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Data Migration - Import Transactions & Supporters
Data Migration - Import Transactions & Supporters

Learn how to organize your migration data with import templates. Import donors and donations into Funraise.

Tony Sasso avatar
Written by Tony Sasso
Updated over 9 months ago

With Funraise Imports, you add and edit Transaction and Supporter records in bulk by uploading a spreadsheet or by manually entering data. This article describes how to access the import tool and includes instructions for conducting a multi-object data migration (Supporters and Transactions).

We highly recommend reading this entire article before beginning your data migration. We've also included a helpful VIDEO below to walk you through the main steps.


Import tool overview

To import Transaction or Supporter records, follow these steps.

1. Click your profile icon > click Settings

2. Navigate to Imports > click New Import

3. Select the entity and action > click Upload

4. Now you're ready to upload or manually enter your data. Accepted file types for upload include: .csv, .tsv, .xls, .xlsx, .xml. To import a file > click Upload data from file

5. If you're uploading a file, you will next configure column mappings. This is where you will assign a column in your sheet with a field in Funraise. We'll do our best to guess for you!

6. Next, you can review the upload and correct any errors. We'll highlight cells with errors - you can hover over a cell to see instructions to resolve the error. You can edit cells directly in the table. Click Continue to submit the import.

After the file has been uploaded, the import will begin processing. An import will show the status of pending until the import has successfully processed.


When the import is complete, you will receive an email with a link to download a results .csv with the details of your upload. The results .csv will contain the newly created Imported Record ID for the added records. πŸ‘


Import templates

We highly recommend using our Google Sheets import template. Access the template and make a copy to begin adding your own data.

The template includes two separate sheets: Supporters and Transactions. Each sheet includes column headers with notes.

Keep in mind that this template does not validate errors. Any cells with errors will be identified when reviewing the import file inside Funraise.



Import fields details

Below you'll find an explanation and tips for the fields that can be included with an import. Most fields are not required and the optional fields you'll want to populate will depend on your organization's strategy.

The order of columns or the column titles in your import file does not matter. You'll have an opportunity to map your columns to specific Funraise fields during the import process inside Funraise. (If you use our column titles, we'll be able to suggest a match for your review).

Supporter Fields

Supporter Fields

Description

Import External ID

The Supporter ID from the previous system that you are migrating from.

Optional, although if you're conducting a historic migration of Supporters and Transactions, this field is critical as you will need it to cross-reference existing IDs with newly create Funraise IDs.

Title Prefix

Supporter's name prefix, for example, Ms. or Mr.
​
Valid values are based on the values you've configured for prefixes and suffixes.

First Name

Supporter's first name.

Required when Institution Category is Individual and Last Name is empty.

Last Name

Supporter's last name.

Required when Institution Category is Individual and First Name is empty.

Suffix

Supporter's name suffix, for example, Jr. or III.
​
Valid values are based on the values you've configured for prefixes and suffixes.

Preferred Name

A nickname or preferred name for the Supporter.

Email

Supporter's email address.

Must be a valid email address. Required when ALL First Name, Last Name, and Institution Name are empty.

Institution Category

Required. The type of Supporter.

Valid values include:

  • Individual

  • Foundation

  • Place of Worship

  • Corporation

  • Government

  • School

  • Other

Institution Name

The name of the Supporter Institution.

This should be blank when the Institution Category is an "Individual".

Required when Institution Category is anything other than "Individual".

Required when ALL First Name, Last Name, and Email are empty.

Phone

Optional. The Supporter's phone number.

Gender

Optional. The Supporter's Gender.

Valid values include:

  • Woman

  • Man

  • Non-Binary/Other

  • Prefer not to say

Date of Birth

Optional. The Supporter's birthday.

Data format: YYYY-MM-DD

Email Opt In

Optional. Has the Supporter opted-in to receiving emails?

Physical Mail Opt In

Optional. Has the Supporter Opted-In to snail mail?

Address

Optional. The Supporter's street address.

City

Optional.

State

Optional.

Postal Code

Optional.

Country

Optional.

Assigned to ID

Optional. Assign this Supporter to a team member by including the team member's ID.

Please reach out to Funraise's technical team to access the ID for a particular team member.

Household ID

Optional. Provide a Household ID if you would like to add this Supporter to an existing Household.

Data can not exist in this field during an initial data migration. Households must first exist in Funraise in order to assign a Supporter to a Household on import.

Tags

Optional. Tags are the most flexible way to organize Supporter data. You'll be able to filter Supporters by tags. A Supporter can have one or many tags. For example, you might use tags like #board_member or #volunteer

Delineate tags with a space and #. For example, #board_member #volunteer

  • Tags can not contain spaces

  • Only letters, numbers, underscores, and hashtags are valid, other symbols are invalid

  • Tags are not case sensitive

Transaction Fields

Transaction Fields

Description

Supporter ID

Required. The Funraise Supporter ID that this transaction should be assigned to.

A Supporter ID is always required. This means you must import Supporters before importing their Transactions.

For new Supporters created through an import, you'll receive an import results .csv that can be used to map the new Supporter IDs to your transaction records.

Supporter Import External ID

The Supporter ID from the previous system that you are migrating from.

This is a special column. You will not import this column. This column is only here so that you can use it to map the newly created Funraise Supporter IDs to the Transaction record.

Here's why: A Transaction is required to have a Funraise Supporter ID, which is only created after importing new Supporters. After the Supporter Import, you'll receive a results .csv that has the new Supporter ID and the Supporter's Import External ID. The common data point between your new Supporters in Funraise and the Transactions you'll import next is the Supporter's Import External ID. A VLOOKUP formula will enable you to populate the required Supporter ID field on Transactions. This process is described further below.

Import External Id

Optional. The Transaction ID from the previous system that you are migrating from.

Amount

Required. The amount of the Transaction. Do not include the currency symbol.

For example, 25.00

Source Currency

Required. The original currency of the Transaction. In most cases, this is USD.

Funraise does not do any currency conversions on import, here you're just declaring the currency the transaction was conducted in.

Source Amount

Required. The amount of the Transaction in the original currency.

If the Transaction was never converted from another currency, this field should match the "Amount".

Do not include the currency symbol. For example, 25.00

Tax Deductible Amount

Required. The tax-deductible amount of the Transaction. This is the amount of the Transaction for which no goods or services were exchanged.

In most cases, this column will match your "Amount" column.

Transaction Date

Required. The date of the Transaction. Data format: YYYY-MM-DD

For example, 2021-01-05

Status

Required. The status of this Transaction.

Valid values include:

  • Complete

  • Pending

  • Failed

  • Refunded

Payment Method

Required. The payment method for this Transaction.

Valid values include:

  • Other

  • Cash

  • Stock

  • In Kind

  • Physical Check

  • Credit Card

  • ACH Check

  • PayPal

  • Bitcoin

  • Card Present

  • External Capture

  • Apple Pay

  • Stripe Terminal

Recurring

Optional. Is this a recurring donation?

Form ID

Optional. The ID of the Funraise Giving Form this transaction should be assigned to.

Transactions are not required to be assigned to a Giving Form, but it may be helpful for organization.

Allocation ID

Optional. The ID of the allocation this transaction should be assigned to.

Subscription ID

Optional. The Funraise Subscription ID for this Transaction.

If this is a recurring donation that is tied to an existing Funraise subscription, use this column to assign the Transaction to the appropriate Subscription.

Campaign Page ID

Optional. The Funraise Campaign Site Page this Transaction should be assigned to.

Adding a Transaction to a Page will impact the Page's Goal attainment.

Soft Credit Supporter ID

Optional. The ID of the Supporter who should be soft-credited with this Transaction.

Household ID

Optional. Provide a Household ID if you would like to add this Transaction to an existing Household.

Payment Processor ID

Optional. The transaction ID from your payment processor.

Payment Method ID

Optional. The payment method ID from your payment processor.

In almost all cases, you'll leave this column blank.

Check Number

Optional. If the payment method is Check, you can include the check number here.

Memo

Optional. If the payment method is Check, you can include the check memo here.

Dedication Name

Optional. If this Transaction was dedicated, include the name of the person it was dedicated to.

Dedication Email

Optional. If this Transaction was dedicated, include the email address of the person it was dedicated to.

Dedication Message

Optional. If this Transaction was dedicated, include the dedication message from the donor.

Optional. If this Transaction was dedicated, select the type of dedication.

Valid values include:

  • in Honor of

  • in Memory of

  • inspired by

Company Match Name

Optional. If the donor suggested an employer match, include the Company name.

Company Match Employee Email

Optional. If the donor suggested an employer match, include the donor's company email address.

In-Kind Description

Optional. If this is an In-Kind donation, include a description of the donation.

In-Kind Hide Amount

Optional. If this is an In-Kind donation, do you want to hide the amount of the In-Kind donation on donation receipts and yearly donation summaries?

Tags

Optional. Tags are the most flexible way to organize Transaction data. You'll be able to filter Transactions by tags. A Transaction can have one or many tags. For example, you might use tags like #annual_gala or #summer_campaign

Delineate tags with a space and #. For example, #gala #summer

  • Tags can not contain spaces

  • Only letters, numbers, underscores, and hashtags are valid, other symbols are invalid

  • Tags are not case sensitive

Note

Optional. A custom note for this Transaction.

Comment

Optional. If the donor left a comment with the donation, enter their comment.

Pledge

Optional. Is or was this donation a pledge?

Anonymous

Optional. Is this an anonymous Transaction?

When a Transaction is marked as anonymous, the donor's name is not displayed with the Transaction in public Campaign Site feeds.

Operations Tip Amount

Optional. This is a historic field that is no longer used. In almost all cases, you'll leave this blank.

Do not include the currency symbol. For example: 25.00


Step-by-step data migration walkthrough

This step-by-step video is an example of a full data migration, which includes both Supporters and Transactions. A data migration that includes Supporters and Transactions requires some basic excel or Google Sheet knowledge.

Step-by-step data migration summary

1. Copy the template and enter your data

  1. Copy or download the Import template

  2. Enter your data

  3. Download final data as a .csv to upload in Funraise

2. Import Supporters into Funraise

  1. You'll import Supporter records first. This is because your newly uploaded Supporters will receive a new Funraise Supporter ID. This Supporter ID is required when uploading Transactions. Transaction will be assigned to Supporters based on this newly created Supporter ID.

3. Download the Supporter import results .csv

  1. After importing Supporter records, you'll receive results .csv by email. The results .csv contain the new Funraise Supporter IDs which are required to import Transactions.

  2. Copy the results .csv to a new import sheet in the import template. You'll use this data for a VLOOKUP in the next step.

TIP: You only need to copy two columns from the results .csv into your import template working document: Import External ID and Imported Record ID .

TIP: After copying these two columns to a new sheet in the import template, reverse the order of the Import External ID and Imported Record ID columns, so that Import External ID is first. Why? Your VLOOKUP formula (in the next step) will need to look for Imported Record ID based on the Import External ID and VLOOKUP reads right to left.

4. Map new Supporter IDs to Transactions

  1. Create a VLOOKUP formula to populate Supporter ID on Transactions

  2. The VLOOKUP formula will find the Supporter ID by matching the Supporter Import External ID on Transactions with the Import External ID from the Supporter import results .csv.

5. Import Transactions into Funraise


Frequently asked questions

Do we need to import Supporters or Transactions?

No, it's not required. If your team does not have the resources to organize your historic data or doesn’t plan to utilize historic data through features such as Funraise Intelligence or any other aggregated information that can be provided through Funraise, data migration is not necessary.

Is there a maximum import limit?

An import is limited to 10,000 records. If you have more than 10,000 records, you'll need to conduct several import actions.

Can I undo an import?

No. Imports are final and can not be undone. Funraise does not provide support to clean up or reverse imports. Be sure to double-check your data before uploading.

Will a blank cell on an import file remove data that exists?

No. A blank cell in an imported file will not overwrite or remove existing data.

How much data should I import?

It depends β€” what data would you like to access in Funraise? Factors to consider:

  • How much of the data will you utilize for analysis/supporter outreach with Funraise tools.

  • Will Funraise be the source of truth for your organization's entire history?

What values should I use for Form, Allocation, and Tags?

This is up to your data organization strategy and will impact how you can filter transaction records. You'll be able to filter Transactions by Giving Form, Allocation, and Tags. These details will help you create your strategy:

  • Giving Form β€” This is the highest level of organization for transactions. Transactions are not required to be assigned to a form. Transactions can be assigned to one form. You might create a form called, "Imported" to assign to your imported transactions, but this is not required.

  • Allocation β€” Allocations are the next layer of organization. Each transaction can be assigned to a single Allocation. Allocations are often used to assign transactions to a particular fund, location, chapter, or another segment. Allocations are not required. Learn more about Allocations.

  • Tags β€” Tags are the most flexible way to organize transactions. One or many tags can be applied to a Transaction. Tags are not required. Tags are delineated by a space and # - not a comma! For example #tag1 #tag2.

    • Tags can not contain spaces

    • Only letters, numbers, underscores, and hashtags are valid, other symbols are invalid

    • Tags are not case sensitive

Do I need to complete an import before I publish Giving Forms and start collecting donations online?

Nope. A data import is entirely optional and is not required to begin using Funraise. A data import can be conducted at any time.

Does imported data sync with integrations, such as Salesforce?

During an import, data does not sync with integrations. This is by design because in most cases imported data already exists in an integrated system and a migration sync could cause issues with your integrated system API limits.

Are Households created when importing Supporters?

No. Households are not created when importing Supporters. Although, you can assign Supporters to an existing Household when importing records by entering the Household ID on the Supporter row.

If a Supporter is assigned to a Household, will imported Transactions for that Supporter be assigned to the Household automatically?

No. Mapping a Transaction to a Supporter will not automatically add the Transaction to a Household. To map a Transaction to a Household, a Household ID must be specified with the Transaction.

Can I import Supporters without a Transaction?

Yes.

Can I import Transactions without a Supporter?

No. All Transactions require a Funraise Supporter ID.

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