Self-importing your data is a rewarding process that quickly gets your data loaded into Donor Management - but it can be easy to make an error that complicates that import process!
We've included three of the most common self-importing errors below, and how to avoid running into those errors in the future!
Populate the contact's first name
A contact can't be imported without a first name - so any records missing a first name won't be imported in during a self-import process.
If you have incomplete contact information - such as just an email address - you can still import those records into your system.
The easiest workaround for this would be to include the contact's email address in both the "first name" field, and the "email address" field.
This will then list the email address as the contact's "first name," while still allowing the contact to receive emails that you send through Donor Management.
Similarly, if you're missing a contact record's first name but have included their last name, you have a couple of options:
Use the contact's last name in the "first name" field, and leave the "last name" field blank.
Use the contact's email address in the "first name field", and leave the "last name" field as-is.
Use "anonymous" in the "first name" field, and leave the "last name" field as-is.
Please be mindful that if you decide to use "anonymous" as the first name for contact records, you will still need to differentiate between any contacts that share a last name. If you don't take that step, the system will flag all of the contacts that share a last name as "potential duplicates."
To avoid this, you can take the first portion of their email address (the "prefix"), and include that as part of the first name. Here's an example of how that might look:
Email: ilovedogs2355@gmail.com
First Name: Anonymousilovedogs2355
Last Name: Smith
Format your donation date
If your import file contains donations, you must include a date with each donation. This allows our system to understand when the donation, was received for your future records.
The date should always be formatted as "YYYY-MM-DD".
To format this date in an Excel spreadsheet so it reflects correctly, you can use the "Number Formatting" tool in Excel.
You'll want to highlight that column in your file, then click on the "Format Cells" option. You should be able to select the "Custom" option, where you can then type in that specific date, then click "OK" to confirm those changes.
When using a formatting feature like this, you should save your file as an Excel document (.XLS or .XLSX) instead of in a .CSV format, so the formatting you've just updated is displayed properly.
Avoid duplicates
Donor Management will automatically flag potential duplicates that you will need to review and change, if any of your contact records have duplicates found within these fields:
Full Name
ORPhysical Address
ORPhone Number
If someone has a different full name and a different phone number, but has the same physical address, the system may flag them as duplicates. However, it may also group them into a "household" instead - you may want to review that information to confirm that it's been listed correctly in Donor Management before proceeding.
Here are a couple of tips on how to avoid duplicates when preparing for your import:
You can review the four contact information fields in Excel related to flagging duplicates - namely, "full name," "physical address," "phone number," and "email address." You're looking to ensure that any potential duplicates are either resolved before the import - or that all duplicates match perfectly and will result in a merge with other identical records.
One by one, filter the four columns we mentioned above to quickly see if you have more than one record that contains any identical information.
You can also attach a "unique ID" to each contact record. Many systems will provide you with an unique ID when you export from that system - you can "map," or match, that information to the "External ID" column during the import mapping process.
Don't have an external ID? You can always create one - and it doesn't have to be a numeric ID, either! We recommend combining the first name and last name of the donor - with no spaces - and using that as a unique external ID.
For a downloadable version of our import template, please click here.