donations module. If Beacon Campaign has a Type or Category property, we map it to Zoho's Campaign Type picklist.

Beacon Pipelines track donor journey stages (e.g. Prospect, Solicitor Visit, Donation Received, Follow-Up). We map each Beacon Pipeline to a Zoho CRM Blueprint with corresponding stage names and ordering. Conditional stage-routing rules from Beacon are documented as a separate workflow inventory item; Zoho Blueprint does not replicate Beacon's conditional logic automatically and requires manual reconfiguration by the admin.

Tags on Beacon Contacts and Donations migrate as flat label arrays into Zoho CRM's native tagging system. Tags that were used to drive Beacon workflows (e.g. tag-based email triggers) are flagged during scoping and listed in the automation inventory document for manual Zoho Workflow Rule recreation.

Beacon per-organization custom fields on Contacts and Donations are discovered during scoping, and equivalent Zoho custom fields are created before migration. Multi-select picklists in Beacon map to Zoho multi-select picklist fields. Any unsupported field types (e.g. complex conditional logic fields that have no Zoho equivalent) are flagged and escalated to the customer for resolution before migration.

File attachments on Contact records are downloaded via individual Beacon API requests, chunked to stay within rate limits, then re-uploaded as Zoho CRM Attachments linked to the parent Contact record. Large batches (100+ files) extend the migration timeline because each file requires a separate API call on both sides.

Beacon user accounts map to Zoho CRM Users by email match. Inactive Beacon users are imported as inactive Zoho Users or archived depending on the customer's preference. Admin role and profile assignments are noted during scoping and configured manually in Zoho post-migration, as role-based permissions are Zoho-tenant-specific.

Beacon automated workflows (Gift Aid submission triggers, thank-you email sequences, donor follow-up timers) cannot be exported from Beacon's UI or API. We perform a workflow audit during scoping, document every active automation with its trigger, conditions, actions, and recommended Zoho Workflow Rule equivalent, and deliver the inventory to the customer. Rebuild is an admin task outside migration scope.

Beacon Notes on Contact records migrate to Zoho CRM Notes attached to the corresponding Contact. Note content and timestamps are preserved. Attachments embedded within Notes migrate as Zoho Attachments linked to the Note record. Activity timestamps are set to the original Beacon creation date to preserve the historical timeline.