Import donors and past gifts

If your donors and gifts are already in a spreadsheet, you can bring them in instead of typing each one. You do this once when you start keeping donor records, or whenever you have a batch to add. Any admin can import.

Import donors first, then gifts, because every gift belongs to a donor. A gift can also add its donor for you (see below), so a simple list of gifts alone will do.

Before you start

• The first row of your spreadsheet must be headings (Name, Email, Amount and so on). Headings can be in any order.
• Save the sheet as a .csv file, or copy the rows (headings too) straight out of Excel or Google Sheets.
• Both commas and semicolons between columns work, and so do the tabs you get when you copy cells out of a spreadsheet.
• At most 500 rows at a time. For a longer list, import it in parts. If you go over, the page says "Too many rows: 612. Import at most 500 at a time."
• Nothing is saved until you press Import. The check before it changes nothing.

Import donors

1. In the admin panel, open Donors.
2. Press Import at the top of the page. A box called Import from a spreadsheet opens.
3. Leave Donors chosen.
4. Paste your rows into the box, or press Choose a file and pick a .csv, .tsv or .txt file.
5. Press Check the list.
6. Read the result (below). When it looks right, press Import followed by the number, for example Import 42.
7. The box says, for example, "42 donors added." Press Done.

The import box showing the check of a list of gifts: one row to be added, one 'Will be added, with a new donor', and one refused row saying the date reads two ways

Headings for donors

Use the headings below, or one of the other names given. Capital letters do not matter. A heading the page does not know is ignored.

Column	Headings it understands
Name	Name, Full name, Donor, Donor name
First and last name	First name, First, Given name, and Last name, Last, Surname, Family name
Organisation	Organisation, Organization, Company, Business
Email	Email, E-mail, Email address
Phone	Phone, Phone number, Telephone, Mobile, Cell
Address	Address, Address 1, Address line 1, Street, Street address, Mailing address
Address, second line	Address 2, Address line 2, Unit, Apartment, Suite
City or town	City, Town
Province or state	Province, State, Region, Province or state, County
Postal code	Postal code, Postcode, Zip, Zip code
Country	Country
Notes	Notes, Note, Comments

You need a name: a Name column, or First name and Last name, or an Organisation column. A row with only an organisation is added as an organisation. If a heading is missing you are told, for example "The headings need a column for the name (Name, or First name and Last name, or Organisation). The headings found were: ...".

A complete list of headings for imports is also in Spreadsheet columns for imports and downloads.

A small example

Name,Email,Phone,Address,City,Province,Postal code
Ada Singer,ada@example.org,705-555-0100,1 Main Street,Barrie,ON,L4M 1A1
Bob Baritone,bob@example.org,,22 Mill Road,Orillia,ON,L3V 2B2

What the check tells you

Each row gets one of these results.

Result	Meaning
Will be added	The donor is new.
Already a donor	Someone with that email address is already a donor. They are left as they are, not changed.
Same address as an earlier row	Two rows in your list have the same email address. Only the first is used.
A message about the row	The row cannot be used, for example "A name is needed" or "That email address does not look right".

The sentence above the table tells you the totals, for example "42 will be added; 3 will be left out. Nothing has been saved yet." If nothing can be added, the Import button cannot be pressed. Press Back to change the list.

Import never changes a donor who is already on file. To correct one, open their page and press Edit. See Add and look after donors.

Import past gifts

1. Open Donors, then press Import.
2. Choose Gifts.
3. Paste the rows or choose a file, as above.
4. Press Check the list, then Import and the number.

The result reads, for example, "120 gifts added, with 8 new donors." and, if some were refused, "3 rows were left out."

Headings for gifts

Column	Headings it understands	Needed?
Donor's name	Name, Full name, Donor, Donor name	Name or Email
Donor's email	Email, E-mail, Email address	Name or Email
Amount	Amount, Gift, Donation, Value, Total	Yes
Date	Date, Received, Date received, Gift date, Donation date	Yes
How it was given	Method, Paid by, Payment method, Type	No
Campaign	Campaign, Fund, Appeal	No
Reference	Reference, Ref, Cheque number, Check number, Cheque #, Check #	No
Notes	Notes, Note, Comments	No

Name,Email,Amount,Date,Method,Campaign,Reference
Ada Singer,ada@example.org,250.00,2026-03-15,Cheque,Tour fund,1042
Carol Contralto,,1250.00,15 March 2026,E-transfer,,

How each row is read

• The donor. The row names its donor by email address first, then by name. Someone not yet a donor is added, provided the row has a name. If a row has only an email address that no donor has, you are told "No donor has that email address, and there is no name to add one with". A row with neither is refused with "No donor named".
• The amount. Numbers such as 50, 1,250.00 or $25. Anything else is refused: "Enter the amount as a number, such as 50 or 1,250.00".
• The date. Write it as 2026-03-15, 2026/03/15 or with the month in words, such as 15 March 2026 or Mar 15, 2026. A date written only in figures, such as 03/04/2026, is refused, because it means the 3rd of April to some people and the 4th of March to others. In a spreadsheet, format the date column as text or as yyyy-mm-dd before you copy it. The message is "Enter the date it was received, as 2026-03-15 or 15 March 2026".
• The method. The usual words are understood: Cash, Cheque (or Check), E-transfer (or Interac), Card (or Visa, Mastercard), In kind, Other. Anything else becomes Other. An empty cell leaves it empty.
• The campaign. It must match the name of a campaign you have already made, with capital letters ignored. Otherwise the row is refused: "There is no campaign called ...". Create the campaign first. See Run a campaign.
• Receipts. Imported gifts are marked as able to have a receipt, for the whole amount, and are recorded in your site's currency.

Results for gifts

Result	Meaning
Will be added	The gift will be recorded for an existing donor.
Will be added, with a new donor	A new donor will be added as well.
A message about the row	The row is refused, for one of the reasons above.

If something goes wrong

Message	What to do
"Paste the donors with a row of headings first, then one row each."	Your list needs a row of headings and at least one more row. The same for gifts.
"The headings need a column for ..."	Rename a heading to one of the names in the tables, or add the missing column.
"Could not read that file. Try pasting the list instead."	Open the file in a spreadsheet, copy the cells and paste them in.
"Too many rows"	Split the list into parts of 500 or fewer.
"Something went wrong importing the donors. Nothing was changed."	Try again. If it keeps happening, your server's log has the detail.