You can use the File Uploader to update communication channel blocks, consent purposes, and preferred channels for existing constituents. This article explains how to prepare the Channels & Purposes worksheet, how Donorfy identifies which constituent to update, and how to upload and apply your changes.
⚠️ Important: This type of upload cannot be undone. Make sure your worksheet is correct before you upload and apply changes.
Update Channels and Purposes
Download the Donorfy data preparation template.
Find the Channel and Purposes worksheet.
Right-click the worksheet tab, then click Move or Copy.
Choose to make a copy in a new workbook, then confirm.
Make sure the worksheet in the new workbook is named Channels & Purposes exactly.
Remove any columns you do not need. Only keep columns you want to update.
📌 Note: This worksheet updates existing constituents with Channel and Purpose settings. It does not upload tags.
Identify the Constituent to Update
In the Channels & Purposes worksheet, enter data into one of the identifier columns for each row:
Constituent Number.
Email Address.
Phone Number.
External Key.
Use only one reliable identifier per row where possible to avoid ambiguous matches.
If your constituents are newly added and you do not yet have their Constituent Number, use a data import file to extract constituent numbers.
Update Channel Permissions
Use the following columns to block or allow each communication channel:
Block_Email.
Block_Mail.
Block_Phone.
Block_SMS.
For each of these fields:
Enter Yes to block that communication channel.
Enter No to allow that communication channel.
Leave the cell empty if you want the existing channel setting to remain unchanged.
📌 Note: If you remove a channel column entirely from the worksheet, Donorfy will not attempt to update that channel for any constituent.
Update Purpose Permissions
The template includes one or more AllowPurpose_ columns, for example AllowPurpose_Fundraising.
For each AllowPurpose_ column you keep:
Enter Yes to allow that purpose.
Enter No to disallow that purpose.
Leave a cell empty if you want the existing setting for that purpose to remain unchanged.
Remove any AllowPurpose_ columns you do not want to update.
📌 Note: If a purpose column is removed from the worksheet or left empty for a row, the purpose will be left unchanged for that constituent.
Update the Preferred Channel
You can update the constituent’s Preferred Channel using the Preferred Channel column.
In the Preferred Channel column, enter one of the following values:
Mail – sets preferred channel to mailing address.
Email – sets preferred channel to email.
Phone – sets preferred channel to phone.
Do not contact – sets preferred channel to “Do not contact”.
Make sure the constituent has suitable contact details for the preferred channel you select:
For example, if you set Email, the constituent must have an active email address.
Leave the cell empty or remove the column if you do not want to change the preferred channel.
Add Optional Consent History Details
These optional columns are used for history items in the preference centre when preferences are updated:
Consent Date – the date associated with the update.
Consent Statement – a valid consent statement from your settings.
Reason – a valid reason from your settings.
Campaign – a valid campaign.
Enter values in these columns if you want to record consent-related history for the change.
Leave them blank if no consent history is required.
Use a Data Import File to Extract a Constituent Number
If your constituents are newly added and you do not yet have their Constituent Number, you can extract the numbers using the Individuals upload template.
Prepare your source constituent data file.
Upload the file as an Individual Constituents upload using the standard process.
When Donorfy shows the option to Apply Changes, click Download instead.
Do not apply changes.
Open the downloaded file.
Locate the Status column; it will contain text that includes constituent numbers that Donorfy has found.
Next, extract the numeric constituent numbers:
Insert a new column between Status and Action (this becomes column B).
In cell B2, paste the following formula:
=SUMPRODUCT(MID(0&A2, LARGE(INDEX(ISNUMBER(--MID(A2, ROW(INDIRECT("1:"&LEN(A2))), 1)) * ROW(INDIRECT("1:"&LEN(A2))), 0), ROW(INDIRECT("1:"&LEN(A2))))+1, 1) * 10^ROW(INDIRECT("1:"&LEN(A2)))/10)Confirm that B2 now shows the Constituent Number.
Copy the formula in B2 down for the entire data set.
Copy the entire column B, then Paste as Values back into column B to replace the formulas with the actual numbers.
Delete columns A and C–CT.
The remaining columns will be the Channels, Purposes, and Tags.
Delete any purpose columns that are not required.
Delete all columns that are Tags (you cannot upload tags via this Channels & Purposes worksheet).
Rename the Individual Constituents worksheet tab to Channels & Purposes.
Save the workbook (for example, using Save As to create your final upload file).
You can now upload this file using the File Uploader to update Channel and Purpose settings.
Upload the Channels and Purposes File
Check that:
The worksheet tab is named Channels & Purposes.
Only the columns you want to update are present.
Identifier columns (Constituent Number, Email Address, Phone Number, or External Key) are populated as needed.
Save the workbook as an Excel (.xlsx) file.
Go to the File Uploader in Donorfy.
Upload the workbook, then review the validation results.
If the checks are successful and you are happy with the data, apply the changes to update Channel and Purpose settings for your constituents.