Self-importing data is a quick and effective way to add information about your contacts and their donation history in bulk, but it does require some knowledge of Excel and a little bit of additional preparation to make sure the process runs smoothly.

Below, we'll walk you through the process of actually importing your records into Donor Management using the self-import tool.

Before you begin importing in any files, you'll want to be sure that your files have been "cleaned" and organized in a way that Donor Management will recognize.

We've created a helpful guide on how to make sure that your data is prepared for a self-import here - we recommend reviewing it before moving forward in this process.

Once your files have been cleaned and you're confident with their accuracy, you can start the self-import process directly from your Donor Management platform.
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From either the "Contacts" or "Giving" tabs (located in the left-hand navigation), you'll want to click on the "Import" button in the top-right corner.

The page should then reload, and display several options for how you might want to proceed with your import.

You'll want to select the "Import your spreadsheet" option, then click the blue "Next" button in the top-right corner.

If you are importing data from either Constant Contact, PayPal, or MailChimp ONLY, you do have the option to select one of those options and import in the exported files from those platforms. However, if you run into any issues throughout that process or have data files that combine information from multiple sources, we instead strongly recommend trying the "import your spreadsheet" option instead.

Also, please note that the "send us your files" option is a paid service; if you are interested in learning more or accessing that service, please reach out here to discuss this further.

You will next need to determine which type of contacts you're importing into Donor Management - individual donors and contacts, or organization contacts.

For more information on which import fields are needed for each type of contact, please click here.

When ready to move to the next step, click the blue "Next" button in the top-right corner.

You may have already reviewed your data - in fact, we recommend cleaning up and reviewing your data prior to beginning this process! - but you will also have the option to review your data once more, and to download a helpful spreadsheet that will help you in the upcoming steps.

Once you're ready to move forward, click "Next."

On this next step, you'll click on the "Browse" button to select the file you'd like to upload. Your file must be in .csv, .xls, or .xlsx format in order to proceed - so please be sure your files are saved in the appropriate format before you continue!

Please note that you are only able to import one file at a time - so you may need to combine multiple spreadsheets, or repeat this process for each file you'd like to upload.

You'll also be asked on this step if you'd like to "apply mapping from a previous import." You have the option to "skip" the next step and use existing mapping - which we'll go over in the next step.

Once your file has been uploaded, you'll be asked to "map" your fields. "Mapping" is the process of choosing which column on your spreadsheet corresponds to each field in Donor Management.

Some columns will be automatically mapped, as Donor Management will try to find matches - but we recommend double checking to make sure that everything looks accurate and that the system has automatically mapped everything correctly.

On this screen, you'll see a brief overview of the file that you're importing (such as how many rows and columns were found in the file), and how many columns were "ignored" or "unmapped."

You can re-map a column by clicking on the blue "Edit Column" located above the respective column, and then typing or selecting the correct Donor Management field.

You also have the option to "ignore" a column you'd rather not import into Donor Management by clicking that "Edit Column" button, and checking the box labeled "Ignore."
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After all of your columns have been mapped, you can click the blue "Next" button in the top-right corner to proceed. (You will need to map or ignore all columns to be able to move to the next step, so be sure to review the data carefully!)

Next, you'll be asked to do a final review before the import actually begins.

If anything looks incorrect, you can always go back and perform one of the previous steps to make changes.

When everything looks good, you can click the "Next" button to start your import.

You may see a pop-up appear confirming you'd like to proceed - that's normal!

You'll then see a screen that shows you the progress of that import in the queue - but you'll also receive an email confirmation when the import has finished processing, so don't feel like you need to stay on that screen!

You should receive three emails - one letting you know that your import is processing, one confirming that your import is queued, and one letting you know that your import has been completed.

The larger the import file, the longer that the import process will take - but we do anticipate that most import files shouldn't take more than an hour. If your import is processing for more than a few hours and you haven't received an email, we recommend contacting our Support team for further assistance.

You'll also receive an email that includes a detailed report of any errors that happened during the import. Rows of data containing errors are not included in an import process, so you may need to make some adjustments and re-import those particular records - but all "correct" records will already be imported and won't need further processing.

You should now be able to review your imported file under the "Imports" tab - and that data from that import should now be reflected in both your "Contacts" and "Giving" tabs moving forward!

Go back to the Feature Overview.